It's been one of those days: the kids were late to school, you're behind
schedule at work, your boss reamed you out, money's tight and you're praying to
make the mortgage this month. You look forward to the sweet escape of sleep,
only to find that, once in bed, you can do nothing to quell the endless stream
of thoughts buzzing in your head. You lie there, staring at the ceiling, and
just as you start to feel yourself drifting off, the alarm rings. Now, exhausted
and even more on edge, you begin another stressful day, endure another sleepless
night, and so on. The cycle of being stressed and unable to sleep is an ugly
one; but, there are a number of natural products and lifestyle changes that can
be made to ensure a good night's sleep and an improved outlook.
The most prevalent causes of stress and sleep disturbances are environmental.
"Traditionally, the most consistently-reported causes of stress were finances,
job problems and relationship issues. However, respondents in more recent
surveys have identified identity theft, global warming, terrorism, health risks
and housing prices," said Cheryl Myers, vice president of health sciences,
Enzymatic Therapy Inc. "High levels of stress are directly linked to high levels
of stress hormones—particularly cortisol. Chronically high cortisol levels can
cause many adverse effects, including insomnia, among other health problems.
Cortisol levels should naturally rise and fall in a 24-hour cycle, with the
highest levels occurring in the morning to increase alertness after sleep and
falling throughout the day to the lowest level at night."
Peter Lambrou, Ph.D., chair of psychology at Scripps Memorial Hospital,
Calif., added elevated cortisol levels suppress the body's immune function and
inflammation response, which increases disease vulnerability.
Tips to Fall Asleep By
Peter Lambrou, Ph.D., a
clinical and health psychologist, offers several ways to banish stress and
reach relaxation nirvana.
1. The relaxation response can be activated with seven or eight slow deep
breaths. Breathe in through your nose slowly, count to four. Hold the
breath, count to three, and exhale as slowly as you can through pursed lips,
counting to eight. Do this prior to sleep to calm the mind and body.
2. Take a mental vacation. Close your eyes and imagine a pleasant scene,
involving as many senses as possible. Visualize the colors, feel the sun on
your face, listen to the birds. Just 5 or 10 minutes of active imagery of a
peaceful place encourages physical and mental relaxation.
3. Sometimes big tasks or long projects can feel unending and stressful.
Picking a small task from within a large project and finishing something
in it under 10 minutes gives you a satisfying sense of accomplishment and
relieves stress.
4. How we think about a situation can increase or decrease our levels of
stress. If we are anticipating an awful outcome from, say, not meeting a
deadline, we’ll feel as if catastrophe is happening. Yet, if we test for
reality and the evidence is, "Last time, it was a setback, but not
disastrous," then that lowers fear-based stress and channels energy into
productive directions of meaningful activity; hand-wringing and negative
self-talk have very little productive outcomes.
Age can also play a major role in sleeplessness, according to Amanda Steele,
co-founder and CEO, Dreamerz. "As we age, our pineal gland decreases the amount
of melatonin [a naturally-occurring hormone that regulates the circadian rhythm]
it produces, which can also begin to cause sleep disturbances." Menopause, part
of a woman’s aging process, can cause symptoms such as hot flashes and sweating,
making it difficult for women to get an adequate night's rest. Older adults also
have a greater incidence of sleep apnea, a disorder where breathing is
interrupted during sleep due a blockage in the airway. It causes one to wake up,
gasping for air or thrashing about, and is obviously a deterrent to a restful
night.
Other physical changes that can cause stress and sleeplessness, according to
Paul Losch, president and CEO, Sootheze, include injuries, discomfort or
soreness. "There is a positive correlation between stress and physical changes,”
he said. “Sports injuries, arthritis, Alzheimer's, anxiety, cold and flu,
dysmenorrheal [severe uterine pain during menstruation] and external factors are
all sources of the physical changes that can lead to stress."
The Power of Sleep
All of the above stressors are clearly obstacles that must be overcome; sleep
is far too vital to the body. "Sleep researchers have found that our nightly
slumber is important to critical bodily functions, such as learning ability,
memory consolidation, immune function and mood regulation," explained Brad
Douglass, Ph.D., technical advisor to Jarrow Formulas.
Jayson Kroner, C.S.N., editor for NOW Foods Health and Fitness, agreed with
Douglass, noting, "The act of sleeping is vital for the body's ability to
recharge, rebuild and prepare for the next day's set of adventures. Throughout
the day, the human body takes a biological beating. Cells, proteins, hormones
and other components are being used and broken down, muscles and joints work all
day getting us from A to B, and the mind races in a decision-making frenzy of
both voluntary and involuntary proportion. All of these systems need time to
replenish their raw material supply, while restoring their ability to help us
make it through the day. Sleep is also the one chance for the human heart to
take a breather. In a 112-hour span, a healthy heart beats over 50,000 times.
