A balanced diet is the perfect way to long, lasting health. It affects our moods, our skin tones, and our overall level of wellbeing.

But are there foods that actually induce sleep?

Studies of food have found that there are certain compounds that will react with your bodies natural chemistry to help start sleep or maintain it.

Lets have a look:

• The most common form of amino acid to induce sleep are foods that contain Tryptophan. As our body doesn’t generate this compound, we need to consume it. Tryptophan is a  building block for serotonin, which produces the feelings of relaxation and calmness for the brain. This in tern may lead to better sleep.  Tryptophan may be found is chocolate oats, dried figs, dates, milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, sesame seeds, tofu, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and peanuts.
• Complex carbohydrates cause the body to release insulin, which removes the amino acids that compete with Tryptophan, which result in serotonin and melatonin to move to the brain.
• Calcium also aids the process of creating melatonin
• Magnesium helps create serotonin
• Foods that boost serotonin (which make you feel relaxed and calm): Almonds, Bagels, Black eyed peas, Breads, Cereals, Cheese, Crackers, Dairy products, Walnuts, Muffins, Pasts, Potatoes, Pumpkin seeds, Rice, Turkey, Whole grains

Herbs for sleep time. The national institute of health and national centre for complimentary medicine (http://ncca.nih.gov) has put out a guide to herbs. Some old fashion herbs to sip in a tea before bed time include:

• Chamomile – This helps cause calmness and may help induce sleep. Be aware, chamomile may have allergic reaction and may think the blood, please seek medical advice if unsure of the effects on your body.
• Kava – Used as an anxiety reducer, may help induce sleep
• Lavender – Used as an anxiety reducer, this but is great to be used as aromatherapy oils to burn in your room to induce a cosy night of sleep ahead.

What foods make you sleepy? Share your comments below:

Grrrrrrrrrr …. I mean seriously, how can you honestly expect to have a restful, recharging, nourishing and refreshing sleep when you are sleeping next to a loud, freight train!

Its nuts. I know. I know it’s not your partners fault and you love them to bits… But every guy and gal needs a solid nights sleep (and that doesn’t only refer to the grizzly bear next to you), it means YOU!!

Ok so here are the stats: Approx 90 million Americans snore, 37 snore in regular periods1 (The National Sleep Foundation http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/snoring-and-sleep. And in 2001 the survey showed that 1 in 10 married couples sleep in separate beds if one partner is a snoring partner.

So what is snoring exactly: Snoring is making your respiratory system work overtime. While your muscles at the back of your throat try to relax, your diaphragm is pumping away. The relaxation of your throat cuts down airflow and the uvula vibrates causing snoring.

Some tips that may stop your partner from snoring may be:

• Lose a few pounds… Carrying excess weight makes your body work overtime, shaving off those pounds will help ease the muscle strain
• Avoid sleeping on your back
• Avoid heavy meals before bed
• Stop smoking cigarettes
• Avoid alcohol close to bed time
• Seek medical treatment if there are allergies or breathing issues. Also check if there are any specific airway obstructions such as: large tonsils or adenoids, polyps, deviated nasal septum.
• And if non of these things work, put a pillow between you and your partner (to block out the noise)

If you have more tips on helping that grizzly bear stop snoring, then share your comments below:

Your sleep pod is the place where the outside world stops and the only thing that exists is you. This is a very important time to let you and your body rest and recharge.

Take a scan of your room and see what needs to be changed:

-          What is the overall vibe of your room?

• Is it warm and cosy… Or is it loud, bright, and in your face.
• Do you feel anxious in your room or calm?
• Is it too bright?

-          What are your bed/ pillows/ bedding like?

• Is your mattress too hard, too soft or just right (hmmm… Are you thinking of Goldilocks here? I know I certainly am)
• Does your head and neck love your pillow?
• What is your quilt/ duvet like…? Is it super soft, fluffy and warm… ?

-          What noises can you hear in your room?

• Are you going to sleep hearing the sounds of the waves splashing against the beach (making your feel calm and relaxed) or… are you going to sleep hearing sirens, car horns, people talking/ fighting (making you feel anxious)

-          Take a deep breath in…. And smell your room…. What does it smell like?

• Does it smell nice? Or moldy and musty?

