Natural Sleep Aids – How Do You Find the One That Works For You?
If you are not getting enough good quality sleep, you are not alone. According to the National Institute of Health, at least seventy million people in the United States suffer from sleep troubles. The National Commission for Sleep Disorders has reported even larger numbers. In its report to the U.S. Congress, the commission claimed that one hundred million people have occasional sleep problems, with over thirty million people having some form of chronic insomnia.
Many people turn to prescription medications to solve their sleep problems. They may work well, but often come with undesirable side effects, ranging from morning grogginess and all-day sluggishness to more serious problems, such as sleep-walking, sleep-driving, vomiting, and even seizures. They can also cause serious drug dependence.
Over-the-counter medications are less potent, but not totally safe either. In fact, one of the most popular sleep aids contains an active ingredient responsible for 1,600 liver failures every year, as well as thousands of visits to the emergency room due to overdose issues.
It is no wonder that the use of natural sleep aids is growing. But, many people who have tried them, have not found them effective. This is because most natural sleep products contain only one or a few active ingredients. If you buy melatonin, you will get melatonin only! If you buy valerian, you get valerian only.
The problem is that each one of these one-ingredient products addresses only one aspect of the sleep process. For example, chamomile increases the activity of a certain amino acid that calms the overstimulation of the central nervous system. Melatonin, on the other hand, helps you fall asleep, but does very little to keep you asleep. Passion flower extract is a natural mild sedative that helps you relax your muscles and puts you in a comfortable state. And, indium sulphate works with the hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal complex of the brain where it can modulate hormones that can inhibit or interfere with sleep, such as epinephrine, adrenaline and cortisol.
In other words, taking a natural sleep aid that has only one or a couple of active ingredients, is like rolling a dice. The ingredients you choose may not address your specific sleep problem. And, when one natural sleep aid does not work, it is easy to come to a conclusion that none of the natural sleep aids work.
If you would like to try solving your sleep problem with an all-natural solution, you basically have two options. You can either experiment with one-ingredient products until you find a combination that works for you, or you can buy a supplement that already includes all of the most powerful ingredients, therefore ensuring that your individual problem is definitely addressed.
There are numerous natural sleep aids in the market. When shopping for them, please pay attention to the ingredient list. Ideally, you may want it to have as many active ingredient as possible.
Some of the next generation products contain indium sulphate (described above) and eggplant extract.
Eggplant extract provides some very interesting potential health benefits. Its alkaloids bind to the acetylcholine agonist receptors, and by doing so, activate adult stem cells in your body that may then seek out injured tissue and replace the damaged cells. In the past ten years, several major studies have revealed the power of adult stem cells being able to transform themselves into any type of body tissues. Stem cells are typically drawn from your own bone marrow, from where they can then travel to the area in your body that needs repair. Incorporating eggplant extract in a natural sleep aid is a good fit, because the body regenerates, rejuvenates and heals itself during sleep, and stem cell recruiting provide that process with an extra kick!