3 Tips for Better Sleep

I've had a few questions about sleep recently. I've got 3 tips for you that work a treat.

1. Balance your blood sugar. (Nutritional)

If you're waking up in the middle of the night it can be because your blood sugar has crashed. This is a stress so your body releases a stress hormone which wakes you up. To get back to sleep you can have a mouthful of something BUT this is EMERGENCY PROCEDURE only. Otherwise you'll get fat.

What you really need to do is BALANCE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR. This means more sensible choices for supper! Check out my page The Foundation Diet for all the info your could possibly need about that & more.

2. Take ornithine or glycine (supplemental)

Ornithine is an amino acid and can be bought cheaply. You're looking for a minimum of ingredients i.e. just ornithine and a capsule! 500 mg.

If you struggle to get to sleep try taking 4 (2000 mg) and you should be in the land of nod within about 15 mins. There are no drowsy side effects or interactions reported.

I love it and always have some next to the bed. Its mechanisms are elusive but recently it is thought to reduce the stress hormone cortisol, which is the one I referred to in number 1.

Glycine is a sweet amino acid that works in about an hour, so take it before you hit the sack. You can buy it as a powder 100% glycine, just stir a tsp of it into water. I don't find this as effective as ornithine BUT that does't mean you won't. It all depends on what it is that's keeping you awake. There are no side effects reported and the only interaction MAY be with Clozapine (Clozaril) a drug used to treat schizophrenia.

3. Open the damn windows! (lifestyle)

We do this WHATEVER THE WEATHER. It was minus 9 here the other night and we till flung open the windows whilst we did out ablutions; cleaning teeth etc. 10 mins will change the air nicely. I love this because it makes me feel like I'm sleeping outside, which I enjoy weirdly.

I'm guessing you may not want to do this if you live on Oxford St or similar for obvious reasons, BUT remember, the air inside is often more toxic than that outside because nasties can concentrate and modern furniture, flooring etc 'off gas' chemicals used in their construction. Not mentioning names, but it rhymes with 'idea'.

Let me know how you get on!

Tim Rees