Hmmm… A nice cosy, sleep pod…. How do you maintain a cosy room that invites you to sleep? Share your comments below:

Stick to a regular sleep schedule. From my experience, when teaching my little babies how to sleep on their own, the most important thing was a regular eat/ sleep schedule and a consistent wind down routine. For my little ones, an evening routine would start with dinner at 5pm, play until 5.30pm, bath at 5.45pm, milk 6pm, book 6.15pm bed 6.30pm.

I know, you must be thinking, what a strict mother… But it wasn’t like that at all. The routine was designed to create a series of consistent events that would unwind my little one, getting them ready for the magical moment of sleep. And while not every day was smooth sailing, the pace we adopted was slow, gentle, talking quietly and softly so that when they were tucked up nice and warm in the bed, they were ready to zzzzzzzzzzz fall asleep.

As you can imagine, it was would be completely crazy for me to let them jump up and down on the bed, drinking sugary drinks etc.. And then when I put them to bed, it just would be a very painful process for them and me.

So anyhow…. My point is, a sleep schedule which allows you to slowly unwind before bed (rather than be stimulated) would be a great way to prepare your body before bed. Maybe after dinner you could listen to some music, read a book, have a nice soak in the tub, get a massage from a loved one, drink some warm milk….. And ease your way into your warm, cosy bed for a deep sleep. Another important factor is consistency, consistency, consistency… It will take your body up to a week to adjust to this new calm wind down process but when it does, as you progress through each wind down activity you can be assured you will fall asleep much faster and have a better quality of sleep.

• No caffeine after 2pm. Your body will thank you for this! Rather than feeding your body with stimulants, by cutting all caffeinated drinks after 2pm, you are creating a body that is clean and clear and ready for a restful, recharging sleep.
• No alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime. Alcohol may make you sleepy, but it also interferes with your deep stages of sleep. It causes you to be awake more and it can often be difficult to fall back to sleep.
• Stop exercising 4 hours before bedtime. Exercise during the day is fantastic for a great nights sleep. But…. Excerising before bed time can keep your body tempreture elevated, and keep you wide awake and super alert.
• Get outside in the sun every day. 15 minutes of pure sunshine every morning helps regulate your production of the sleep hormone, melatonin. This resets your body clock and lets your body know its time to wake up.

Do you have any other sleep tips, habits that work for you? Share your comments on the blog below:

Keeping a sleep diary may help you keep track of your sleep, lifestyle, habits, and behaviour while you sleep. Keeping a diary for a 10 day period will give you an amazing insight about your sleep/ lifestyle pattern, and sometimes just standing back seeing information objectively will help you see patterns that have been hindering your sleep.

Are you doing something on a regular basis that is affecting how quickly you fall asleep and the quality of your sleep?

Ie. Are you drinking caffeinated drinks to close to bed time? Are your exercising before sleep? Do you have a sleep routine that helps you wind down before going to sleep? Are you online for hours before bed time? Do you watch tv before bed?

Information to record in your sleep diary includes:

-          The time you went to bed

-          An approximate time you fell asleep

-          The time you woke up

-          Did you get up in the middle of the night?

-          What was your sleep quality like?

-          Did you wake up feeling refreshed or still tired?

-          Did you consume alcohol before bed?

-          What time was your last caffeinated drink?

-          Did you exercise during the day? What time did you finish?

Have you ever kept a sleep diary? Share your experiences in the comments below:

I’m not sure that I can completely convey the sheer pain of not being able to sleep when you become a new parent.
I remember when I first became a mom, the pregnancy was all about me. What did I feel like eating? What new pregnancy outfit did I want to buy? My feet hurt, maybe I should treat myself to a nice pedicure? And then…. I invested countless weeks understanding what was going to happen to my body during labour. I used several meditation and relaxation techniques that would help me manage my pain. And then… Packing all my glamozon outfits into my hospital bag that I had packed for me and my baby.

But man, oh man, oh man, oh man…. Nothing had quite prepared me for that moment when I become a mother. The focus completely shifted from me to 100% attention on this new baby.

This new baby who was so sweet, cute and precious. This new baby that was so bright eyed, warm and cuddly. This new baby who fed every 2-3 hours, woke up constantly and at times made me feel like running into a cave just so I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, new moms have less than 5hours sleep during a 24 hour period. The study also showed that 55% of these women only got a good nights sleep a few times a month.

