During a February 4, 2022, interview with Time magazine,1 former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins accused me of being to blame for the government’s inability to bring the COVID pandemic to a close.
In his mind, the COVID-19 deaths experienced in the U.S. were not due to the lack of appropriate treatment but, rather, our failure to get a needle into every arm in America. In other words, vaccine resistance is the reason COVID-19 is still with us, and people who share basic facts about the COVID jabs are to blame for that.
Time’s editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe asked Collins why so many of those who distrust vaccines are Christians, to which he replied, in part:
“I don’t want to blame any of those people who have been somehow seduced by misinformation into a position that is not good for them. I want to blame the people who are spreading the misinformation especially those who know it’s not true and are doing so anyway ...
I look at what happens in social media, at the top 12 distributors of false information on Facebook. And some of them are doctors who are making a lot of money on this.
They’re the people who I have the hardest time forgiving, physicians who have given an oath to do no harm and are now saying ‘These vaccines are dangerous,’ and ‘Here is an alternative approach and that if you buy from me, you’ll be fine.’ Look at Dr. Joseph Mercola from Florida.”
Before correcting the article, Luscombe interjected at this point, asking, “The one who claims to be the inventor of mRNA?” to which Collins replied, “Yes.” In the corrected copy, Collins reply is changed to, “No that’s Dr. Robert Malone ...”
But originally, both of them somehow managed to get the two of us confused. I guess it’s hard to keep all the facts straight when you’re trying to cover up lies with more lies.
Evidence Does Not Support Collins’ Denials
To me, it seems Collins is desperately trying to deflect and hide the NIH’s own involvement in the pandemic — both its creation and its continuation — which is getting more obvious as time goes on. From the start, Collins2 and Fauci denied the possibility of a lab leak, even though most of the evidence pointed straight in that direction.
In January 2022, House Oversight Committee Republicans released National Institutes of Health emails that show Drs. Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins led the effort to bury the lab leak theory, even though the scientific consensus in early February 2020 was that the virus likely leaked from the Wuhan lab.3 For example, a note from professor and microbiologist Robert (Bob) Garry, Ph.D., read:
“Before I left the office for the ball, I aligned the nCoV with the 96% bat CoV sequenced at WIV. Except for the RBD the S proteins are essential identical at the amino acid level — well all but the perfect insertion of 12 nucleotides that adds [sic] the furin site.
S2 is over its whole length essentially identical. I really can’t think of a plausible natural scenario where you get from the bat virus or one very similar to it to nCoV where you insert exactly 4 amino acids 12 nucleotide [sic] that all have to be added at the exact same time to gain this function — that and you don’t change any other amino acids in S2?
I just can’t figure out how this gets accomplished in nature. Do the alignment of the spikes at the amino acid level — its [sic] stunning. Of course, in the lab it would be easy to generate the perfect 12 base insert that you wanted.”
That was a private note; yet, publicly — and in retrospect, duplicitously — Garry was claiming it came from nature, and even cowrote a paper in March 20204 stating that, “plausibly,” the virus could not have come from a lab. A year later, in May 2021, in a video interview with the American Society for Microbiology,5 he again insisted the virus came from nature and not a lab.
One can only speculate why he had one story for Fauci’s eyes only, but another for the public. Then, again, Collins and Fauci also denied ever having funded gain-of-function (GOF) research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, despite documented evidence of such funding.6,7,8,9
As reported by The Federalist,10 while Fauci insists that the NIAID’s funding of research on bat coronaviruses at the WIV (through grants to the EcoHealth Alliance) could not possibly have led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2, the records that could actually prove this assertion — the complete lab records — have never been disclosed. Why is that?
It’s also worth noting that the natural origin theory does not automatically dismiss the lab leak theory. Even if SARS-CoV-2 had a natural origin, it still could have escaped from the Wuhan lab — if it was kept and/or studied there.
So, why are Fauci and Collins so adamant about denying both scenarios? And why are they not cooperating and releasing relevant information if that information can clear them of suspicions of wrongdoing?
Criminalizing Truth
For the time being, Collins and his underling, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, are protected by political powers, but that could — and hopefully will — eventually change. For now, they’re relying on a combination of projection, censorship and intimidation to keep the truth under a tight lid.
To that end, February 7, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raised the terrorism threat level a notch:11
“The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis-, dis- and mal-information (MDM12) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors.”
According to the DHS, Americans who “undermine public trust in government institutions” are the primary “threat actors.” With that, they have literally labeled free speech a “terrorism threat” to the U.S.13
Anyone who presents information that results in people losing confidence in government institutions is “a terrorist.” The problem with this is that it’s THE TRUTH that is triggering this loss of confidence. So, they’re actually criminalizing truth telling!
National Security Apparatus Targets Citizens
DHS claims that “domestic violent extremists” have and may continue to use COVID measures, such as mask and vaccine mandates, “to justify violence” against “government, health care and academic institutions that they associate with those measures.”
Strangely enough, the DHS then goes on to cite threats directed at synagogues, mosques, Jewish facilities and Black colleges, as well as rumors of election fraud, as examples of events that can inspire and mobilize this kind of violence. Just what race, religion and election fraud concerns have to do with how people feel about COVID measures is unclear.
To keep Americans safe, the DHS urges everyone to maintain the “digital and media literacy” required to “recognize and build resilience to false or misleading narratives.”
For their part, the DHS and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are sharing information with partners “across every level of government and in the private sector.” They’ve also established a “new, dedicated domestic terrorism branch to produce the sound, timely intelligence needed to counter related threats.”14
In the same vein, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has a dedicated “MDM team,” a special taskforce “charged with building national resilience to mis-, dis-, and malinformation ...”15 In short, national security agencies are being weaponized against the American public itself. They’re openly being used to shut down Constitutional rights.
DHS Bulletin Cannot Be Allowed to Stand
In response to the DHS bulletin, Malone writes:16
“In the United States, our right to free speech and the right to assemble is paramount to who we are. [The DHS National Terrorism Advisory Bulletin] has some of my colleagues as well as myself very worried. Those who are writing and speaking about science and health policy are now in danger of being targeted by the U.S. government as domestic terrorists for spreading ‘mis-, dis- and mal-information (MDM).
