Alkaline Foods and Drinks: Safer than sleeping pills

Having trouble getting to sleep?  According to the Centers for Disease Control, you’re not alone. Sleep

deprivation is a public health epidemic, but it gets worse: The drugs people take as sleep aids are themselves causing a health epidemic. Over the counter and prescription sleep aids are addictive, and come with nasty side effects such as allergic reactions and “complex sleep related behaviors” such as:

• Making phone calls
• Driving cars
• Binge eating
• And worse

 

All these things happen while the person is not truly awake. People affected with these complex sleep disorders have been involved in terrible tragedies such as fatal car crashes – and they don’t even remember getting into the car! If the prospect of being involved in a terrible car crash that you don’t even remember terrifies you, then consider these 7 alkaline foods and drinks that help you get to sleep naturally, without side effects.

1. Camomile Tea

Camomile tea is recognized as a mild tranquilizer that is effective at inducing sleep. You should make and drink camomile tea about a half hour before bedtime. It works best if you use two or three tea bags to increase the concentration of your tea. You can make camomile tea even better by making it with alkaline water, because alkaline water is better at extracting the active ingredients, called terpenes and flavonoids, than regular water is. That will increase the sedative effects of the tea. Alkaline water also increases the antioxidant potential of tea and improves your hydration status. It is highly recommended that you drink 8 ounces of water before bed to hydrate your body and prevent heart attacks and strokes, so making your camomile tea with alkaline water doubles the benefit of your tea!

2. Kiwi fruit

Research from Taiwan’s Taipei Medical University reveals that eating two kiwi’s an hour before bedtime decreased the time that it took for a person to fall asleep by 35%. The study examined 22 people who had trouble falling asleep. Kiwi also helped the study participants sleep more soundly, and sleep longer. The reason kiwi may be so effective at helping you sleep is that it is high in serotonin. In the body, serotonin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep. Research suggests that increasing serotonin levels in the body can help promote sleep.  Kiwi is also a superfood, it has antioxidant benefits and is loaded with Vitamin C.

3. Seaweed

Seaweed is high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which research suggests helps you get to sleep sooner, and sleep better. The study examined whether taking a 600 Mg seaweed supplement each day for 16 weeks would result in better sleep. It did. Plan to take your seaweed supplement about an hour before bed.

4. Walnuts

Walnuts are a great source of melatonin, which is a hormone that regulates sleep. You may even choose to enjoy your walnuts along with Kiwi, which supplies serotonin, so you get two helpful sleep hormones at the same time.

5. Almonds

If you suffer from low magnesium levels, you may have trouble getting to sleep. Almonds are nature’s richest source of magnesium. Boosting your magnesium levels is also good for your heart and blood pressure.

6. Tart Cherry Juice

In a study on older adults (65+) drinking two, eight-ounce glasses of Montmorency tart cherry juice. Tart cherries are a great source of melatonin, and montmorency cherries are believed to be the best source of it. Tart cherry juice also contains tryptophan, an enzyme that is a precursor to serotonin. The researchers in the study suggested that it may be the combination of melatonin and tryptophan that makes tart cherry juice such an amazing sleep aid. The adults in the study slept an average of 84 more minutes each night, and their sleep cycles were deeper.

You should plan to drink one eight ounce glass in the morning, and one in the evening. If the cherry juice is too tart, you can mix it with alkaline water, which will buffer some of that tartness.

7. Ionized Alkaline Water

Alkaline water supplies magnesium, if your body’s magnesium levels are too low, alkaline water can help improve them even if you have digestive health problems that make it hard for your body to absorb magnesium. Plan to drink alkaline water throughout your day, if you can drink 2 – 3 liters per day, you’ll get anywhere from 10 – 20% of your daily magnesium requirements from alkaline water alone.

How to use these 7 Alkaline foods and drinks every day for better sleep

Morning: Plan to start your morning with an 8 ounce glass of alkaline water and an 8 ounce glass of tart cherry juice. This will serve to start building up your melatonin levels, and hydrate your intestines to encourage peristalsis: The movement of wastes through your intestines. Of course, you can combine the two into one, 16 ounce drink.

Daytime: Drink at least 2 liters of alkaline water during the day. It will provide beneficial magnesium and hydration. In fact, drinking alkaline water throughout the day just might stop that 3 O’Clock crash feeling, it works for me!

Evening: After dinner, have two kiwi’s and a handful of walnuts and almonds as dessert. This will give your body time to digest these foods before bed. About two hours before bedtime, have an 8 ounce glass of tart cherry juice. Then about one hour before bedtime, have an eight ounce glass of alkaline water. This glass of water may just save your life: A glass of water an hour before bed can prevent a heart attack or stroke.

Expect the benefits of this natural sleep aid plan to build up gradually, over the course of two weeks. Natural sleep aids don’t have the knockout power of sleep drugs, but they’re also a lot safer. Sleep drugs can cause dizziness that results in harmful falls, and they can be addictive. With these natural sleep aids, you can sleep soundly on the fact that what you’re doing for your sleep is also good for your health.

 

Find out what alkaline water could do for your health. Call us at 877-959-7977 for a free no obligation consultation

 

References

 

Abraham, Guy, and Jorge Flebas. “The effect of daily consumption of 2 liters of

electrolyzed water for 2 months on body composition and several physiological parameters in four obese subjects: a preliminary report.” Highbeam Research. Original Internist, 01 Sep 2011. Web. 2 Jul 2013. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-269433201.html>.

 

Heil, P and Seifert, J. Influence of bottled water on rehydration following a dehydrating bout of cycling exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition  Springerlink July 2009. http://www.springerlink.com/content/kn41764j65165u3x/fulltext.pdf

 

Ong, Choon. “Minerals from drinking-water: Bioavailability for various world populations and health implications.” WHO | Water Sanitation Health. World Health Organization, 17 Aug 2004. Web. 4 Jul 2013. <http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutbioavailability/en/>.