The hardest issue for any new parent though, is that once your sleep has been interrupted you may have trouble getting back to sleep. When you get up, the light signals your brain to wake up and the pieneal gland stops making melatonin. Your body starts to believe that it is morning.

If this happens several times a night, there can be disruptions to your bodies circadian rhythms causes physical, emotional and hormonal imbalances. Blue ray lights have been shown to help neutralise any bright light and can sometimes trick the brain to still thinking its night time.

Now let me tell you my story. In December 2010, I was blessed to become a mother of 3 children. My oldest daughter was 3, my middle son was 1 and my youngest was a newborn.

During my last trimester of pregnancy, I was still getting up through the night with my 1 year old and my daughter still needed my help to go to the toilet at night. By the time I delivered baby number 3, I was already feeling quite exhausted.

Once I would deal with one child, another child needed my attention, and their crying would wake up the other child… the sleep interruptions were happening several times a night and I struggled to let myself relax and fall asleep into that deep, deep slumber that my body needed.

Now this lack of sleep made me a cranky mommy, and nobody likes a cranky mommy… I didn’t even like the cranky mommy I was becoming, and that I why I desperately needed to get some sleep. Here are some tips that I figured out.

Natural sleep tips:

• Eliminate all loud distractions. Turn off the TV, cancel unnecessary appointments, de-clutter your social calender. This time is for you and your new family. You can only be the best parent you can be when you’re rested. NOTHING else matters.
• Create specific family relaxation techniques. Soft calming music, strip you kiddy winkles in a pram, go outside, get some fresh air and go for a walk in the sunshine and have a warm bath once the babies are asleep.
• Have a regular sleep schedule/ routine for your children. When your kids sleep, you should sleep. I can hear what you’re saying.. I have a gazillion things to do…. And I hear you, I was the same. But NOTHING else matters than getting your sleep back on track. So close your to do list, 1pm is household nap time. So go to sleep.
• Eat a healthy, rich diet that is gentle on your digestive system and eases you into slumber (food). I enjoy plenty of water during the day, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and as I feed these to my kiddies, we eat together and all are much happier and brighter.
• Don’t be a martyr. Ask for help! If you have family or friends that offer a helping hand, then please take them up on this. You are not going to win any prizes for going on this hard road alone. If its help with housework, or looking after kids, or picking up things from the store…. If someone offers, accept their offer.
• De-clutter your house. I know you feel like everything is getting on top of you.. And do you find that you are constantly tidying up your house? This may sound a little harsh – But let’s give yourself a break and pack everything away. I mean keep a few toys out and pack the rest away. See how you manage for one month. If you find you didn’t miss the stuff, you will be giving someone a great gift by donating it. Less stuff, less tidying, less you feel guilty about having an untidy house.
• Meals. This is going to sound uber boring. BUT so necessary. Don’t waste your time and energy thinking up new meals to cook. Get organised. Write a 2 week menu plan. Pre stock your fridge with a week 1’s worth of fresh groceries and stick with preparing the only things that are on your plan. Then do the same thing for week 2. Repeat this 2 week meal plan for 3 every season. I know, I know it sounds boring… But its all about creating a systematised, structured approach to how you create a simple life, that will give you more down time so you can sleep.
• Don’t be silly and stay up late to watch TV. You can watch TV for the rest of your life. Once your kids are propped into bed, its certainly time for you to do a few things that you can’t do while the kids are asleep (give yourself a maximum of 1 hour for this) and then start your bedtime wind down routine. Use the same routine (sleep schedule) as your kids… Dinner, relax, bath, milk, book, bed.. zzzzzz

There is nothing that is glamorous about the steps above. BUT one thing that you need to know is that, this is only a moment of time in your life where nothing else matters except you and your family. You need to look after yourself first, because if you don’t do that, the negative consequences for your children are far too great.
I would love to hear your comments, or hear about any techniques that have specifically helped you deal with becoming a new parent and getting more sleep.

Resources:
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/pregnancy-and-sleep

OK…. I’m a mom with 3 kids (all 3 years apart), and I completely, and 100% understand that this time can play havoc on your body.

During my pregnancies I would vary between being so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open, to waking every few hours, not being able to get comfortable and not being able to enjoy a deep, decent night’s slumber.

And then once you’re a new parent and your cutey, cute, little bubbalicious (aka baby) arrives, you still cannot get a decent, uninterrupted nights sleep. Why oh why? Oh why? Oh why?

