This video, "Overcoming Your Insomnia" by Deb Ford DCN RDN, explains what insomnia is, how much sleep you need, and the negative effects of not getting enough sleep on your body and mind. It then offers natural ways to improve sleep, like eating certain foods and avoiding others, practicing good sleep habits, using essential oils, and doing breathing exercises. The video also touches on how technology and certain medications can harm your sleep.
Key Takeaways
1
Insomnia is defined as trouble falling or staying asleep, and it can be short-term or chronic, affecting 30-50% of people.
2
The recommended amount of sleep varies by age, with adults needing 7-9 hours, and sleep is crucial at every stage of life to prevent cognitive decline and dementia.
3
Lack of sleep can cause poor concentration, memory problems, irritability, impaired motor skills, increased risk of accidents, and serious health issues like depression, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and weakened immunity.
4
Sleep involves different phases, including quiet phases (Phase 1, 2) for memory consolidation, deep restorative sleep (Phase 3, 4) for anti-aging and brain detoxification, and REM sleep (Phase 5) for dreaming.
5
To improve sleep, avoid high-carb and sugary foods before bed, opt for healthy fats or bone broth, and limit heavy, spicy, greasy foods, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and dark chocolate in the evening.
6
Practicing good sleep hygiene, such as having a consistent bedtime and wake-up time (even on weekends), having a light dinner, avoiding electronics two hours before bed, and doing light activity, can significantly improve sleep.
7
Exercise can help combat insomnia by increasing body temperature and then dropping it, promoting sleep, and reducing the stress hormone cortisol.
8
Stress is a leading cause of insomnia, and techniques like mindful breathing exercises (pursed breath, diaphragmatic, yogic, 4-7-8 box breathing) and meditation can help calm the mind and reduce stress.
9
Blue light from electronic devices stimulates daylight and suppresses melatonin, disrupting the body's natural sleep-wake cycle and can also damage eye structures over time.
10
Supplements like L-theanine, inositol, various herbs (valerian, lavender, lemon balm, hops, passion flower), magnesium glycinate, and ashwagandha can support relaxation and improve sleep quality by affecting brain function and stress hormones.
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0:03
okay
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all right this is so wonderful to be
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able to reach so many people
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interested in getting healthier um
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you know when i'm in my office or in the
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shop it's like one on one but here
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i can talk to a lot of you that are
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really wanting to make better choices
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and um with better choices you get
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better outcomes
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like health vitality and longevity so
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thank you
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so much for attending and registering
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for this
0:36
live webinar it's normally the fourth
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wednesday of every month we take a deep
0:41
dive into
0:42
one subject or another this month it's
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going to be overcoming your insomnia
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and the following months we're going to
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be talking about autoimmune disease
0:50
metabolism weight loss immunity stress
0:53
adrenal fatigue
0:54
we're going to cover that topic in depth
0:57
and the natural approach to health and
1:00
disease prevention or reversal
1:02
a lot of good stuff so you can mark your
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calendar
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the whole year plan on the fourth
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wednesday of each month
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god willing and the creek don't rise
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however this month the creek did rise
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that's why it's on tuesday
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so you know things happen so my passion
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as you know
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is health and healing i've been doing
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this for
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45 years and i've studied got
1:25
all those credentials in what it takes
1:28
to have health vitality and longevity
1:30
there's certain rules certain things in
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biology
1:33
that we just need to have to be healthy
1:36
modern lifestyles are breaking all of
1:38
those
1:39
rules and boy oh boy we have to really
1:41
learn
1:42
to integrate healthy things back into
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our life
1:45
so that we have a better chance for
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health vitality and longevity
1:49
in america we spend more on health care
1:52
than about any other country and we are
1:55
about the sickest i think the latest
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statistic i read
1:58
we're 35th that is just so wrong
2:02
you know so i'm bringing you a little
2:04
piece of the puzzle every month so you
2:06
can begin to transform your health
2:08
bringing it to you because i was a sick
2:10
kid i had to change
2:12
i realized early on that i couldn't live
2:15
like everybody else
2:16
i was going to a specialist starting at
2:18
age three
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i was on antibiotics for pretty much 10
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years
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and at 10 years old i was already
2:25
starting to have surgeries
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as a teenager i was anxious i was
2:28
depressed i had acne i had hormone
2:30
problems i had digestive problems
2:32
i came close to a hysterectomy at
2:36
wow what a mess i had to change how
2:39
why else would somebody open a health
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food store when they're 20
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right everybody else is living it up not
2:45
me i was already pursuing
2:47
what it took to be healthy i'd had
2:49
enough surgeries
2:51
given up enough parts that i figured i
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couldn't do any worse
2:54
so as someone who's been there and knows
2:57
the way back
2:58
i'm here for you i am here to teach you
3:01
and help you to start
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giving the things the body needs to
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thrive