The manipulative linking of election violence to COVID-19 policies is disingenuous. It is a calculated strategy to allow government authorities to crack down on those people who are going against the Health and Human Services narrative that there are no early treatments for COVID-19 and that everyone must get vaccinated, and that the lockdowns and mask mandates were necessary.
The U.S. government must be held accountable for their failed policies and authoritarian behavior during this pandemic. Scientists, the press, physicians and yes, laypeople, must be able to speak and write freely ...
As a people, we cannot allow ourselves to be censored in this manner. It is time that our legislative and judicial branches of government do their job to protect our first amendment rights. This bulletin cannot be allowed to stand or we will no longer have freedom of speech in this country.”
Researchers report that patients with chronic hepatitis C who are treated with direct-acting antiviral medicines are less likely to be hospitalized or seek emergency care for liver and non-liver related health issues. The study underscores the extraordinary effect of these newer antivirals, which have been shown to cure hepatitis C in 98 percent of patients who take them.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/bouEtVl
Thought that catching COVID once would make you immune to future infections? Think again. Emerging research suggests that catching the illness once does not necessarily equal future immunity. Sigh…
He’s a true pioneer in the field and, as most good natural medicine physicians, a perpetual student. He was actually the first to innovate the use of nebulized hydrogen peroxide, which has become my favorite intervention for upper respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2. Sadly, it's been widely disparaged, but those that have used it are typically really impressed by the results.
In this interview, we’ll review a number of strategies you can use to optimize your mitochondrial health and function. After graduating from medical school, Shallenberger first went into trauma medicine. After about seven years, he transitioned into being a general practitioner and internist. Within months, however, he realized that nobody was getting well. In fact, many were getting sicker from the drugs he prescribed.
As it happened, Linus Pauling had a once-a-month study group in the area, which Shallenberger was able to join. He quickly realized there are far better ways to treat disease.
The Importance of Mitochondrial Optimization
One of the things Shallenberger has pioneered is bio energy testing that measures mitochondrial function. As you age, your mitochondrial function typically decreases, and this is a hallmark of both the aging process itself as well as most chronic disease.
He decided he wanted a way to test mitochondrial status, and by 2004 he had developed a system that evaluates how much oxygen you consume and, in real time, how much carbon dioxide (CO2) you produce. This can give you a quantitative measure of how well your mitochondria are working.
What he found was that even asymptomatic people in their 30s were having significantly decreased mitochondrial function. He calls this “early onset mitochondrial dysfunction,” and it’s indicative of future health problems, even if everything seems good and well right now.
“The conventional thinking has always been that our mitochondria lose their efficiency as a result of the aging process. But I started questioning that, and wondered if our mitochondria in fact lose their efficiency even before any signs of aging. And, the amazing thing I discovered was that mitochondrial efficiency can decrease significantly even in our 30s and 40s, long before any of the effects of aging.
I believe that this early decline is the primary factor that accelerates the aging process and makes us more vulnerable to the diseases of aging. And this is exactly what I have observed over the years. People with optimal mitochondrial function, no matter how old they are, rarely develop any of the diseases associated with aging, and routinely maintain full function even into their 90s.”
B Vitamins Needed for Optimal Mitochondrial Function
So, what are some of the most effective interventions Shallenberger has found for optimizing mitochondrial function? After a lot of testing and experimenting, the only two substances found to really move the needle were B vitamins and ozone treatment. He explains:
“B vitamins are absolutely critical for mitochondrial function — especially niacin, riboflavin and folate. Orally speaking, with niacin, I typically start them at 100 to 200 milligrams a day [but] you can go up to 2,000 mg easy on some patients. I use a B complex because I like to balance it out, but I'm focusing primarily on niacin, folate and riboflavin.”
Typically, when a deficiency of B vitamins is the cause of decreased mitochondrial function, I will see improved readings within two to three weeks, although the level of improvement can vary tremendously from one person to the next. An important caveat here is that mitochondria are vulnerable to any number of assaults, including emotional stress.
“I have literally seen patients have great mitochondrial function, be under stress for two months, and have their mitochondria wiped out just from emotional stress,” he says. “I haven't done the studies, but I'm pretty sure that if you get under a lot of emotional stress, I bet your mitochondria suffer a measurable hit within 48 hours.”
Ozone Therapy
The other intervention Shallenberger found for mitochondria optimization is ozone therapy. He explains:
“First of all, people should understand what ozone is. When we talk about ozone and medicine, we're not talking about ozone in the atmosphere. We're talking about a very pure molecule, it's pure oxygen, period. There's nothing else in there. Regular oxygen that we breathe is what we call O2, that's two oxygen atoms combined together.
Ozone is basically three oxygen atoms combined together. What makes that molecule so unique is that it is very electron deficient. It needs electrons big time. So as soon as you put that into the human body, or into any tissue, it's going to start grabbing electrons. And as it grabs the electrons, it's going to form molecules called peroxides [a reactive oxygen species, ROS].
So, after ozone treatment, you're loaded with peroxides, and these peroxides can stay in the body for a good seven, maybe as much as 14 days. These peroxides are what mediate the various physiological and biochemical effects of ozone. They're also, by the way, molecules that are electron deficient ...
Ozone is a hormetic molecule, it has a hormetic clinical effect. This means that at low doses, it does one thing, and as you increase the dose high enough, it starts doing the exact opposite. So, deciding on the dose for ozone is pretty critical.
To stimulate mitochondrial function, I use relatively small doses, in the order of 10, maybe 12 mg ... I get ozone treatments myself every week, just because I can. And it would be super good if everybody could do that.”
It is important that the ozone used intravenously be free of contaminants, so you need to use a machine that converts pure medical grade oxygen to generate pure ozone.
Ozone generators that convert air from an oxygen concentrator are only good for certain topical applications, not for intravenous injection. Also, while the peroxides are ROS, in this case, that’s what you want. You do not want to try to counteract the oxidative stress with antioxidants before the treatment, and here’s why:
“The reason is because I want these peroxides. When the ozone goes into the tissue, I want it to be interacting with lipids and maybe amino acids. I don't want it to interact with ascorbate, because then I'll get dehydroascorbate. That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for peroxides.
