Sleeping Trouble?
Discover Why Winter is the Ideal Time to Learn How to Sleep Right
It may seem like you never get enough sleep, and during the busy winter season
things like stress, travel, hectic holiday schedules and more can really keep
you from getting a good night's sleep.
But sleep is essential to properly recharge your body and achieve good health.
And winter is without question the best time to focus on your sleep. With
the shorter days, Mother Nature is providing us with extra hours of darkness
to help us catch some extra ZZZZs. Doing so is much more important than you
may realize.
 Run
down from holiday stress? Recharge your weakened adrenals with plenty
of sleep.
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The Vicious Cycle
It turns out that many people have trouble sleeping, even if they are tired!
The key to this mystery lies with the little-known glands on top of your kidneys
-- the adrenals.
These days, most people have weakened adrenals caused by a diet low in minerals
and high in sugar, stress, poorly digested foods, and over-the-counter and
prescription drugs.
When your adrenals are healthy, they help you sleep more deeply and for
longer periods, but you NEED sleep to keep them healthy!
Ten Common Symptoms of Weak Adrenals
- Difficulty falling asleep at night, sleep lightly or wake early or often
- Hormone imbalances and low sex drive
- Difficulty relaxing, nervous, anxious or hyperactive
- General exhaustion
- Memory problems and feeling "spacey"
- Weight gain, especially in abdomen and waist area
- Cravings for sugar and salt
- Early aging
- Constipation
- No energy for digestion of foods
Your Adrenal Bank Account
Think of your adrenals as a bank account: you make withdrawals every time
you experience too much stress, a poor diet, and too little sleep or poor
quality sleep. If you don't make regular deposits of healthy food, relaxation
and plenty of rest, you deplete your adrenals, hamper their performance and
disrupt the natural rest/renewal cycle of your body.
What Do Adrenals Do?
Your adrenals:
- Are active in all other systems of your body.
- Determine your body's response to stressors of all kinds, from food and
viruses to your environment and your job.
- Affect the level of cortisol in your body - key for metabolism and sleep.
- Are the main source of sex hormones in your body.
Body Ecology teaches that the adrenals are intricately linked to the thyroid,
another small organ that is crucial for hormone production, balance and metabolism.
Together they directly affect your energy and vitality.
SLEEP To Care For Your Adrenals
Sleep is especially important for your adrenals because while you sleep your
adrenals are hard at work trying to repair your body.
Take advantage of the shorter days of winter and resist the urge to get everything
on your "to do" list done. After all, longer nights are nature's
way of telling you to sleep a little bit more right now, before the onset
of a busy spring, summer and fall.
- Turn off your TV and computer as soon as it gets dark outside.
- Get to bed early as often as you can. Try to shoot for 10 p.m. at the
latest and sleep in on weekends if your schedule allows.
- Take a long weekend - resting for 4 days straight can actually re-charge
your adrenals and recharge your vitality.
Get Your Minerals!
Adrenals thrive on adequate minerals - so be sure to get plenty of minerals
from dark leafy green vegetables, and ocean veggies. The Body Ecology system
of health and healing also uses grain-like seeds for minerals and for vitamin,
fiber and protein. (Be sure to read The
Risks of Consuming Typical Grains & the Healthy Grains to Choose Instead)
Some other easy ways to provide your body with minerals and boost your morning
energy are Vitality
SuperGreen and Young
Coconut Kefir.
Finally, to learn more ways to nourish your adrenals, listen to Donna Gates'
CD Adrenal
Fatigue CD. In this highly acclaimed audio presentation, Donna details
the causes of adrenal exhaustion, links adrenal fatigue to diet and hormone
therapy, and shares how the Body Ecology diet can strengthen your adrenals
to improve your health!
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