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so thanks again for taking the time to
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register
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for this webinar we're all here because
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we're interested in health
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after all i don't think there's anything
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more important
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okay questions okay i'm gonna
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check the chat at the end i i can't be
3:24
talking and reading at the same time
3:26
so i'm gonna check those at the end so
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anytime you have a question as you're
3:30
going through this just put it in the
3:31
chat
3:32
and uh today we're going to be talking
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about insomnia
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you know i had it i struggled with it
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and i had to become a real
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student of sleep so i'm going to be
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giving you my best
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okay so now we're going to talk about
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the american the sleep
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association what they say is quote
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insomnia refers to trouble falling or
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staying asleep
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and it can be as few as a few nights
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sleep or in some cases
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insomnia is chronic and it may last for
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months
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or years so the sleep management
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institute states
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that an estimated 30 to 50 percent of
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the people
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struggle with insomnia and 10 percent
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have chronic insomnia
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and these stats were before coveted
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these stats were before we had so much
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stress so
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how much sleep do we need how much
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should we be getting
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okay so since sleep is a vital indicator
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of
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overall health and well-being we should
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spend
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about a third of our lives asleep
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and the overall state of our sleep
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health isn't an essential question
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throughout the lifespan so i've come to
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say my goal
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is sleep a third play a third
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work a third okay that's my goal like i
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say
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a goal and sometimes those things get
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blurred but you know
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a good night's sleep is important and a
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few of us
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actually make those eight hours or so
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asleep
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between the sheets but many of us are in
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sleep
5:05
debt and we really forget what it
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feels like to be truly rested we go
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along
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caffeinated all the time on average the
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natural
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the natural sleep foundation there is a
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actual place
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it's called um it recommends sleep
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should be
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by age you know newborns they're going
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to sleep about 14 to 17 hours a day
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don't wake the sleeping baby infants up
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to about a year old
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they're going to sleep up to 15 hours a
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day school age kids
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up to 11 hours adults seven to nine
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hours
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okay teenagers around 10 hours so as we
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get older
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we may need a little bit less seven to
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eight hours but if you aren't sleeping
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when you get older you're increasing
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your risk for cognitive decline
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dementia so sleep is critical
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at every stage in life how much sleep
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are you getting on a regular basis
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do you wake up without an alarm that's a
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good key that you are getting enough
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sleep
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so i think this kind of looks like
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wednesday from the adams family movie
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i'd love that show
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and i felt like this as a teenager sleep
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deprived teenager
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eaten a lot of junk too so how how do
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you go about
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getting a good night's sleep not many of
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us are meeting the mark