I totally feel for all of you new mommies and daddies out there. This period in our lives are tough. The lack of sleep makes this even tougher. Something we all have to remember is that this is a phase and while it may seem like this is our lives forever and ever, it’s not. It’s a phase. We just need the tools to help us adjust to this phase.

The fact that our bodies can produce a human life completely amazes me. And I totally understand that living in this go, go, go world, we can tend to forget this and go with our day to day lives. Ok, I’m not saying I have the magic wand that I can wave that will make your sleep interruptions come to a halt, but I do have some tips that may help you during this period.

Pregnancy & Your Sleep:
Our bodies we really are running an amazing machine where everything sync’s together perfectly and works in harmony. And during pregnancy, the greatest changes occur within our first and and third trimesters.

During our first trimester, we have a surge of progesterone (sleep inducing hormone) and we feel incredibly sleepy. Your body is doing a very important job here, she is creating the placenta which feeds your baby, and creating, feeding and nurturing a new life can be exhausting. So be kind to yourself and sleep as much as possible.

During our second trimester, our beautiful babies are growing, you may be noticing subtle changes, but overall your sleep patterns return to a normal level. My second trimesters were always pleasant, my nausea stopped (except for my middle child.. I was throwing up until delivery with him), but overall my body started to flow in a gentle rhythm.

During our third trimester, sleep troubles can start from our belly getting bigger and placing more strain on our back, pelvis and legs. Anxiety may start to kick in. And other hormones are release within the body to prepare itself for delivery/ labour. I delivered all three children in the heat of summer, so I found getting comfortable, being hot, and always needing to get up in the middle of the night to pee, a regular sleep disturbance.

Some tips for pregnancy:

1. Make sure prioristise as much sleep as you need. Don’t skimp on this.
2. Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and cut back a few hours before bedtime (to prevent middle of the night toilet visits)
3. Eat plenty of fresh raw fruits, vegetables and nuts. Not only will you be a glowing goddess, your body will be able to digest food easier and your baby will be humming in delight at this delicious nutrient rich food. (Food)
4. Avoid spicy foods to control heart burn
5. Sleep on your left side to maximise blood flow to your fetus
6. Stretch your body with slow walks, pregnancy yoga and breathing exercises
7. Invest in plenty of pillows or a pregnancy pillow to prop up all around you to make yourself feel as comfortable as possible.
8. Sleep as much as you can because as soon your little bundle of joy arrives

And aside from being well rested during your pregnancy, another important reason to get plenty of sleep during your pregnancy is that according to the National Sleep Foundation Study, women who got fewer than 6 hours sleep per night had longer labours and increased risk of cesearean, compared with women that enjoyed a deep, relaxing sleep every night.

Resources:
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/pregnancy-and-sleep

Ok, let’s take a look at what happens when we sleep..

What is REM and NREM Sleep? What is happening in my body at each stage?
Sleep is made of non rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

NREM is made of four levels:
Stage 1: this is the beginning of the sleep cycle, when the lights are off and your close your eyes, your brain waves slow down and so does your breathing and heart rate. Muscles start to relax. Transition from wakefulness to light sleep. 5% of the time. If woken you wouldn’t have thought you were asleep.

Stage 2: Slightly deeper sleep than stage 1, you can still wake easily in this stage. This may feel like you’re falling, you may even wake up, or become less aware of your environment. 40-50% total sleep time. I always have a strange feeling that I’m falling down stairs or have jumped out of a plane without a parachute.

Stage 3 and 4 sleep: deep sleep or delta sleep account for 20% sleep time. Our deepest level of NREM and usually occurs in the first third of the night. In this stage, our blood pressure drops more, muscles become more relaxed, blood flow decreases. The growth hormone is excreted into pituitary gland in deep sleep, and the body heals itself, you experience repair and tissue regeneration, physical restoration of sleep. When you get enough delta sleep you wake feeling refreshed.

REM sleep takes place during the last 3rd of night and makes 25% of sleep time. During REM sleep, there are small variable speed brain waves, rapid eye movements like those that occur during your wakeful state. Voluntary muscles are paralysed (heart lungs, are all active). This stage your body restores its nervous system, processes information and store memories. Getting enough REM sleep you think more quickly, creatively and organise thoughts better.

What are the sleep cycles that occur during the night?