The basic thinking with ozone therapy is, you really never want to give any kind of substance that's going to donate electrons, like vitamin C or glutathioneprior to the treatment, if you want to maximize peroxide production. Now, after the treatment, yeah. You want to do it after, but you got to have that sequence correct.”
Lifestyle Strategies to Improve Mitochondrial Function
Certain lifestyle strategies will also improve mitochondrial function, the top two being interval exercise and a ketogenic diet (high in healthy fats and low in refined carbs, provided that’s optimal for you. For additional details, see section below). Lowering your stress and detoxing heavy metals are two others. With regard to exercise, Shallenberger says:
“Resistance training is really important, especially for the over 60 crowd. For lean body mass-types of reasons, for resting metabolic reasons, it's very important. But it doesn't do what classic aerobic interval training does ...
For normal people, not athletes, to maintain good mitochondrial function, what you need is two 30-second intervals [where you go all-out, max exertion], followed by about four or five minutes of rest between the two, done three times a week. That’s hardly anything ... [but] it’s every bit as good as any of the harder exercise routines.”
The Case for Bioidentical Hormones
Your thyroid may also need to be addressed if your mitochondrial function is impaired. The key here is using bioidentical hormones, which unfortunately is getting more difficult to get a hold of. Bioidentical thyroid hormones are basically made from desiccated animal thyroid and therefore contain all four of the natural thyroid hormones: T1, T2, T3 and T4.
Conventional doctors typically use Synthroid or Levo-Thyroid, which only contains synthetic T4. Ideally, you want all four of them, but at bare minimum, you want T3 and T4.
“Thyroid is critical for a number of reasons,” Shallenberger says. “First of all, probably 80% of people over the age of 50 have suboptimal thyroid function. It’s such a common problem ... When I first got my equipment, I started measuring resting metabolic rates. Resting metabolic rate is how much energy your cells are producing when you're actually not doing anything.
You're sitting very quietly in a chair. In other words, no exertion. How much energy do you need for no exertion? It turns out the resting metabolic rate is almost entirely determined by thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone also activates something called uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3), which is an uncoupling receptor on the mitochondria, which stop mitochondria from self destructing.
The thyroid prevents self-destruction of mitochondria. Thyroid also stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis, and stimulates mitochondrial division, so that when the cells divide, you get representative DARs cells with the same number of mitochondria. Also, through UCP3, that's where a lot of fatty acids come in. Thyroid is very important for fatty acid metabolism of mitochondria.
So, [thyroid] hits mitochondria in about four or five different ways. It's absolutely critical for mitochondrial function. A lot of the times that's the big problem. Somebody comes in, their resting metabolic rate's low, the mitochondrial function's low. I give them enough thyroid to bring the resting metabolic rate up to what would be considered close to optimal, and bang, the mitochondrial function goes right up with it.”
Thyroid Tests Are Unreliable for Diagnosis
Unfortunately, many of the thyroid blood tests aren’t particularly good. TSH is particularly useless, according to Shallenberger. He’s convinced that measuring resting metabolic rate and increasing the dose of bioidentical thyroid hormone until you’re at an optimal or near-optimal metabolic resting rate is a far better way to gauge how much thyroid medication you need. For general reference, the most commonly used dose is between 1 grain (60 mg) and 1.5 grains (90 mg).
“I had lots of these cases. They'll tell me, ‘I feel really good. Everything's wonderful. Thank you so much.’ Then they come back maybe a year later and they say, ‘I'm miserable ... I saw my doctor, he did the thyroid test and said ‘Oh, you're being way overdosed.’ So, he reduced the dose and the test is looking good now, but I feel like crap again.’
The doctor says, that's OK, ‘because your tests are looking good.’ So, that's how good these tests are. They're totally useless. The patient comes back to me, I put them back on the thyroid and that's the end of that story. I'll use T4 and T3 to monitor what I'm doing. But the TSH is absolutely useless. And they're all useless for diagnostic purposes.”
The Importance of Being Metabolically Flexible
About 90% of the population are metabolically inflexible, and that will have a tremendous impact on their mitochondrial function. Most eat far too many refined carbs and have an impaired ability to use fat as their primary fuel. To address that, you typically need to significantly reduce your carb intake and increase healthy fats.
This is not a 100% absolute certainty, however. The mitochondrial machinery in some people is preferentially adapted to carbs and they won’t do well on a high-fat, low-carb diet. The good news is you can actually measure how well your mitochondria are working on a specific diet, using Shallenberger’s test. This way, you can really get a clear idea of what your personalized ideal diet is. Shallenberger explains:
“Mitochondria have the ability to generate energy by either burning glucose or fatty acids. If they're purely burning glucose, they produce twice as much CO2 than if they're purely burning fat.
If I look at the ratio between oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide produced, since it's a linear equation, I can tell them exactly how much energy they're generating from glucose and how much energy they're generating from fatty acids. We have that capability, just from looking at these numbers, to determine that ...
Now, carbohydrates in certain people suppress fatty acid metabolism. There's a subset of the population that, when they eat carbs, it's mitochondrial suppressive. The rationale is that since we're all different, there are going to be a subset of people whose mitochondria prefer to get their protons from glucose.
There's going to be another subset of people whose mitochondria prefer to get their protons from fatty acid. They're just more efficient that way. So, you have these two extremes. The rest of us fit on some continuum between those two extremes.”
Nebulized Hydrogen Peroxide
As mentioned, Shallenberger was way ahead of everyone else with the use of nebulized hydrogen peroxide. Anytime you inhale something, it enters your bloodstream. Shallenberger had been using intravenous hydrogen peroxide for about 20 years when he suddenly had the idea to inhale it.
Respiratory viruses, of course, tend to hang out in the sinuses, respiratory tract and lungs. Hydrogen peroxide, meanwhile is known to kill most known viruses on contact. “It's pretty simple, but it's unbelievably effective,” he says. All you need is:
A plug-in jet nebulizer
3% food grade hydrogen peroxide (food grade does not contain chemical stabilizers)
Saline
Optional: 1 to 2 drops Lugol’s iodine
Simply dilute the peroxide by mixing 7 teaspoons saline with one-fourth teaspoon of peroxide. This gives you a 0.1% solution, which is perfectly safe to inhale. If you like, you can add one drop of Lugol’s iodine into the cup along with the solution.