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as recommended for our sleep age and
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many of us are feeling the negative
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effects of lack of sleep
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sleep management institute lists the
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following as some
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side effects of sleep deprivation
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poor concentration and focus
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difficulty with memory impaired
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motor coordination like you're just
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uncoordinated and you're tripping all
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over
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irritability and impaired social
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interaction
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you're not friendly to be around and
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then motor vehicle accidents because
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if fatigued sleep deprived drivers
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they're like
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drunk drivers your reaction time is way
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off
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and that puts everybody in danger's way
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so other things that it does you know
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sleep matters
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it's a rule of biology lack of slight
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sleep
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is going to damage your health because
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it increases cortisol
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it also reduces focus and attention
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reduces short-term memory increases risk
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of depression
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increases risk of diabetes heart disease
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stroke early mortality from all causes
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increases risk of obesity so when you're
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not getting enough quality sleep
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two major hormone pathways in your body
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are affected and
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not in a good way your level of the
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hormone leptin
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which regulates how you feel
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how satisfied you feel after you eat it
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drops drastically
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and you just don't get enough sleep so
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you're hungry even if you've just
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eaten already you're not satisfied at
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the same time
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your level of the hormone grayline the
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one that growls
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and stimulates your appetite it goes up
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making you even hungrier
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making you crave carbohydrates to
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satisfy your appetite
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so not a lack of willpower that is the
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minimal
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that's making you want cookies late at
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night it could be a lack of sleep
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absolutely sleep and wait two way street
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lack of sleep can cause weight gain
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weight gain can cause
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lack of sleep luckily you can take steps
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to break
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this tight link with your weight and
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energy and overall health is going to
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improve recent research has documented
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that sleep disturbances
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impact the body's immune response
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significantly
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increasing your risk for infectious
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disease think covid
8:39
okay also increases your risk of
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depression cardiovascular disease
8:43
even cancer knowing the consequences you
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may
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now may be asking what can you do about
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insomnia
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so next we're going to look at what
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makes good sleep
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and then some natural and effective ways
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to help you get the sleep you need
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because there is very little that's more
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important
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so every 90 minutes or so your body has
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a full
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cycle of sleep and each part of that
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cycle is important for different
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functions
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they've done experiments on sleep
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deprivation that are now
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outlawed because they made people sick
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you can
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wake people at different parts of the
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sleep cycle
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and different things happen and they
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watched that it was awful
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people had total breakdowns physically