Without sleep, it does not have an opportunity to slow things down. As a result,
other systems go without rest too. This is just one of many reasons why poor
sleep has been linked to accelerated aging."
Accelerated aging is just one of many health problems, both short- and
long-term, that can occur when the body is under duress. "In the short term,
lack of sleep can decrease your performance and alertness; impair your memory
and cognitive thinking ability; diminish your quality of life, because you're
simply too tired to do anything fun or productive; put stress on your
relationship with your partner; increase your chance twofold of occupation
injury; and increase your chance of automobile injury," cautioned Steele.
Lambrou added, "Loss of sleep due to stress accelerates the effects of stress
and can affect concentration, memory, emotional regulation, and mental
stability."
The Nightmare Effects
The effects of long-term anxiety and no sleep on the body are even more
serious; the entire body is now at risk, not just every day functions. Lambrou
stated: "Physiological problems include disorders of the brain and nervous
system; cardiovascular disease; metabolic and hormone disregulations, including
obesity, diabetes and hypertension; and the increased susceptibility to
infections and other diseases. … Furthermore, when one risk factor is coupled
with other stress producing factors, the effect on blood pressure is multiplied.
High blood pressure is associated with stroke, kidney and cardiovascular
diseases. Other problems resulting from stress include drug or alcohol
abuse/dependence; over-eating, overweight, and obesity; and poor emotional
regulation, which affects relationships and work.”
Ironically, the phrase "long-term damage" is relative, as the harmful effects
of sleeplessness can start as early as childhood. A 2008 study from Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, assessed whether insufficient sleep is associated
with pre-hypertension in healthy adolescents.1 Researchers undertook
a cross-sectional analysis of healthy 238 adolescents, ages 13 through 16,
without sleep disorders. Teens who slept for less than 6.5 hours each night had
higher systolic blood pressure than other children, with the average amount of
sleep necessary for teens falling around 9 hours per night.
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Children with short sleep duration are also at risk for future obesity.2
A study review in 2008 from the same university discovered findings in both
cross-sectional and cohort studies of children suggested short sleep duration is
strongly and consistently associated with concurrent and future obesity.
However, researchers stated major study design limitations preclude definitive
conclusions. Further research with objective measures of sleep duration,
repeated assessments of both sleep and weight, and experimental study designs
that manipulate sleep are needed to better define the causal relationship of
sleep deprivation on obesity.
Current obesity, however, seems to absolutely affect children's sleep
quality, according to a study from the University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine.3 Researchers examined specific sleep stages, including
rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and stages 1 through 4 of non-REM sleep, in a
total of 335 children and adolescents (aged 7-17 years) who underwent three
consecutive nights of standard polysomnography and weight and height
assessments. Scientists found body mass index (BMI) was significantly related to
total sleep time, sleep efficiency and REM density. Compared with normal-weight
children, overweight children slept about 22 minutes less and had lower sleep
efficiency, shorter REM sleep, lower REM activity and density, and longer
latency to the first REM period. As well as high blood pressure and obesity,
lack of sleep and anxiety in children can lead to a low energy level and an
inefficient metabolic rate.4
As previously mentioned, insomnia and anxiety take a hefty mental toll, and
not just on day-to-day tasks, such as concentration, Douglass explained.
"Chronic stress can lead to depression through the effects of persistently
elevated cortisol levels on the body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)
axis." He added elevated cortisol levels, in time, can also lead to mental
illness. For example, seizures have recently been found to be caused by high
levels of stress.5 A 2008 study from The Occupational Clinic,
Tel-Aviv, Israel, examined medical records of more than 300,000 18-year-old men,
recruited to the Israeli army between mid-80s and mid-90s, which were used to
assemble a cohort and followed for a period of 30 months. The severity of
epilepsy at recruitment was determined according to four categories: 0 (no
history of seizures) and 1-3 (history of seizures with different relapse-free
periods, with or without treatment). The annual incidence of seizures per
100,000 men from category 0 was 1,016, leading researchers to conclude the
increased risk of seizures stem from physical and mental stress.
One note of caution: People with extreme cases of insomnia and anxiety, such
as those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or a severe chemical
imbalance, should only be treated by a physician. "It's always important to
ensure that a serious sleep problem is not caused by some underlying medical
problem, such as an endocrine (thyroid) disorder, cancer, apnea or other
condition," Lambrou said Retailers would do well to protect themselves and their
customers by suggesting those seeking advice on stress relievers and/or sleep
aids visit their health care provider first for a complete check-up, before
turning to dietary supplements. If they're given a clean bill of health,
retailers can recommend several natural products that can be used to help those
suffering from every day stressors and occasional periods of sleeplessness.