Heavy Metal Detox
Heavy metal toxicity is another problem that can take a toll on your mitochondria. To address heavy metals, Shallenberger typically uses a combination of colonics, saunas and chelation therapy. Like me, he’s a big fan of saunas. While most use far-infrared saunas, I prefer near-infrared saunas, for several reasons.
For starters, near-infrared penetrates much deeper into your tissues, releasing toxins. Importantly, 95% of melatonin is also produced in your mitochondria in response to near-infrared light. Melatonin is a very powerful antioxidant that helps mop up ROS in the mitochondria. Melatonin also helps increase glutathione, which is a major detoxification agent. For tips on how to create an EMF-free sauna, listen to our interview, as we go into more details than what I’ve summarized here.
TH1 Versus TH2 Immunity
In closing, we touch on immune function. Your immune system is divided into two “arms” or branches, the innate immune system (TH1) and the humoral immune system (TH2). If your innate immune system is not working well, you’re more prone to infection and illness. Unfortunately, vaccines of all kinds suppress TH1, pushing you toward a TH2 dominance.
“In 1994, there was a study published, looking at homosexual men. It had to do with AIDS and all these men were HIV positive, but only a portion of them had AIDS. They found that of the ones who had AIDS, 100% of them were all in TH2 dominance. Of the ones that didn't have AIDS, only 30% were in TH2 dominance.
They were in TH1 dominance ... I looked at that study and I thought, ‘Wow, you’re telling me that 30% of men in the control group were already in TH2 dominance? That's pretty pathetic. This basically means their innate immune system is more or less shut down, and they're in a TH2 humoral system imbalance.
I thought, they’ve ruined the TH1, because what happens is that the TH2 system produces cytokines that suppress TH1. TH1 produces cytokines that suppress TH2. So, it's sort of like one aspect of the immune system is saying, ‘I got this, we don't need you anymore.’
So, we've got a number of our population of so-called healthy people that are in a TH2 dominance. In the ‘80s, it was a big thing to test for antibodies. Everybody was testing for antibodies. The conclusion we came to is that if you have a lot of antibodies, that means you're super-duper infected versus somebody who doesn't have a lot of these antibodies.
Turns out that's just not the case ... The problem is not that these antibodies are being caused by super infection-type situations. The problem is they're in TH2 dominance and that's what they do. They live off antibodies.
Maybe as much as one-third of the population is already in TH2 dominance. Why is that? ... What are we doing that's making all these antibodies? Hello, vaccines. But what's the definition of a good vaccine? It's one that makes an antibody. Every time you get a vaccine, you're automatically suppressing your innate immunity.
Statistical data came out a couple years ago, comparing the death rate from COVID in countries where the population was highly vaccinated for the flu in 2019 as opposed to countries with a low flu vaccine rate. And the death rate was something like 400% greater in the countries where most of the people had the 2019 influenza vaccines.
That stands to reason, because they suppressed their innate immunity. That was one thing that got to me. You know, vaccines aren't really helping this game here. The other thing that got to me is that we know ozone stimulates gamma interferon and IL2, which are TH1 stimulants that act to suppress TH2.
So, my conclusion, finally, was that when you add it all up, why does ozone work for every viral infection you can get? ... It has to do with the fact that I'm taking them out of a TH2 dominance putting them in a TH1 dominance.”
If you’re interested in getting bio energy testing to measure your mitochondrial function, check out Shallenberger’s website, www.antiagingmedicine.com. Aside from Shallenberger’s clinic in Nevada, there are also testing centers1 in a dozen other states, and several other countries.
This article was previously published March 29, 2018, and has been updated with new information.
While sleep is still a largely neglected area of health, research soundly refutes the idea that sleep is "a waste of time" and can be omitted without major repercussions. On the contrary, without proper sleep, every aspect of your health will suffer adverse consequences. Estimates suggest 1 in 3 Americans gets less than seven hours of sleep a night and more than 83 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived.1
Here, I'll review some of the most important findings that have emerged in more recent years, answering key questions such as: What happens during sleep that makes it so crucial for optimal health? What are the consequences of sleeping too little or getting poor-quality sleep? How much sleep do you actually need? And, how can you improve sleep quality and quantity?
What Happens During Sleep?
Why do we sleep? For many ambitious and driven individuals, sleep can seem like an annoyance without clear purpose. Far from being a waste of time, sleep serves many important functions, and without it, your body (and mind) starts to fall apart at the proverbial seams.
In the video above, professor Matthew Walker, Ph.D., founder and director of the University of California Berkeley's Center for Human Sleep Science and author of the book, "Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams," shares the latest discoveries about sleep and how it impacts virtually every area of your physical and mental health. For example, sleep is required for:
• Maintaining metabolic homeostasis in your brain — Wakefulness is associated with mitochondrial stress and without sufficient sleep, neuron degeneration sets in, which can lead to dementia.2,3,4 Animal research reveals inconsistent, intermittent sleep results in considerable and irreversible brain damage.
In one study, mice lost 25% of the neurons located in their locus coeruleus,5 a nucleus in the brainstem associated with arousal, wakefulness and certain cognitive processes. In a similar vein, research published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging suggests people with chronic sleep problems develop Alzheimer's disease sooner than those who sleep well.6
• Maintaining biological homeostasis — Your body contains an array of body clocks that regulate everything from metabolism to psychological functioning.
When you upset your circadian rhythm by not getting enough sleep, the results cascade through your system, raising blood pressure, dysregulating hunger hormones and blood sugar, increasing the expression of genes associated with inflammation, immune excitability, diabetes, cancer risk and stress,7 and much more.
While the master clock in your brain synchronizes your bodily functions to match the 24-hour light and dark cycle, each and every organ, indeed each cell, has its own biological clock. The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 20178 was actually awarded for the discovery of these body clocks.
Even half your genes have been shown to be under circadian control, turning on and off in cyclical waves. All of these clocks, while having slightly different rhythms, are synchronized to the master clock in your brain. Needless to say, when these clocks become desynchronized, a wide array of health problems can ensue.
• Removal of toxic waste from your brain through the glymphatic system — This system ramps up its activity during deep sleep, thereby allowing your brain to clear out toxins, including harmful proteins linked to brain disorders such as Alzheimer's.