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mentally
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and emotionally so you need each one of
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these phases to sleep
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so there's the quiet phases phase one
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and phase two
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so phase one is kind of like the falling
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asleep phase
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and you know you're leaving the beta
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waves and you're entering the
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alpha waves phase two it's sliced and
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restful that's kind of like napping
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but the brain cortex is not at rest
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during these non-rem sleeps
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it is assembling neurons that work
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together for long-term
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memories your brain burns more calories
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in this state than it does during the
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daytime
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your brain is then in theta waves here
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so then phase three phase four deep
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slow wave anti-aging restorative
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i love it when i can get an hour and a
10:17
half of this estee lauder even did some
10:20
research on this
10:21
and found it really is beauty sleep then
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we have the most
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before midnight so i like to aim for
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bedtime around nine o'clock
10:28
for the best beauty sleep and it's
10:30
restoring your health as well you're
10:32
here
10:33
in the deep delta brain waves that's
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when your brain
10:36
detoxifies as well spinal fluid washes
10:39
over it
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and cleans it out super important if you
10:42
don't get this
10:43
you got brain fog for sure and then
10:45
phase five
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that is and everybody's gonna kind of
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have different phases but i go with this
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one so
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the phase five rapid eye movement the
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rem sleep that's when
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you know your theta waves are back in
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there really important dreaming states
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so you know i have to say diet is
11:02
crucial when it comes to sleep
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quality consuming sugars and carbs
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before bed can increase the body's
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temperature
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and then to burn the sugars off you
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gotta
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it's gonna disturb your sleep so it's
11:13
best to limit high carb foods
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several hours before dead bedtime for
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optimal sleep
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really prevents your body from going in
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going into the deep restorative
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anti-aging sleep phase so it's usually
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best
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not to eat after dinner but if you must
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eat
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choose healthy fats like avocados maybe
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some nuts those are great choices
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they're high in the relaxing nutrients
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like magnesium and potassium
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i really prefer and biologically it's
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better
11:43
to just have tea or bone broth before
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bedtime
11:46
nothing that you're going to have to
11:47
digest much
11:49
okay you might want to take a screenshot
11:51
of this recipe
11:53
it's the best golden milk i've ever
11:55
found it's a real treat that you might
11:57
want to enjoy now and then
11:59
but there's some easier ways to boost
12:01
melatonin
12:02
from nutritious and delicious fruits
12:04
that really
12:05
kind of can help you sleep better so one
12:07
is tart
12:08
cherry juice or goji berries natural
12:11
sources of melatonin
12:13
chamomile or lavender latte is a great
12:16
warm beverage
12:17
that is really good for powerfully
12:20
relaxing you
12:21
so you brew the chamomile tea with some
12:23
non-dairy milk like almond milk or
12:24
coconut milk
12:25
then you add some lavender lavender
12:28
leaves lavender tea lavender flowers
12:30
that's going to help you catch some
12:31
wings but i really like the recipe for
12:33
this turmeric gold milk
12:34
it is got a lot of anti-inflammatory and
12:37
good for balancing blood sugar as well
12:39
it's a little involved but you might
12:40
want to take a screenshot
12:42
but the recipe you know it's it's kind
12:45
of negotiable you know any like any long
12:47
time cook
12:48
you know you can improvise and i surely
12:50
do
12:51
so however more often than not i will
12:53
just drink a cup of yogi bedtime tea
12:56
and it's like lights out irene first
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time i ever
13:00
heard of yogi bedtime tea my niece asked
13:03
me if i carried it at the shop
13:05
she was maybe 21 at the time and it just
13:08
you know she had just was in college and
13:10
she was going through lots of exams
13:12
and some of us are just more sensitive
13:14
to stress than others and it really
13:15
takes a toll
13:16
while there are plenty of things that
13:18
induce sleep
13:20
it's important to consider what to avoid
13:23
when treating insomnia and remove those
13:26
things first
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okay so what to avoid you know better to
13:30
make changes for better sleep it's
13:31
important that we assess
13:33
what may be affecting our sleep quality
13:35
and cause restlessness and so here's a
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list
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from the american medical
13:41
daily okay some foods and beverages the
13:44
best to avoid
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are going to be heavy foods and