Soothing Supplements
Perhaps one of the best-known supplements in the category is melatonin,
which is often taken to promote a healthy sleep cycle. "Your natural cycle of
sleeping and waking hours [the circadian rhythm] is controlled by your melatonin
levels,” Steele noted. “Typically, melatonin levels rise in the evening as a cue
for sleep, remain high for most of the night and decline as dawn nears. Natural
melatonin levels do decline gradually as you age; some older adults produce very
small amounts or none at all.”
Accumulating evidence suggests melatonin supplementation may regulate the
circadian clock and be a beneficial in the treatment of certain insomnias,
according to a 2004 study review from University, Ill.6
Unfortunately, the review also found the therapeutic potential of melatonin has
been difficult to realize in clinical trials, possibly owing to non-specific
actions of the agent and its unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties when
administered orally.
However, the amount of melatonin being taken might inadvertently skew study
results, a 2005 study review from Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem stated.7
Only a small dose of melatonin is necessary for a restful effect; typical
melatonin pills contain many times the effective amount. According to the
researchers, when the melatonin receptors in the brain are exposed to too much
of the hormone, they become unresponsive, leading many to mistakenly believe
melatonin supplementation does not work. Conversely, as Ken Halvorsrude,
president of Doctor's Best, pointed out, the dosage might be inconsequential;
some individuals simply won't respond to melatonin supplementation, for whatever
reason.
Tryptic bovine alphaS1-casein hydrolysate (milk protein), branded as
ingredient Lactium® by Pharmachem Laboratories Inc., aids in sleep and
relaxation. It was discovered by examining the science behind the old wives'
cure of drinking a glass of warm milk before bed to induce sleepiness.
"Observing the calm and relaxed state of babies after drinking milk, scientists
sought to identify a relationship between milk consumption and any resulting
calming effect. Scientists were able to isolate this relaxation protein from
dairy milk and concentrate it," said Steele.
Scientists from National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, Paris, researched the
putative effects of tryptic bovine alphaS1-casein hydrolysate on stress-induced
sleep disorders.8 Rats were subjected to chronic stress in the form
of environmental disturbances, while receiving an oral administration of the
alphaS1-casein hydrolysate (CH). Chronic stress significantly reduced sleep
duration in control rats during the first two days of the stress period, but
stress-induced sleep disturbance was prevented in CH-treated rats. CH
administration allowed the maintenance of slow wave sleep (deep sleep) duration
and even a slight increase in paradoxical sleep (REM sleep) duration in treated
rats.
A similar study examined the effects of CH on females with stress-related
symptoms.9 Sixty-three female volunteers, suffering from at least one
stress-related disorder such as anxiety, sleep problems and general fatigue,
randomly received either CH tablets or a placebo for 30 days. Results showed the
30-day treatment by CH reduced their symptoms, particularly in digestion,
cardiovascular, intellectual, emotional and social problems.
Another natural calming agent, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), "helps
prevent neurotransmitters from overfiring," Kroner said. "It appears to be most
appealing to those who struggle with stress-related sleep disturbances." This
amino acid, which is produced in the brain, acts as a neurotransmitter,
suppressing nerve impulses related to stress and anxiety. Normally, the brain
produces sufficient amounts of GABA, but for those with insufficient levels,
they may experience a range of health problems, including irritability,
depression and insomnia. In fact, a study from University of Bergen, Norway,
found evidence that suggests depression may be modulated by GABA.10
Results showed animals exposed to chronic mild stress (CMS) had lower GABA
levels compared to controls. In addition, after CMS there was a lack of 5-HT
(the main excitatory receptor for serotonin) stage-dependency, which the
researchers believe may represent a link between depression-like behavior and
sleep abnormalities.
Two human studies on the effect of orally administrated GABA on relaxation
and immunity during stress were conducted by Pharma Foods International Co.
Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.11 The first evaluated the effect of GABA intake
by 13 subjects on their brain waves. Electroencephalograms (EEG) were obtained
after three tests on each volunteer as follows: intake only water, GABA or L-theanine.
After 60 minutes of administration, GABA significantly increased alpha waves and
decreased beta waves compared to water or L-theanine, showing GABA not only
induces relaxation, but also reduces anxiety.
The second study was conducted to see the role of the relaxant and
anti-anxiety effects of GABA intake on immunity in stressed volunteers. Eight
acrophobic subjects were divided into two groups, placebo and GABA. All subjects
crossed a suspended bridge as a stressful stimulus, and immunoglobulin A (IgA)
levels in their saliva were monitored during bridge crossing. Placebo group
showed marked decrease of their IgA levels, while GABA group showed
significantly higher levels. It was concluded GABA could work effectively as a
natural relaxant and its effects could be seen within one hour of its
administration to induce relaxation and diminish anxiety. Moreover, GABA
administration could enhance immunity under stress conditions.