By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain's tissues, the glymphatic system flushes the waste from your brain, back into your body's circulatory system. From there, the waste eventually reaches your liver, where it can be eliminated.9,10,11,12,13
• Memory formation, extracting meaning from life events and improving daytime performance — During sleep, your brain pulls together and extracts meaning from the day's events, thereby fostering insight into the workings of your life.
Dreams play important roles as well. In addition to helping you gain insight into what's going on in your life, tests reveal dreaming about performing an activity increases actual physical performance tenfold.14 In the dream state, your brain is actually processing information at multiple levels. Your whole brain is engaged.
Part of your brain is busy stabilizing, enhancing and integrating new memories. It's also extracting rules and the gist of what's going on. Then, during dreaming, old and new memories are integrated to form a new whole, and possible futures are imagined. (This is what you actually perceive as "the action" of your dream.) The sum total of these processes then allows you to see the meaning of your life.
The Consequences of Insufficient Sleep
The list above should alert you to many of the possible ramifications associated with insufficient sleep. Considering the fact that sleep plays a key role in everything from gene expression and hormone regulation to brain detoxification and cognition, it becomes clear that there aren't many facets of your being that can skate by unscathed when you skimp on sleep. Here are some examples of the health problems linked to insufficient sleep:
Impaired memory and reduced ability to learn new things15— Due to your hippocampus shutting down, you will experience a 40% deficit in your brain with respect to its ability to make new memories when you're sleep-deprived.
Reduced productivity at work and poor grades in school
Reduced ability to perform tasks
Reduced athletic performance
Reduced creativity at work or in other activities
Slowed reaction time, increasing your risk of accidents on the road and at work — Getting less than six hours of sleep leaves you cognitively impaired. In 2013, drowsy drivers caused 72,000 car accidents in which 800 Americans were killed and 44,000 were injured.16 This is more than died from those texting and drunk drivers combined. Sadly, drowsy driving continues to be a major cause of car accidents, with more than 90,000 in 2017.17
In 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates there will be 100,000 drowsy-driving accidents. Even a single night of sleeping only four to six hours can impact your ability to think clearly the next day.
Increased risk of neurological problems, ranging from depression to dementia and Alzheimer's disease18— Your blood-brain barrier becomes more permeable with age, allowing more toxins to enter.19 This, in conjunction with reduced efficiency of the glymphatic system due to lack of sleep, allows for more rapid damage to occur in your brain and this deterioration is thought to play a significant role in the development of Alzheimer's.
Increased risk of Type 2 diabetes — In one study,20 excessive daytime sleepiness increased the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 56%.
Decreased immune function — Research21 suggests deep sleep strengthens immunological memories of previously encountered pathogens. In this way, your immune system is able to mount a much faster and more effective response when an antigen is encountered a second time.
Increased risk of obesity
Increased risk of cancer — Tumors grew faster in laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions.22 The primary mechanism thought to be responsible for this effect is disrupted melatonin production, a hormone with both antioxidant and anticancer activity.
Melatonin both inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells and triggers cancer cell apoptosis (self-destruction). It also interferes with the new blood supply tumors required for their rapid growth (angiogenesis).
Increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks and cardiovascular disease — As noted by Walker in the video above, "In the spring when we lose one hour of sleep, we see a subsequent 24% increase in heart attacks. In the fall, when we gain one hour of sleep, we see a 21% decrease in heart attacks. That is how fragile your body is with even the smallest perturbations of sleep …"
In his book, Walker also cites Japanese research showing male workers who average six hours of sleep per night or less are 400 to 500% more likely to suffer one or more cardiac arrests than those getting more than six hours of sleep each night.
Other research has demonstrated that women who get less than four hours of shut-eye per night increase their risk of dying from heart disease by 82%. Conversely, getting too much sleep increased their risk of heart disease by 95%, showing that it's important to make sure you get enough sleep, but not too much.23
In another study,24 adults who slept less than five hours a night had 50% more coronary calcium, a sign of oncoming heart disease, than those who regularly got seven hours.
Increased risk of osteoporosis
Increased risk of pain and pain-related conditions such as fibromyalgia — In one study, poor or insufficient sleep was the strongest predictor for pain in adults over 50.25
Increased susceptibility to stomach ulcers
Impaired sexual function26,27
Impaired regulation of emotions and emotional perception — Your amygdala, one of your brain's centerpiece regions for generating strong emotional reactions, including negative ones, becomes more reactive than usual when you've slept poorly or insufficiently, resulting in increased emotional intensity and volatility.28
Increased risk of depression and anxiety (including post-traumatic stress disorder), schizophrenia and suicide — According to a study in Neurologic Clinics, "there is growing experimental evidence that the relationship between psychiatric disorders and sleep is complex," and can greatly influence bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia and other psychological disorders.29
Premature aging by interfering with growth hormone production, normally released by your pituitary gland during deep sleep.
Increased risk of dying from any cause30— Compared to people without insomnia, the adjusted hazard ratio for all-cause mortality among those with chronic insomnia was 300% higher.
General Sleep Guidelines
So, how much sleep do you need to avoid this avalanche of ill effects? According to a scientific review of more than 300 studies published between 2004 and 2014 to ascertain how many hours of sleep most people need in order to maintain their health, a panel of experts came up with the following recommendations.31 Keep in mind that if you're sick, injured or pregnant, you may need a bit more than normal.
Age Group
Hours of sleep needed for health
Newborns (0 to 3 months)
14 to 17 hours
Infants (4 to 11 months)
12 to 15 hours
Toddlers (1 to 2 years)
11 to 14 hours
Preschoolers (3 to 5)
10 to 13 hours
School-age children (6 to 13)
9 to 11 hours
Teenagers (14 to 17)
8 to 10 hours
Adults (18 to 64)
7 to 9 hours
Seniors (65 and older)
7 to 8 hours
How to Diagnose Sleep Deprivation
The following three factors, in combination, influence how restorative your sleep is:
Duration — This is the number of hours you sleep. Sleep requirements are highly individual and can change from one day to the next, depending on factors like stress, physical exertion, illness and pregnancy, just to name a few. But, on average, most people need about eight hours of sleep per night.