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remember the best advice i can give you
13:51
is just
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avoid eating two to three hours before
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bedtime but
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spicy foods are going to be bad greasy
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foods like fast food
14:00
meats and cheeses are going to be heavy
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in fat and
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protein alcohol falling
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passing out is not falling asleep
14:09
caffeine got a half-life to caffeine
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uh nicotine dark chocolate sugars and
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refined carbohydrates all of these are
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apt to cause problems
14:18
if you're sensitive okay a real
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important concept is sleep
14:24
hygiene it's a term that we use to
14:27
describe how we prepare
14:29
ourselves to sleep beginning hours
14:31
before the actual
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anticipated sleep so we're talking two
14:36
to three hours prior to sleeping
14:38
that turns out to be really important
14:39
and there's some tips
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for getting that good sleep hygiene
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number one
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a routine pretty basic when it comes to
14:47
a healthy night's sleep
14:48
and i know it's not sexy but a sleep
14:51
routine
14:52
works your body loves predictability
14:56
settling in and following a good sleep
14:58
schedule can make
14:59
a huge change and increase the
15:02
likelihood of you falling asleep and
15:04
slaying
15:05
staying asleep first thing that the
15:07
national sleep association says and yes
15:10
there is such an organization
15:11
it recommends a consistent bedtime and a
15:14
consistent
15:15
wake-up time the idea is that you want
15:17
to get used to a wake-up time
15:19
so you get up without a jarring alarm
15:23
so it's important to get a regular
15:26
sleep schedule even on weekends sleeping
15:29
more on the weekend to kind of recover
15:31
to catch
15:31
up on sleep loss during the busy week
15:34
is pretty common but studies are
15:37
suggesting
15:38
that sleeping more on the weekend is not
15:41
an effective strategy
15:43
and leads to metabolic dysregulation
15:46
which means you're going to have a
15:48
higher risk of metabolic problems like
15:50
obesity and diabetes
15:52
not what we want so we want at least two
15:55
to three hours
15:56
prior to sleep have a light balanced
15:58
meal you know they say have dinner like
16:00
a pauper
16:01
and those old adages really hold up
16:04
and then you make a plan to abstain from
16:06
electronic devices
16:08
two hours before you want to go to sleep
16:10
i'll go into that more later
16:11
because that's also really important and
16:13
then you might want to do a little light
16:15
activity such as
16:17
strolling the neighborhood taking a
16:18
little walk or doing some yoga
16:21
avoid a hard workout or any activity
16:24
that's too stimulating
16:26
so you want to reduce or eliminate
16:28
caffeine as well
16:29
coffee tea chocolate in the diet no more
16:32
than one or two cups of coffee or tea in
16:35
the morning before
16:36
lunch because there's a half-life to the
16:38
chemical caffeine
16:40
and the liver has to detoxify that so if
16:42
you have 200 milligrams at lunch
16:44
you still have 100 milligrams at bedtime
16:47
maybe not enough to keep you from
16:49
falling asleep but maybe
16:50
keeping you from having deep restorative
16:52
sleep so
16:53
you want to make your sleep space quiet
16:56
dark maybe wear one of those eye masks
16:59
and at a comfortable temperature at
17:01
about 65 to 68 degrees
17:03
really does make a difference and then
17:06
take a moment to consider
17:07
how good your sleep hygiene is are there
17:09
any of these areas
17:11
that may need a little improvement
17:14
so the natural sleep foundation
17:18
says exercise is a way to combat
17:20
insomnia
17:21
i like to look at it like you know the
17:24
chinese yin-yang
17:25
these little paisleys it's a balance of
17:28
life you have to have the active
17:30
and also the inactive if you don't have
17:32
one you can't have the other
17:33
activity helps you sleep sleeps helps
17:35
you to be active so
17:37
specifically in biology exercise
17:39
triggers
17:40
an increase in body temperature one of
17:42
the things it does and then
17:44
the post exercise drops in temperature
17:46
it's going to promote you falling asleep
17:48
exercise may also reduce insomnia by
17:50
decreasing cortisol
17:52
insomnia commonly linked to the
17:54
elevation of that stress hormone
17:56
cortisol
17:57
and that leads to increases in arousal
18:00
and anxiety and depression
18:01
and exercise has a strong effect on
18:04
reducing those symptoms
18:06
in the general population so exercise
18:09
reduces stress hormones
18:11
helps you fall asleep and it's a
18:12
terrific idea to try to incorporate
18:15
exercise
18:16
a couple hours before bedtime you don't
18:19
want that stimulation
18:21
stress is the leading cause of insomnia
18:25
and by reducing stress better sleep as
18:28
possible
18:28
we need to learn techniques to stop
18:31
stressing
18:32
i know it seems impossible and
18:34
ridiculous
18:35
while in the midst of stress but it's
18:38
the last thing we want to hear but
18:40
there's
18:41
therapists are going to tell you that we
18:43
can and must change
18:45
our wiring ruminating
18:48
about the day's conversation and
18:50
planning and over planning
18:51
keeps our brain on alert replaying
18:55
arguments
18:55
puts you right back in that stressful
18:57
moment your body doesn't know it's not
18:59
happening again
19:00
all over again no wonder it's stressed
19:02
it's like groundhog day
19:04
replaying over and over and over
19:06
unending
19:07
our spectacular body
19:10
has a great way to reduce stress and
19:13
it's called mindful
19:14
breath it stops us from overthinking and
19:17
ruminating
19:18
it just focuses on the breath slow deep
19:21
breathing actually helps your body
19:23
override the sympathetic nervous system
19:25
that fight or flight response
19:27
and it gets you into the parasympathetic
19:29
where you're going to control the
19:31
ability to relax
19:33
take the wheel so that you can relax
19:36
when you practice
19:37
deep breathing while in bed you're
19:39
giving the body permission
19:40
to be quiet stop being on high alert
19:45
and and with this in mind let's take a
19:47
look at some of my favorite exercises
19:50
for mindful breathing for stress
19:52
reduction
19:53
okay my favorite breathing exercises
19:56
for stress reduction and better sleep
19:59
include
20:00
like pursed breath breathing so you take
20:02
a breath
20:03
in to about count of two and then you
20:06
pucker
20:06
and exhale for the count of four
20:10
and you just continue that another is
20:12
diaphragmatic breathing
20:14
where you're gonna have one hand on your
20:16
chest and one hand on your belly
20:18
and as you breathe in deeply for about
20:20
two counts
20:21
your belly should stick out a bit and
20:23