After you fall asleep, a normal sleep cycle can take you from light into deep sleep back into light sleep and then onto REM. After REM your body awakens briefly and then returns to stage 1 sleep to repeat process. Throughout the night you cycle through the sleep stages, with REM sleep increasing in length with each cycle and deep sleep decreasing toward the morning. To feel fully refreshed you need ample amounts of each sleep cycle.

How long does each sleep cycle last?
Each sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes. For sleep to be restorative you need several sleep cycles every night (usually 4 or 5)
 If you have any comments or information that may help our readers below, please blog your comments below.

Sleep myself skinny? Does a good nights sleep really help you lose weight and regulate your metabolism?

I heard someone once say that if you give your body the rest it needs will enable you to lose weight without changing your diet or fitness regime. Hmmm, interesting…. Let me follow this up. What I found was seemed quite true from my experience of poor sleep habits. Have a read and share your experiences/ thoughts with me.

What happens during sleep:
During deep sleep your brain releases a large amount of growth hormone which tells your body to brain down fat for fuel. Without sufficient sleep there is not enough growth hormone, resulting in extra calories as your body stores away the fat. In addition, poor sleep increases your appetite. People who sleep less have a slower metabolic rate.

OK, so I tend to agree with lack of sleep increasing MY appetite.  I’m not sure about the noticing anything different about the quantity/quality of growth hormone released (so I’ll have to take that as verbatim), but what I do know is, that when I’ve had an absolutely rubbish night of sleep and wake up feeling tired, drained and exhausted I am literally drawn to eating sugary foods, lots of coffee (and cake to have with my coffee), I start to eat larger portion sizes too and never quite feel satisfied..

Once I eat something I have an immediate hit of energy and I feel better. Well good enough to get through the next few hours in the day. And then when that food/ sugar has been digested, I find myself reaching for more food. A vicious cycle.

OK, so now let’s look at the specific down side of poor sleep habits:

• Your skin looks pasty, eyes puffy, dark circles under your eyes
• You become a poor decision maker (this is because your prefrontal cortex shuts down, this front part of the brain controls logical reasoning). I know this poor decision making has effected my food choices and because I’m soooo sleepy, I give myself permission to skip the gym.
• Your insulin production increases and your body starts to store more fat easily (obesity, hypertension, diabetes).
• You have problems completing tasks.
• Ability to speak or remember diminishes. Difficulty focussing and concentrating
• Irritable or irrational.
• You burn fewer calories, as your body burns more during REM sleep (refer sleep cycles), and REM sleep only happens in your deep sleep phase.
• You are less likely to lose less fat if you do lose weight. The National Centre of Health Statistics found that adults/ dieters who got less than 5.5 hours sleep actually lost lean body mass and were hungrier, than people who got more than 8.5 hours sleep.

Both insufficient sleep and poor quality sleep make your body want to store fat, not burn it.

Let’s look at the obesity and sleep rates over the last few decades:

We can see that while our average sleep hours decrease every night from 8.9 hours in 1960 to 6.5 hours in 2012, our obesity rates have increased from 13.4% in 1960 to 35% in 2010.

While obesity can be caused by many things, it is interesting to ponder the question….. Hmmmm, how is the poor sleep affecting my body weight? Am I eating better or worse when I’m tired? Am I making better or worse decisions when I’m tired? Do I feel happier or sadder? Anxious or calm?
Are your hormones causing your body to gain weight?


Hormones are your bodys way of telling you to go, pause or stop (just like traffic lights). Some things to notice what happens to hormones are:

• Ghrelin the ‘get some food hormone’ is boosted with poor sleep, resulting in feeling hungrier
• Leptin the ‘stop eating’ hormone is reduced with poor sleep, resulting in feeling out of control.
• Cortisol is the stress hormone. This can only be controlled with proper sleep. Cortisol converts stored energy into usable energy, which puts energy into your fuel tank/ body via glucose. High cortisol leads to breakdown of muscles and not fat. Increases desire for carbohydrates.

Wow… The evidence certainly seems stacked against poor sleep habits…. And maybe just by getting the extra hours of sleep every night will trim down your waist line without changing any thing else. Anyhow food for thought.

Share your comments below, I’d love to hear about any insights feedback you may have.

Resources:

National sleep foundation http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need

National centre for health statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/overweight/overweight_adult.pdf