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The food we eat has a very important impact on all the body structures, influencing nervous and physical activities alike; therefore, don’t be surprised to discover that insomnia and nutrition are interrelated. Food digestion requires a certain amount of effort from the muscles around the stomach, and this very area is rich in nervous ramifications; hence, heavy meals in the evening are not recommended since they can easily trigger sleep disorders. The last meal of the day should be taken at least two hours before going to bed, to allow enough time to the stomach to process food. Insomnia and nutrition affect people of all ages alike, not to mention that there is also a psychological dimension of the problem as well.

Food difficult to process lies behind insomnia and nutrition problems; this is why nutritionists recommend only light meals after six o’clock in the evening. Fruit and salads, dairy products, cereals, soup or broth are easier to digest in the evening, whereas meat, sweets and fat dishes are the require the most intense of efforts on the part of the digestive system. Therapists advise people who suffer from both insomnia and nutrition problems to try to drink a glass of warm milk sweetened with honey before going to bed; it is said to have a soothing effect and to induce natural sleep without the slightest of efforts on your part.

Insomnia and nutrition problems are common among overweight people who experience the syndrome of “emotional hunger”. Due to depression, or emotional instability, one could get up in the middle of the night with food cravings, and she or he may not be able to sleep until the craving is satisfied. Such disorders involve both sleep and eating habits, being deeply rooted in psychological issues that demand a quick solution. The measure to be taken seems simple: therapy and professional help should be undergone by anyone with insomnia and nutrition problems.

Some food items are more likely to cause insomnia and nutrition problems than others. A good example here is chocolate; due to the large amount of cocoa it contains – particularly in dark varieties – chocolate can cause agitation and sleeplessness in children and sensitive adults alike. The explanation behind such insomnia and nutrition imbalances triggered by chocolate consists in the amount of lecithin that it contains. Lecithin is a brain stimulator, activating the nervous impulses at the level of the central nervous system; this is why it is advisable not to allow children to eat chocolate in excess.

Many factors contribute to the installation of a serious sleep disorder such as chronic insomnia, there are physical as well as psychological issues that need to be taken into consideration for the proper treatment of this health problem. Chronic insomnia affects people of all ages, and research indicated alarmingly high numbers of people who suffer from it because of daily stress and depression. Among the physical triggers behind the affection we could count asthma, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease or the restless legs syndrome, to mention just a few. Moreover, most people who suffer from painful health problems like arthritis are more prone to developing chronic insomnia.

Despite the physical element behind the affection, stress, improper sleep-wake cycles, caffeine abuse and depression are among the most common elements that need to be tackled with in order to treat chronic insomnia. Once the underlying factor has been identified, a proper treatment or therapeutic scheme can be created to help people resume a good night’s rest. Though the first and probably most easy to use type of treatment involves the administration of sleeping pills. What most people fail to take into consideration here is the fact that such chemical substances that induce sleep cannot be taken indefinitely, and without a real solution to the problem, chronic insomnia will keep bothering them after treatment cessation.

If stress is the main element that prevents you from having some quality sleep over night, you need to find ways of limiting the anxiety caused by daily work duties. Presently there are actually hundreds of available solutions to help one eliminate chronic insomnia by means of relaxation techniques. It is ideal to actually achieve a good state of mind during the day, which means the elimination of stress as it tries to take control over you. Though it may seem difficult at the beginning, stress management can be achieved by an increased self-awareness; the moment you feel very tense, try to empty your mind of all thoughts and breathe deeply several times.

Relaxation is the great enemy of chronic insomnia; the moment you come in control of your thoughts, and you make silence inside of your mind, you’ll be able to sleep like a baby. Once you get home from work, stop thinking about all the problems you had during the day; focus on family, friends and personal well being. Sport can be a great help in the attempt to stop chronic insomnia, physical exercises actually free both the mind and the body from the toxins resulting from stress or negative thinking. Relaxation music, breathing techniques, sport, aromatherapy are all great ways of fighting chronic insomnia regardless of its generating factors.

With so many factors that trigger sleeping problems, it is difficult to find a proper insomnia cure from the first trial; there are all sorts of patterns that need to be dealt with before finding out what lies behind inefficient or insufficient night rest. Probably the easiest to diagnose are the elements that trigger chronic insomnia, such as various ailments or health problems; this also makes it possible to immediately establish an insomnia cure, by a simple meeting with the doctor. However, the most difficult to treat are the sleeping disorders that lack an obvious or apparent cause, or which rely on a complex combination of factors.