Timing — This is the habit of going to bed at approximately the same time each night. When you go to bed and wake up at the same times, your body becomes accustomed to the routine. This helps regulate your circadian clock so you fall asleep and stay asleep all night. Keep this routine, even on the weekends,32 because even if the duration of sleep is the same, when the timing of your sleep is shifted, it's not going to be as restorative.
Intensity — This has to do with the different stages your brain and body go through over the course of the night; the sequence of them, and how those stages are linked. Some medications will suppress certain phases of sleep, and certain conditions like sleep apnea will lead to fragmented sleep. With these scenarios, even if you're sleeping for an adequate duration and have consistent timing, your sleep will not be as restorative.
One of the easiest ways to gauge whether you've slept enough is to assess your level of sleepiness the next day. For example, if you had the opportunity, would you be able to take a nap? Do you need caffeine to keep you going?
Answering yes to these two questions would indicate you need more and/or better sleep. Sometimes, however, signs of sleep deprivation can be less obvious. The late Nathaniel Kleitman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in physiology at the University of Chicago and a well-recognized pioneer in sleep research,33 developed a "sleep onset latency test," to determine if you're sleep-deprived. Here's how it works:34
1. In the early afternoon, grab a spoon and head off to your darkened bedroom to take a nap. Place a metal tray on the floor beside your bed and hold the spoon over the tray as you attempt to fall asleep. Be sure to check the time as you lie down. (If you don't have a spoon and metal tray handy, you can still take this test by setting an alarm for 15 minutes to see if you fall asleep before it goes off.)
2. When you fall asleep and the spoon crashes down onto the tray, waking you up, immediately check the time again and note how much time has passed.
a. If you fell asleep within five minutes, it means you're severely sleep-deprived.
b. If it took you 10 minutes to fall asleep, you could still use more sleep.
c. If you managed to stay awake for 15 minutes or more before falling asleep, you're probably well rested.
The Best Position for Sleep
In the video above, chiropractor and exercise physiologist Dr. Peter Martone discusses the benefits of adopting a neutral sleeping position. If you're a side or stomach sleeper and find yourself frequently tossing and turning at night and/or wake up with aches and pains, your sleeping position may be a primary culprit. As noted by Martone, for sound, healthy sleep, you need to sleep on your back, with your neck and spine in a neutral position.
The key to achieving this is to prop a pillow under your neck, not your head, as this allows you to maintain a proper spinal curve. For a demonstration on how to use your pillow to support your neck rather than simply elevating your head, please see the video. In Martone's experience, it takes an average of three to four months to convert from a side sleeper to a back sleeper, and even longer if you're used to sleeping on your stomach.
Inclined Bed Therapy
Another posture-related change that might help improve your sleep is to raise the head of your bed so that you're sleeping on an incline. Inclined bed therapy — which simply involves raising the head of your bed 6 to 8 inches so you're sleeping on a 5-degree incline — may have a number of benefits, including:
Improving blood circulation
Boosting metabolism
Improving glymphatic drainage from the brain
Improving immune system function
Improving respiratory function
Easing symptoms associated with Alzheimer's, diabetes, glaucoma, migraines, multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea, acid reflux, edema, varicose veins and more
Please note that sleeping on an incline is not the same as sleeping on an adjustable bed that allows you to raise the head while the lower portion remains horizontal. Your body should be straight, but on an incline. You're not looking to sleep in a sitting position where only your torso is lifted.
The alignment of your body is important, as you want your blood to circulate freely throughout your whole body and avoid stress on your hip joint. For tips on how to create an inclined bed, see InclinedBedTherapy.com.35 For example, you can build your own wooden bed frame, or use leg risers or full-length foam wedges.
Clean Up Your Sleep Hygiene to Optimize Your Health
There's simply no doubt that sleep needs to be a priority in your life if you intend to live a long and healthy life. Anyone struggling with chronic disease — which is at least half of the American adult population — would be wise to take sleep seriously, as it can have a significant impact, not only contributing to the problem but also counteracting any other healthy lifestyle strategies you're using to address it.
As a general guideline, seek to get right around eight hours of sleep every night. Anything under seven hours really starts to impact your health (if you're an adult). For many, this means forgoing night-owl tendencies and getting to bed at a reasonable time. If you need to be up at 6 a.m., you have to have a lights-out deadline of 9:30 or 10 p.m., depending on how quickly you tend to fall asleep.
The good news is there are many ways to improve your odds of sleeping well, even if you're currently struggling. Following are 50 of my top sleep tips. Go through this list and assess where your weaknesses might be, and start addressing the most obvious culprits. You may have to experiment a bit to find a combination that works best for you, but it'll be well worth the effort.
50 Other Ways to Improve Your Sleep
1. Sleep in complete darkness, or as close to it as possible — Even the tiniest bit of light can disrupt your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin, thereby disrupting your sleep cycle. Even the tiniest glow from your clock radio has the potential to interfere with your sleep.
So, close your bedroom door, get rid of night lights and use blackout shades or thick drapes. If shades are out of your budget, use a well-fitting eye mask. Refrain from turning on any light at all during the night, even when getting up to go to the bathroom. If you absolutely have to have some sort of night light, use a red bulb.
2. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F — Studies show the optimal room temperature for sleep is between 60 to 68 degrees F.
Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep. When you sleep, your body's internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. Scientists believe a cooler bedroom may therefore be most conducive to sleep, since it mimics your body's natural temperature drop.
3. Sleep naked — Something as simple as sleeping naked may do the trick if you don't want to crank down the temperature on your air conditioning. One of the established benefits of sleeping in the buff is improved sleep quality, in part by preventing overheating.
One study showed a surface skin temperature difference of as little as 0.08 degrees F (or 0.4 degrees C) led to sounder sleep.36,37,38 Studies have also found sleeping in the nude has several other health benefits, including improved metabolism and blood circulation.
4. Conquer sound pollution — Like temperature and light, sound can be a disruptive factor that's keeping you awake. An inexpensive pair of earplugs can eliminate most noise.
5. Eliminate electric and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in your bedroom — These can disrupt your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin, and are a significant contributor to mitochondrial damage and dysfunction, which is at the heart of virtually all chronic disease.
EMF exposure has also been linked to neuronal changes that affect memory and your ability to learn.39,40 EMFs harm your body's mitochondria by producing excessive oxidative damage, so "marinating" in EMFs all night, every night, can cause or contribute to chronic ailments, including premature aging.
