Eight Natural Sleep Remedies

Getting enough sleep is crucial for your health, wellbeing and even for your mood, but sometimes it seems that this natural process is just not working for you. The normal duration of a good sleep is between 7 and 9 hours per night. Despite this fact, more and more people get only 5 or 6 hours of sleep, which leads to fatigue, stress, headaches, depression and numerous other conditions. In order to solve this problem, you could call on OTC sleep medication and deal with its terrible side effects or you could use natural sleep remedies with fewer to none adverse effects.

8 Natural Sleep Remedies

1. Calcium and Magnesium

These two supplements are effective sleep boosters and they’re extremely efficient when they are taken together. Moreover, calcium alone can cause you heart problems, but with magnesium, these dangerous issues are canceled. So as to promote sleep, you should take calcium (600 milligrams) and magnesium (200 milligrams) every night.

2. Hops

If you are a beer fan, then you will definitely like this remedy. Also, you may already be aware of how calming hops can be. However, drinking a beer before sleep might not be the best advice if you suffer from insomnia. Instead, you can take up to 120 mg of hops before calling it a night.

3. Wild Lettuce

This plant is not useful only for joint pain, anxiety, muscle pain or headaches, but it’s also great for helping you sleep. It reduces stress and anxiety and calms restlessness, thus promoting sleep. You can find wild lettuce in the form of supplements. Take maximum 120 milligrams before going to bed.

4. Meditation

This is not actually a remedy, but more of a mental process. However, together with gentle yoga, it can be of great help. Before going to bed, you can do some simple yoga stretches and then meditate for up to 10 minutes. Just close your eyes and just pay attention on your breathing. It will help you relax and ease your mind from all the problems.

5. Melatonin

You may know it as the hormone controlling the sleep, so it is a must when fighting against insomnia. The researchers have found out that if you want to see successful results, you need to take lower doses. Higher doses of melatonin can cause infertility, depression and toxicity. Take no more than 0.5 milligrams of melatonin before bed.

6. Aromatherapy

Essential oils are known for their relaxing effects. If you’re trying to get some sleep with the help of aromatherapy, then you should make use of lavender, as its effects in aiding sleep have been long proven. Use a natural lavender spray to spritz your pillow with it or even more effectively use a pillow filled with lavender.

7. Valerian

Another great remedy against insomnia is valerian. It improves the sleep quality, the falling asleep speed and the deep sleep. Its effects are best seen in time. You can take up to 800 mg before you go to sleep. If you feel too energized, you can take it during the day.

8. L-theanine

This is an amino acid that can be found in green tea. It can energize you throughout the day and offer you a deep sleep during the night. Unfortunately, green tea alone cannot provide you a sufficient amount of L-theanine to help you sleep. Instead, you can use supplements containing this amino acid in pure form and take no more than 200 mg before bed.