you feel the air expanding your stomach
20:26
and then you breathe out slowly i like
20:28
to take twice as long breathing out
20:31
because that really changes some things
20:33
another one
20:34
is yogic breathing it is great
20:37
for your mental state and it also
20:39
encourages creativity
20:41
so you put your right thumb over your
20:43
right nostril
20:44
as you breathe in through your left
20:46
nostril and then you take
20:48
your ring finger and place it over your
20:50
left nostril
20:51
as you exhale from the right one then
20:54
you switch sides
20:55
continue do this during the day when
20:58
you're stuck
20:59
or anxious it is really good
21:02
to change the mindset and you're going
21:05
to find solutions to problems come
21:07
a little bit easier too now then there
21:10
is the four
21:11
seven eight and they call it box
21:14
breeding it's it was initially one of my
21:15
favorites
21:16
that i used to retrain my brain for good
21:19
sleep
21:20
so you begin my inhaling for the count
21:22
of four
21:23
you hold for the count of seven
21:27
and then you release for the count of
21:29
eight
21:30
and you just continue i did this for
21:32
weeks
21:33
and then one day i noticed i didn't even
21:35
get through one cycle when i was trying
21:37
to fall asleep
21:38
my brain had finally rewired no more
21:40
watching the clock slowly change
21:43
or listen to my husband sleep soundly
21:45
and even the dog
21:46
used to sleep better than me no more
21:50
i now do just four eight
21:53
and i you know if i have to get up and
21:55
take the dog out
21:56
this one is my go-to it's really simple
21:59
you know you just exhale
22:01
twice as long as you inhale and it is
22:03
also another one really good
22:04
for changing your state
22:08
okay meditation great way to work on
22:12
breath
22:13
and focus and on centering the body
22:16
which
22:16
helps to relieve anxiety relieve stress
22:19
there's so many ways to retrain the
22:21
brain and to get out of that fight or
22:23
flight state
22:24
meditation or repeating mantras
22:28
can really help you fall asleep or just
22:30
help you relax during the day
22:32
so a mantra is just a phrase or a sound
22:35
repeated over and over to soothe the
22:38
mind and soothe the body it can be like
22:43
and that really does resonate in the
22:45
skull and you know it may be a little
22:47
distracting to your co-workers but you
22:49
know
22:50
you can also do it silently other things
22:52
that you can say to yourself
22:53
is i am calm i am still
22:57
or all is well or just the word
23:01
sleep there are so many meditations that
23:04
you can play off of youtube
23:05
when you just aren't able to fall asleep
23:08
and they're going to be helpful
23:09
you know anything that takes your focus
23:11
off of things that you're stressing
23:12
about
23:13
stops all those neurons from firing the
23:15
stress hormones that keep you alert and
23:17
solving the world's problems but you
23:20
know you've got to find your favorite
23:21
mine is breathing
23:23
but you know you're going to find your
23:25
own
23:26
and we just need to stop the stress
23:28
response you know if you have a lot of
23:30
stress at work
23:31
i remember recommend that you just drink
23:33
a lot of water
23:34
and then every time you use the restroom
23:37
take
23:37
ten deep four eight breaths no one's
23:40
gonna know
23:41
and it's gonna make a world of
23:43
difference on how you handle stress
23:45
it really helps you to center and not be
23:47
reactive
23:48
to the stress outside yourself you begin
23:51
to see
23:52
stress is outside and that you are not
23:55
feeling the stress like you once were
23:58
you know
23:58
it's a different orientation stress is
24:00
outside
24:01
not inside it's huge okay
24:05
so then we need to talk about technology
24:10
you can't talk about sleep problems
24:12
without
24:13
talking about technology from a
24:16
biological standpoint our cell phones
24:19
our tablets our computers all those
24:20
electronics
24:21
have play a huge part in our lives today
24:25
and it's really hard to put them down
24:26
even at bedtime keeping your phone on
24:28
the bed stand may not seem like a big
24:30
deal
24:31
but technology is affecting your sleep
24:34
in more ways than you realize if you're
24:36
surfing the web
24:37
if you're playing a stimulating video
24:39
game if you're binge watching netflix
24:43
or just using your phone as an alarm
24:45
clock in the late evening
24:46
you're probably doing yourself more harm
24:49
than good keeping yourself from a good
24:50
restful night's sleep
24:52
that sleep wake cycle is based on light
24:55
and darkness and the two hormones that
24:57
are associated with each phase of that
24:59
cycle
25:00
so cortisol the stress hormone is high
25:02
during the day
25:03
and then it falls off at night so
25:05
melatonin can raise
25:07
and make you drowsy the blue light from
25:10
those electronics
25:12
simulate daylight and keeps the brain
25:14
alert
25:15
it's going to suppress melatonin the
25:17
hormone responsible for your sleep cycle
25:19
you know not something you want when
25:21
you're trying to go to sleep so when
25:22
you're exposed to all this bright
25:24
daylight during the day melatonin is
25:26
naturally suppressed since you know
25:28
you're supposed to be protective you're
25:29
alert
25:30
not sleeping however once that sun goes
25:33
down
25:34
exposure to these devices that
25:37
contains more blue light has a real
25:40
negative effect on
25:41
hormone production melatonin production
25:44
and it alters the body's whole circadian
25:47
rhythm
25:48
blue light is everywhere these days and
25:51
it's found in all the digital screens
25:52
the flat screen
25:53
tvs your computers your smartphones your
25:56
tablets
25:57
led lights and electronic devices
26:00
led is you know good for bright light
26:03
and it's supposed to be energy efficient
26:05
and
26:05
you know better than the old traditional
26:07
bulbs but what's the impact on our
26:08
health
26:10
while all these artificial lights have a
26:12
negative impact on sleep
26:13
blue light exposure also means optical
26:16
radiation
26:17
at short wavelengths and that has
26:20
a real impact on the structure of the
26:23
eye
26:24
it can be damaging to these structures
26:26
over a lifetime
26:27
and can cause problems in the macula as
26:30
we age
26:31
you know a lot of times there's macular
26:32
degeneration we don't want to see that
26:35
luckily there are measures that you can
26:36
take to protect your eyes and prime your
26:38
body for better sleep this is according
26:41
to the american
26:41
optometric association not even the
26:45
nutritional association
26:46
it says a healthy diet incorporating
26:48
leafy greens
26:50
antioxidants and phytonutrients supports
26:53
eye health and that should be considered
26:54
to prevent or delay
26:56
eye diseases i always say think the
26:59
color of the rainbow when you
27:01
are wanting to be protected remember roy
27:03
g biv
27:04
red orange yellow blue or i'm sorry
27:07
green
27:07
blue indigo and violet blue indigo and
27:09
violet kind of go together so
27:11
blueberries
27:12
while there may be other health concerns
27:14
associated with cell phones and other
27:16
electronics
27:17
from a sleep standpoint it's all about
27:19
timing and scheduling
27:20
exposure properly to so that you have
27:24
good healthy sleep
27:25
keeping blue light electronic strong
27:27
daylight to the daytime
27:29
and avoid at night and when this is