Ideally, shut down the electricity to your bedroom by pulling your circuit breaker before bed. If you have neighbors on the other side of the wall, floor or ceiling, consider installing a Faraday cage (copper- and/or silver-threaded fabric) around your bed. If you live in a high-rise and have neighbors beneath you, place the Faraday fabric on the floor beneath your bed as well. This may significantly improve your sleep quality.
However, even if you completely shut off the electricity in your bedroom 2 out of 3 people will still have electrified rooms. This is what happened to me, and when I used sophisticated body voltage measurements I was able to detect this.
This is a result of electrical fields (not electricity) transferred into your home by the electric utility and spreading in your home. This can be remediated with some effective types of paint shielding that is then grounded to form a Faraday cage, which stops the fields from entering your bedroom.
6. Shut down your Wi-Fi at night — Another really important step is to turn off your Wi-Fi at night. It would be best to hard wire your home so you have no Wi-Fi 24/7 in your home, but I realize many are unwilling or unable to take this step. It's important to realize that the Wi-Fi in your home is nearly always more of a danger to you than what's coming from outside your home.
You can confirm this by measuring the microwave signals with a meter, and seeing what your exposure is. The fact is, you don't need Wi-Fi while sleeping, so this is a wholly unnecessary exposure that is easily remedied by turning it off.
7. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed — If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet. Keep your cellphone as far away from your bedroom as possible if it must be on. If you keep it in your bedroom, either shut it down or put it in airplane mode.
8. Avoid using loud alarm clocks — It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary.
Alternatives include a sun alarm clock, which wakes you up by gradually increasing the intensity of light, thereby simulating sunrise, or a talking alarm clock, designed for the visually impaired. I use the talking clock, as it allows me to sleep in complete darkness. If I need to know the time, I just press a large button, and the clock audibly tells me the time.
9. 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) — One of my absolute favorite sleep aids is 5-HTP. 5-HTP is the hydroxylated form of tryptophan and easily passes your blood brain barrier when it is converted to serotonin, thereby giving mood a boost and enhancing sleep and then to melatonin.
I believe this is a superior approach to using melatonin. In one study, an amino acid preparation containing both GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and 5-HTP reduced time to fall asleep, increased the duration of sleep and improved sleep quality.41
10. Take magnesium malate or glycinate before bed to increase body relaxation.
11. Reserve your bed for sleeping — If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may find it harder to relax and drift off to sleep, so avoid doing these activities in bed.
12. Consider separate bedrooms — Recent studies suggest that, for many people, sharing a bed with a partner can significantly impair sleep, especially if the partner is a restless sleeper or snores. If bedfellows are consistently interfering with your sleep, you may want to consider a separate bedroom. Pets may also need to be banished if their presence impair your sleep.
13. Get to bed as early as possible, ideally between 9 and 10 p.m. — Prior to the widespread use of electricity, people would go to bed shortly after sundown, as most animals do, and which nature intended for humans as well. My personal target is to actually be asleep by 9 p.m. Your body does a majority of its recharging between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
14. Don't change your bedtime — Go to bed and wake up at the same times each day, even on the weekends. This will help your body to get into a sleep rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in the morning.
15. Consider taking cannabidiol (CBD) oil — By bringing tissues back into balance, CBD oil helps reduce pain, nerve stimulation and muscle spasm. It also promotes relaxation and has been shown to improve sleep.
16. Establish a relaxing bedtime routine — This could include meditating, deep breathing, using aromatherapy or essential oils or indulging in a massage from your partner. The key is to find something that makes you feel relaxed, then repeat it each night to help you release the tensions of the day.
17. Avoid drinking fluids within two hours of going to bed — This will reduce the likelihood of needing to get up and go to the bathroom, or at least minimize the frequency.
18. Go to the bathroom right before bed — This will reduce the chances that you'll wake up to go in the middle of the night.
19. Avoid eating at least three hours before bedtime, particularly grains and sugars — These will raise your blood sugar, delay sleep and raise your risk of acid reflux. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you may wake up and be unable to fall back asleep.
Aside from that, eating too close to bedtime can harm your health in other ways. If you consume more calories than your body can immediately use, there will be an excess of free electrons, which back up inside your mitochondria.
These electrons are highly reactive and start to leak out of the electron transport chain in the mitochondria. These excess electrons wind up prematurely killing the mitochondria, and then wreak further havoc by damaging your cell membranes and contributing to DNA mutations. There's compelling evidence to suggest this type of mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the keys to accelerated aging.
20. Take a hot bath or shower before bed — When your body temperature is raised in the late evening, it will fall at bedtime, facilitating slumber. The temperature drop from getting out of the bath signals your body it's time for bed. It will also help if you finish your shower with a cold rinse.
21. Take a sauna followed by cold immersion in an unheated pool or shower, two to three hours before bed — This combination helps activate your parasympatethic nervous system to induce relaxation, allowing for sounder, deeper sleep.
22. Wear socks to bed — Feet often feel cold before the rest of the body because they have the poorest circulation. At least one study has shown that wearing socks to bed reduces night waking. As an alternative, you could place a hot water bottle near your feet at night.
23. Put your work away at least one hour before bed (preferably two hours or more) — This will give your mind a chance to unwind so you can go to sleep feeling calm, not hyped up or anxious about tomorrow's deadlines.
24. Avoid watching TV right before bed — Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom or even completely out of the house. It's too stimulating to the brain, preventing you from falling asleep quickly. TV disrupts your pineal gland function.
25. Minimize use of electronics, both during the day and in the evening — Electronic screens are major sleep thieves, robbing you of the ability to fall asleep quickly. Research has shown that the more time you spend on electronic devices during the day, and especially at night, the longer it takes to fall asleep and the less sleep you get overall.42,43
Teenagers who used electronic devices such as MP3 players, video games, tablets, smartphones and/or computers for more than five hours a day were 3.5 times more likely to get fewer than five hours of sleep per night. They were also 49% more likely to need more than an hour to actually fall asleep.
26. Swap out LEDs and fluorescent light bulbs in your home for incandescents — LEDs and fluorescent lights emit blue light that is not balanced by red and near infrared frequencies.44 Incandescent lights emit red and near infrared wavelengths and very little in the blue wavelengths, making them a far healthier type of lighting in general.
