I can’t tell you how many people just cannot get enough restful quality sleep at night. In this article, I’d like to cover the main reason why.

Your sleep is controlled by hormones. These hormones are affected by darkness and light. The entire cycle is called the circadian rhythm. The term circadian comes from the Latin circa, “about,” and dies, “day,” meaning literally “about a day.” You typically go through four 90-minute cycles of sleep during the night, each one ranging from light sleep to deep, rejuvenating sleep. If everything is working, you can go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling alert and refreshed.

Glands called the adrenals produce the main hormone which, if functioning correctly, can allow normal sleep to occur. These glands are known as stress glands because they counter environmental and other stresses (dangerous situations, threats of danger and things that remind you of danger). Just reading the newspaper can remind you how dangerous it is out there, creating a stress response. Certain foods such as sweets (candy, chocolate, doughnuts, etc.) and junk foods (fast food, french fries, hamburgers, etc.) can also create body stress. Typically with most people these hormones are being produced in excess. It is these hormones produced in extra amounts that prevent a person from getting any deep, rejuvenating sleep. The person will either experience a superficial sleep or awaken feeling just as tired as when they went to bed. Or they will wake up between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. for no good reason. An individual just can’t sleep with adrenaline flowing through their bloodstream.

How does one calm the adrenals and allow normal sleep cycles to occur?

The first thing is exercise. Because exercise does increase stress hormones, it’s important to keep your pulse rate low (below 130). This way it doesn’t activate the stress response but instead does the opposite: it trains the body to keep the adrenals in slow mode. The worst thing to do is weight training or an intense high-pulse-rate exercise just before bed, as this will severely activate your adrenals and keep you up.

The second thing is food. Sugar of any kind will activate the adrenals. Sugar creates stress and prevents the adrenals from being calm. Sugar also depletes potassium, which the adrenals need in order to function. Potassium is the body’s natural tranquilizer. Without potassium, your heart will beat harder and it will be very difficult to get into a deep-sleep mode. Have you ever gone to bed and felt your heartbeat pulse in your ears? Normally you should never feel your heart or pulse beating at all. The best foods to provide potassium are avocados, grapefruit and melons. Bananas are a bit too sweet.

Dr. Eric Berg

Dr. Berg on the web: www.drberg.com

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Dr. Eric Berg is a chiropractor who specializes in weight loss, nutrition and pain relief. He has taught as an associate professor at Howard University. He is the developer of the Acupressure Stress Elimination Technique (ASET) and has trained hundreds of healthcare practitioners. Dr. Berg is the author of the new book The 7 Principles of Fat Burning. This information is provided as information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken based solely on the contents of this publication. Readers should consult competent healthcare professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.