27:31
unavoidable
27:32
you know use those blue light filtering
27:35
applications on your phone
27:37
or you might want to get some of the
27:38
blue blocker glasses
27:40
that should be used okay all right so
27:43
now
27:44
let's talk some sound noises
27:47
you know sometimes we feel like they're
27:48
necessary to fall asleep that's why some
27:50
people like to listen to tv when they go
27:52
to bed
27:52
but that isn't good because it keeps
27:54
part of your brain on the alert
27:55
listening to conversations and other
27:57
input but a noise machine
28:00
can be a great alternative to the
28:02
distraction of tv
28:03
and it can be really soothing some baby
28:06
authorities even
28:07
suggest that white noise machines help
28:09
babies to sleep better at night
28:11
the different choices in these you know
28:14
can be like white noise or ocean noises
28:16
or waterfalls or rainfalls you know all
28:18
sorts of natural things
28:19
my grandson had one of these white noise
28:21
machines in his bedroom
28:23
when he was little and it really did
28:24
help
28:26
so then let's talk essential oils they
28:29
work
28:29
by triggering the nervous system you
28:32
know you smell it and
28:33
and you get a really a physical response
28:36
and the circulatory system as well and
28:38
it promotes sleep in the body
28:39
some favorite ones are lavender oil
28:42
cedarwood oil
28:43
chamomile and there's different ways to
28:45
incorporate
28:46
these essential oils into your nighttime
28:48
routine so
28:49
you can use according to the north
28:52
american essential oil and aromatherapy
28:54
experts now and you can use different
28:57
things in your nighttime routine for
28:59
better sleep
29:00
so you can use a diffuser that's one of
29:02
the most popular ones where you just add
29:04
a few drops
29:05
into your diffuser of choice about a
29:08
half an hour
29:09
before you want to go to bed put it in
29:11
your bedroom
29:12
and before you go to sleep so that's
29:14
going to have the smell it's going to be
29:15
everywhere
29:16
another one is in your bath and this is
29:18
one of my favorites that i've heard from
29:20
my clients
29:20
is you just add five to ten drops of the
29:23
essential oil into a warm bath
29:25
along with some epsom salts and we'll
29:27
talk about that in a little bit
29:29
or you can use it just a little air
29:30
freshener where you take some water and
29:32
you put some drops of the essential oil
29:34
in a metal or glass spray bottle
29:36
and just spritz it around the bedroom or
29:38
on the pillowcase right before going to
29:40
bed
29:41
this one's delicious a foot massage so
29:43
you take a few drops
29:45
of essential oils and you put them in
29:48
with
29:49
some sort of carrier oil olive oil
29:52
any good nice nice oil coconut oil and
29:55
then you massage it into the bottom of
29:56
your feet
29:57
until it's fully absorbed if you can get
29:59
somebody to do it for you that's all the
30:01
better but just the same it's wonderful
30:03
or you can just go direct inhalation you
30:05
know you just take the lid off and you
30:07
take a big
30:08
deep inhale and the aroma from the
30:11
bottle
30:12
and you know keep it a few inches away
30:14
from the nose but oh my goodness take a
30:16
few
30:16
deep breaths of that and you're
30:18
incorporating the deep breathing as well
30:20
so it's
30:20
it's absolutely fabulous so not only
30:24
are teas a nice soothing drink but some
30:27
of these
30:27
actually help combat insomnia
30:30
you know the teas that are herbal teas
30:32
not the green tea not the black tea
30:35
so celestial seasoning has always had
30:37
sleepy time tea
30:38
and my favorite of course is yogi's
30:40
bedtime tea
30:41
but there's another suggestion let me
30:43
get lavender tea you know so if you have
30:45
dried lavender flowers you're going to
30:47
need about one and a half tablespoons
30:49
you're going to use fresh flowers you're
30:50
going to need about twice that about
30:52
three tablespoons
30:53
and so then you pour two cups of hot
30:56
water
30:57
and put that in a teapot and let it just
30:59
steep for about 10 minutes
31:01
then then you strain it some teapots
31:04
have a built-in strainer but
31:06
then if you want to get a little bit of
31:07
honey a little bit of lemon
31:09
it's absolutely wonderful okay
31:12
so i like a bath a warm bath or a foot
31:16
soak
31:17
before bedtime is really effective and
31:19
that really helps the body relax
31:21
it's probably my client's favorite
31:24
one that they enjoy epsom salts about a
31:27
cup of epsom salts
31:28
with lavender essential oil is great
31:31
you've got the magnesium
31:32
from the salt as a natural relaxant and
31:34
then the lavender which is going to help
31:36
soothe the mind
31:37
and the body so the institute of
31:39
naturopathic sleep medicine states
31:42
that a warm bath before bed is effective
31:45
because it's raising the body
31:46
temperature
31:47
and then when it drops sleep is induced
31:50
by that drop of body temperature so then
31:54
it's just kind of like
31:54
washing away the day's troubles very
31:56
good
31:58
okay so that temperature is uh an
32:00
important point
32:01
because the body temperature plays a
32:03
role in the amount and the quality of
32:05
sleep
32:05
so if the room temperature is is a
32:08
really important factor to consider
32:10
room that's too hot is going to elevate
32:12
the body temperature so your body has to
32:14
bring that back down so
32:15
it has to work hard to cool it off so
32:18
that disrupts sleep
32:19
so the natural sleep foundation claims
32:21
that an optimal room temperature
32:23
is about 65 degrees i think 65 68
32:27
your body's going to tell when it hits
32:29
70. okay so do you keep your room cool
32:32
enough for good sleep
32:34
okay some supplements these
32:37
are very helpful it takes the other
32:41
a little while to work so you know if
32:44
you
32:44
are having any health conditions make
32:46
sure you get your doctor's approval
32:48
um before trying any of these so always
32:51
get your doctor's approval
32:52
uh so whether you're already realizing
32:56
that your memory
32:57
is struggling not as good as it used to
32:58
be or if you're looking to take
33:00
preventive measures
33:01
against memory loss it's a good idea to
33:04
make sleep a top
33:05
priority for your health and wellness
33:08
the physical process of falling asleep
33:10
does not happen in a moment it is a
33:13
gradual transition that involves moving
33:16
from that alert
33:17
mental state where you've got a lot of
33:19
beta waves into the
33:21
relaxed one where you've got more of the
33:23
alpha waves
33:24
and then finally the theta waves
33:29
so several human studies have shown that
33:32
the amino acid l-theanine
33:34
helps the brain make the switch from the
33:37
beta
33:37
into the alpha and that is in
33:41
a really good product called alpha theta
33:44
ultra pm they knew what to call it um
33:48
if you don't have access to my shop you
33:51
can always
33:52
text me email me and i'll get you a link
33:55
where you can order it
33:56
another one is inositol or i knows it
33:58
all b vitamin
34:00
that helps support sleep quality by
34:03
benefiting the neurotransmitter function
34:05
it's because inositol is an important
34:07
part of the messaging line
34:09
between the neurotransmitter system so
34:12
like
34:12
dopamine norepinephrine serotonin
34:14
acetylcholine
34:16
that's a real important one then herbs
34:18
the german commission e