Once the sun has set, the lower the light in your home the better. Candlelight is ideal. Salt lamps are another option that will not have an adverse impact on your health and sleep quality.
27. Use blue-blocking glasses after sunset — While amber lenses work, glasses with red lenses actually work even better, as they not only block blue light, but also yellow and green. You can get inexpensive amber glasses and red glasses on Amazon.
28. Install blue-blocking software on your electronic screen devices — Iris is the absolute best one and I have used it for many years. If you use Iris at night, you won't need blue blocking glasses.
29. Reset your circadian clock — Expose yourself to bright sunlight in the morning and/or around solar noon to "set" your master clock, and to avoid blue light exposure after sunset for the same reason.45
30. Listen to relaxation CDs — Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep. An excellent relaxation/meditation option to listen to before bed is the Insight audio CD.
31. Read something spiritual or uplifting — This may help you relax. Don't read anything stimulating, such as a mystery or suspense novel, which has the opposite effect. In addition, if you are really enjoying a suspenseful book, you might be tempted to go on reading for hours, instead of going to sleep.
32. Start journaling, if you're not already — If you often lie in bed with your mind racing, it might be helpful to keep a journal and write down your thoughts before bed.
33. Short-circuit worry with creative distractions — If worry has you in its grip, try thinking of something else that interests you but is of no importance. Sleep expert Neil Stanley, Ph.D., said, "I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If you're someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?"
34. Reduce or avoid as many drugs as possible — Many drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, may adversely affect sleep. In most cases, the condition causing the drugs to be taken in the first place can be addressed by following guidelines elsewhere on my website.
35. Avoid caffeine — At least one study has shown that, in some people, caffeine is not metabolized efficiently, leaving you feeling its effects long after consumption. So, an afternoon cup of coffee or tea will keep some people from falling asleep at night. Be aware that some medications also contain caffeine (for example, some over-the-counter pain relievers and cold and decongestion products may contain caffeine).
36. Avoid alcohol — Although alcohol will make you drowsy, the effect is short-lived and you will often wake up several hours later, unable to fall back asleep. Alcohol will also keep you from entering the deeper stages of sleep, where your body does most of its healing.
37. Avoid foods you may be sensitive to — This is particularly true for sugar, grains and pasteurized dairy. Sensitivity reactions can cause excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, gas and other problems.
38. Exercise regularly, but not within three hours of bedtime — Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day can improve your sleep. However, don't exercise too close to bedtime or it may keep you awake. Studies show exercising in the morning is the best if you can manage it.
39. Lose excess weight — Being overweight can increase your risk of sleep apnea, which can seriously impair your sleep.
40. Have your adrenals checked by a good natural medicine clinician — Scientists have found that insomnia may be caused by adrenal stress.
41. If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, get checked out by a good natural medicine physician — The hormonal changes at this time may cause sleep problems if not properly addressed.
42. Get out of bed — Rather than tossing and turning, allowing frustration to grow, get out of bed. Try writing your thoughts down; just be sure to keep the lights dim. Telling yourself you're going to try to stay awake instead may also have the paradoxical effect of making you sleepy. The reason for this is because once you're OK with being awake, your frustration and arousal level drops, making it easier to fall asleep.
43. Do some controlled breathing exercises — Breathing is both an involuntary and a voluntary process. You can alter the speed and the depth of your breathing, and you can choose to breathe through your mouth or your nose. These choices lead to physical changes in your body.
Slow, deep and steady breathing activates your parasympathetic response while rapid, shallow breathing activates your sympathetic response, involved in releasing cortisol and other stress hormones.
The combination of controlled breathing with counting can be particularly effective when your mind refuses to shut down at night, as it gives your mind something to focus on. One breathing exercise involving counting that you could try is the 4-7-8 breathing technique taught by Dr. Andrew Weil. It's a potent remedy for anxiety, as it acts as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system.
44. Tape your mouth to prevent mouth breathing — While this may sound bizarre, it's quite effective and not at all painful or risky. Simply place a small piece of medical tape (please do not use industrial types of tape which can damage your skin) across your lips. This will encourage breathing through your nose throughout the night, which has a number of health benefits aside from regulating sleep disordered breathing that can progress to sleep apnea.
45. Boost your melatonin — Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night. If that fails or isn't possible, you may want to consider a melatonin supplement.
In scientific studies, melatonin has been shown to increase sleepiness, help you fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep, decrease restlessness and reverse daytime fatigue.
Melatonin is a completely natural substance, made by your body, and has many health benefits in addition to sleep. Start with as little as 0.25 milligrams (mg) and work your way up in quarter-gram increments until you get the desired effect.
46. Use a natural sleep aid such as valerian root — Studies have found valerian root helps improve the speed at which you fall asleep, depth of sleep (achieving deep sleep 36% faster46) and overall quality of sleep.
Start with a minimal dose and use the lowest dose needed to achieve the desired effect, as higher dosages can have an energizing effect in some people. Typical dosages used in studies range between 400 mg and 900 mg, taken anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before bed.
47. Drink chamomile tea — This herb is typically used in the form of infusions, teas, liquid extracts or essential oils made from the plant's fresh or dried flower heads. It has sedative effects that may help with sleep, which is why chamomile tea is often sipped before bed.
48. Tap for insomnia — One of my favorite remedies for insomnia is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Most people can learn the basics of this gentle tapping technique in a few minutes. EFT can help balance your body's bioenergy system and resolve some of the emotional stresses that are contributing to your insomnia at a very deep level. The results are typically long lasting and improvement is remarkably rapid.
49. Limit daytime naps, and avoid napping after 5 p.m. — If you're tired during the day, you may be tempted to take naps. This, however, can make it more difficult to fall asleep later in the evening, so limit naps to 15 or 20 minutes, and don't nap too late in the afternoon.
50. Use a sleep tracker — Many fitness trackers now include sleep tracking software that can be quite useful, allowing you to evaluate the effects of different strategies. For example, did that afternoon coffee disrupt your sleep? Did morning exercise make it better but evening exercise made it worse? How long does it take you to actually fall asleep, and how much earlier must you go to bed to get a full eight hours of sleep?
