Natural Help for Sleepless Nights
A couple of months ago, in Volume 19.6 of The Natural Path, we did a feature article on natural treatments for insomnia. In that article, we pointed out the surprising number of people who suffer from insomnia or from unsatisfying sleep. But, we also pointed out that insomnia is not just frustrating: it contributes to poor health. Everything from pain to weight gain to insulin insensitivity to high blood pressure can be made worse by sleeplessness.
The solution has to come from nature, because the pharmaceutical answer is part of the problem. Drugs for insomnia bring their own problems, including morning hangover, addiction, memory problems, confusion, depression and nervousness. They also inhibit real sleep by suppressing REM sleep. Recent studies have even found an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease for older people who use benzodiazepines (BMJ 2012;345:e6231; BMJ 2014;349:g5205).
In our feature article, we talked about a number of safe, effective natural treatments for insomnia. Well, here’s another one. . . .
Gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter. Low levels of GABA are associated with insomnia.
In this single-blind study, people were given either a placebo or 100mg of GABA, and then their brain waves were measured with an EEG. The GABA significantly shortened the amount of time it took to fall asleep by five minutes and increased the time spent in non-REM sleep. GABA helped them fall asleep faster and to spend more time in quality sleep.
These improvements are not just statistically significant, they are truly clinically significant: questionnaires showed that the people who took GABA actually felt that they had had a better sleep and had more energy when they woke up.
Food Sci Biotechnol 2016:25(2):547-551
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For much more on treating insomnia, see our book, The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia.
For help improving your sleep and treating insomnia, make an appointment to see Linda Woolven now.