34:20
from europe recommends common botanicals
34:23
valerian lavender lemon balm and hops
34:26
to help support sleep there are also
34:28
some popular choices that
34:30
other people like passion flower
34:33
chamomile
34:34
kavakava most of these relaxant
34:37
botanicals can be found
34:39
in supplement form however botanicals
34:42
you help to promote sleep
34:44
supplementing your routine with
34:46
magnesium glycinate
34:47
can really help that whole relaxation
34:52
magnesium can
34:55
really normalize cell communication and
34:58
most
34:58
americans are deficient you know it
35:01
plays a critical role
35:02
in biochemistry and it's in about 300
35:06
different enzymatic reactions in the
35:08
body and since most of us
35:10
are deficient we may want to all
35:12
consider taking a little magnesium
35:14
i like magnesium glycinate it's well
35:16
absorbed and well tolerated some people
35:18
like other forms
35:20
if they have trouble with constipation
35:21
but if that's not an issue
35:23
you want to use the glycinate form of
35:24
magnesium finally
35:27
ashwagandha if
35:30
ever i had a favorite it's this one it's
35:32
in my daily
35:34
routine my daily staples lowers cortisol
35:37
by about
35:38
39 in this time in the world i think we
35:40
need to support our nervous system
35:42
as much as we can life during covet has
35:45
had seen many people choose
35:47
ashwagandha rather than many drugs that
35:50
would be for stress
35:51
depression anxiety or insomnia
35:55
so we've covered a heck of a lot today
35:58
and you may be feeling a little
35:59
overwhelmed
36:01
but you got this you deserve a good
36:03
night's sleep and we believe
36:05
that with this information that i've
36:07
offered today
36:08
you are well on your way in breaking the
36:10
cycle of insomnia
36:12
you're going to get this recording sent
36:13
to you so you can review it and pick
36:15
one or two strategies to start working
36:17
with you know it takes time
36:19
it may take weeks months it's okay
36:22
we've got it might as well get started
36:25
making your days and nights better
36:27
and improving your health vitality and
36:29
longevity okay
36:32
so i hope that my overcoming insomnia
36:35
webinar
36:36
exceeded your expectations and that you
36:38
now feel
36:39
more equipped and knowledgeable to get
36:42
started on the path to better sleep
36:45
if not feel free to reach out to me for
36:47
some special
36:48
situations you might have as a doctor of
36:51
clinical nurse nutrition i specialize in
36:53
diet and lifestyle therapy
36:55
and that is the foundation i truly
36:57
believe it's the foundation to help
36:59
vitality and longevity
37:00
we got to follow those rules of biology
37:03
health is not an accident
37:04
okay so now i'm going to answer some
37:06
questions um
37:08
go into the chats and i had a few that
37:11
were here
37:12
uh beforehand so as i'm kind of
37:14
switching gears here
37:15
i'm gonna go to these and
37:19
go to full screen
37:22
okay so see if we have any chats
37:27
okay so some of the questions i
37:31
had oh this is a good one
37:35
i'm on ambien so
37:38
can i switch i think was that so
37:41
any medication you're on you do need to
37:43
work with your doctor
37:45
and um i would have to say ambien
37:49
is um sedating it
37:52
does not ensure the proper sleep cycles
37:56
and in fact um let me just
37:59
tell you here that and and this is kind
38:03
of important i think for all of us to
38:05
to really understand
38:08
but ambien
38:14
is a drug that helps you become
38:17
unconscious sedation is not the same
38:21
thing
38:21
as falling asleep you know that's what i
38:23
say about alcohol passing out is not
38:25
falling asleep you do not get the same
38:27
benefits
38:28
those hypnotic drugs can actually
38:30
restrict the deeper brain waves remember
38:33
i talked about all the stages of the
38:34
sleep cycle
38:35
the deeper brain waves during rem sleep
38:39
and so you don't have that so next day
38:41
you can be groggy and forgetful the next
38:44
morning
38:44
so that's that's a real important
38:47
concept
38:48
we it really is worth the effort to
38:52
be making these changes naturally
38:55
the herbs are going to help you relax
38:58
naturally
39:00
medications that conk you out
39:03
are not going to get you into those deep
39:05
stages and
39:06
another one oh somebody wanted to know
39:10
about sleep aids and dementia
39:14
and there has been a lot of concern on
39:17
this
39:17
the um even the alzheimer's association
39:20
and and different ones they they're
39:22
finding that there is some correlation
39:24
between
39:25
taking sleep aids and dementia
39:29
we don't know if one causes the other
39:33
or what but there was one um a dr
39:36
lang lang and his colleagues found that
39:39
um
39:39
[Music]
39:41
sleep aids five or more times a month
39:44
had an 80 increase risk at developing
39:48
dementia over the course of the study
39:51
and no no difference between genetics
39:55
or gender so there again
40:00
drugs have their place but they're not
40:03
going to replace
40:04
good restful sleep and if you don't get
40:06
into that deep
40:07
rem sleep your brain doesn't detoxify
40:11
you know you actually have the spinal
40:13
fluid washing
40:14
over the brain and clearing out those
40:16
things and all of these things
40:18
place such a big impact on the health of
40:21
your brain
40:22
the food you eat before going to bed you
40:25
don't want to have
40:26
a lot of high carbs and i'll tell you
40:29
biochemically what that does
40:31
if you've got a lot of carbs before you
40:33
go to bed
40:34
you've got a high insulin level and the
40:37
same
40:37
enzyme in the brain that clears the
40:40
enzyme
40:41
is the same enzyme that clears the beta
40:44
amyloid plaque
40:45
so there's so many variables that
40:48
um kind of interconnect
40:52
in good healthy brain function and
40:55
good restorative sleep is essential
40:58
um even the light sleep
41:02
you can't really separate any of these
41:04
out because the light sleep
41:05
is very important for consolidating your
41:08
memories so you need all of them
41:11
and the only way to get it is to
41:13
encourage your body's own natural rhythm
41:16
i like the breathing because that in the
41:18
long run
41:19
is something that is just encouraging
41:21
your body's own mechanisms
41:23
but in the short term heck those herbs
41:26
are wonderful valerian was the first one
41:28
i used
41:29
um now that i take ashwagandha every day
41:32
i find that valerian is
41:35
is not necessary sleepy time tea not so
41:38
necessary so
41:40
i encourage you to incorporate a few of
41:42
these things
41:43
every day and if you have any other
41:45
questions feel free to reach out to me
41:48
i feel it's very important to get a good
41:50
night's sleep so thanks for attending
41:52
it means a lot to be able to share all
41:53
these lessons to people who really are
41:55
ready to make a difference in their
41:57
health
41:57
okay great thanks a lot
42:03
you
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Overcoming Your Insomnia
Deb Ford DCN RDN
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May 25, 2021
42:04
Insomnia increases your risk of dementia, obesity, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, diabetes, accidents and even depression. Many of the most common medications do not allow for the natural sleep cycle and are associated with a much greater rate of dementia. Learn how to recover from insomnia and feel your best.