L-theanine, another unique amino acid, has been recently been receiving
increased attention and is the star of many studies, according to Beeta Little,
director of product development and technical services, Bluebonnet Nutrition
Corp. "Over time, L-theanine allows for increased focus and concentration,
improving the ability to remember and learn, in conjunction with promoting a
sense of relaxation and well being without interfering with cognitive
abilities," she said.
Indeed, researchers from Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, The
Netherlands, discovered tea contains L-theanine, and hypothesized it may
modulate aspects of brain function in humans.12 Evidence from EEG
studies showed L-theanine significantly increased activity in the alpha
frequency band, which indicates it relaxes the mind without inducing drowsiness,
even at doses as small as 20 mg, the amount typically found in a cup of black
tea. A similar study examined the possibility that L-theanine may influence
psychological and physiological states under stress.13 The study
examined these possible effects in a laboratory setting using a mental
arithmetic task as an acute stressor. Twelve participants underwent four
separate trials: one in which they took L-theanine at the start of an
experimental procedure, one in which they took L-theanine midway, and two
control trials in which they either took a placebo or nothing. The results
showed that L-theanine intake resulted in a reduction in the heart rate (HR) and
s-IgA responses to an acute stress task relative to the placebo control
condition.
Surprisingly, sleeplessness and stress can be caused simply by poor diet.
"There are certainly a number of factors which can cause stress and lack of
sleep, but one fundamental factor in both stress and insomnia is the mineral
magnesium (Mg)," said Ken Whitman, president, Peter Gillham's Natural
Valley. "Everybody needs nutritional magnesium every day; at least 8 percent of
us don't get our minimum daily requirement of magnesium from our diets." A study
on 14 full-term newborns revealed sleep behavior was correlated to the serum Mg
level.14 After administering an injection of serum Mg, quiet sleep increased,
whereas active sleep decreased.
Of course, dietary supplements are only the tip of the iceberg; there are
lifestyle changes that need to be made if customers want to be free of stress.
Retailers should encourage their customers to have a healthy, active lifestyle.
"Inner peace is vitally important so that one can more fully enjoy life and live
in the moment as much as possible," advised James Donovan, president and CEO,
NuTru. Daily exercise, a nutritious diet and adequate sleep are all good habits
that must be practiced to ensure a balanced life.
1. Javaheri S, et al. "Sleep quality and elevated blood pressure in
adolescents." Circulation. 2008 Sep 2;118(10):1034-40. Epub 2008 Aug 18.
2. Patel SR, et al. "Short sleep duration and weight gain: a systematic
review." Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Mar;16(3):643-53. Epub 2008 Jan 17.
3. Liu X, et al. "Rapid eye movement sleep in relation to overweight in
children and adolescents." Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008 Aug;65(8):924-32.
4. Hitze B, et al. "Determinants and impact of sleep duration in children and
adolescents: data of the Kiel Obesity Prevention Study." Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008
Jul 30. [Epub ahead of print]
5. Moshe S, et al. "Occurrence of seizures in association with work-related
stress in young male army recruits." Epilepsia. 2008 Aug;49(8):1451-6. Epub 2008
May 28.
6. Turek FW, et al. "Melatonin, sleep, and circadian rhythms: rationale for
development of specific melatonin agonists." Sleep Med. 2004 Nov;5(6):523-32.
7. Brzezinski A, et al. "Effects of exogenous melatonin on sleep: a
meta-analysis." Sleep Med Rev. 2005 Feb;9(1):41-50.
8. Guesdon B, et al. "A tryptic hydrolysate from bovine milk alphaS1-casein
improves sleep in rats subjected to chronic mild stress." Peptides. 2006
Jun;27(6):1476-82. Epub 2005 Nov 21.
9. Kim JH, et al. "Efficacy of alphas1-casein hydrolysate on stress-related
symptoms in women." Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;61(4):536-41. Epub 2006 Nov 29.
10. Grønli J, et al. "Extracellular levels of serotonin and GABA in the
hippocampus after chronic mild stress in rats. A microdialysis study in an
animal model of depression." Behav Brain Res. 2007 Jul 19;181(1):42-51. Epub
2007 Mar 19.
11. Abdou AM, "Relaxation and immunity enhancement effects of gamma-aminobutyric
acid (GABA) administration in humans." Biofactors. 2006;26(3):201-8.
12. Nobre AC, et al. "L-theanine, a natural constituent in tea, and its
effect on mental state." Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:167-8.
13. Kimura K, et al. "L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological
stress responses." Biol Psychol. 2007 Jan;74(1):39-45. Epub 2006 Aug 22.
14. Dralle D, et al. "Serum magnesium level and sleep behavior of newborn
infants." Eur J Pediatr. 1980 Sep;134(3):239-43.
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