One very good insomnia cure comes from alternative therapies and includes breathing control. There are simple exercises that don’t require special instruction or conditions; thus, when you go to bed, try to relax all the muscles in the body. As you feel the tension leaving the muscles, start focusing on the breath rhythm; make long inspirations followed by a pause and then a long expiration. Though it may take a few minutes to find it comfortable or resume it normally, controlled breathing takes one’s mind away from daily problems and enable the brain to enter the alpha state – the fist phase before sleep induction. This is presently considered a top insomnia cure for acute sleeping problems.

The same type of exercise works well as you focus on music rather than breath; this could be considered a lot more easier in case you have troubles setting the air flow rhythm. Such an insomnia cure requires that the musical pattern be soft and soothing: no drums, alert beats or guitar sounds. The best way to find some tunes that induce a sleepy state is by searching the Internet for alternative therapy sites; there are very good music collections to download, since relaxation music is used in almost all complementary medicine to create a bridge between body and mind.

You don’t necessarily have to look too far for an insomnia cure, sometimes help is very much within reach without your even knowing it: so, don’t ignore the surprises mother Nature has in store for us. There is a whole array of herbs and spices that induce a peaceful state of mind, due to the non-toxic soothing effect at the level of the central nervous system. Jasmin for instance is a very pleasant to use insomnia cure; this herb of Asian origin has gained world-wide popularity for its special flavor and relaxation properties. It can be used either to prepare an incredibly tasty tea or for aromatherapy in a hot bath or as essential oil.

Sleep disorders are probably among the most common affections we suffer from in our modern world, and the causes and medical explanations for the matter are manifold. However, little do we understand from the mechanism that lie behind the health-sleep cycle: why do we need quality sleep? We actually spend almost half of our lives sleeping; at first glance this may look like a great waste of time, as we could work or do something useful with that much time. Well, without sleep, life is not possible: our body is a complex mechanism that periodically needs “repairs”, “reconditioning” or “recharging”.

A correct health sleep relationship means that the body gets to recover all the energetic imbalances created during the day through physical and intellectual activities and under the impact of external factors, aggressive or not. All the physical functions are slowed down: heart beat, breathing rate, body temperature and so on, the only one that stays permanently “on” is the brain, which is actually in charge of the health-sleep pattern. It is during sleep that all of the health problems should be solved: to give you just a very simple example – think how sleepy one feels when he or she gets a cold. This is the body’s natural reaction to an infection: sleep is the best state to heal or recover.

People who don’t respect such a health sleep routine are more exposed to infections, since their immune system is a lot weaker due to the inefficient night’s rest. In order to induce sleep, the brain triggers the secretion of some chemicals that allow the body to slowly pass into a trance; this is the actually explanation of the way sleeping pills act at the level of the central nervous system. Therefore, if you want to develop a good health-sleep pattern, it is advisable that you create some routine: going to bed and getting up at approximately the same hours should ensure the programming of both body and mind.

Other useful tips for the development of a good health sleep pattern include an active life. You should by no means ignore the importance of outdoor activities or sport in general for the way you spend your nights; a healthy body eliminates lots of tension, stress and negative energy during intense physical activity. This allows you to go to bed relieved from all the anxiety and the burden accumulated during the day from various sources. Nevertheless, we have to mention the fact that exercising before going to bed is detrimental to your health and actually triggers insomnia. The explanation is very simple: during physical activity certain hormones are released in the body and all the system is in a “hyper-state”, which means that only after complete relaxation is sleep possible.

Probably the most common psychological problem associated with insomnia is depression; there is a fundamental link between the two that goes beyond the chemical factors secreted by the brain in various nervous central system disorders. Depression and insomnia are actually connected by the presence of bad thoughts directed towards oneself and the rest of the world. Personal dissatisfaction, emotional problems, over-stressing working conditions, various traumas are usually behind any depression and insomnia. The most significant disadvantage in the use of classical medication prescribed for the treatment of depression is that it doesn’t actually solve the issues that trigger the condition in the first place, and further recurrence remains possible.

People who suffer from depression and insomnia are encouraged to develop as many rewarding activities as possible; boosts of confidence, small successes, communication and openness, as well as emotional stability are among the best cures for such disorders. Most nervous system problems are associated with insomnia, from the very simple to the most complex of cases, and fortunately depression is considered a mild affection that can be helped by various means which are complementary with classical therapy. Acupuncture and acupressure, for instance, have been successfully used in the treatment of both depression and insomnia, with positive results obvious immediately after the sessions.

By the stimulation of special points on the body, the therapist actually opens the natural body circuit that is responsible for the elimination of the negative energies accumulated in the physical structures. The treatment of depression and insomnia by means of acupuncture is tributary to the Asian healing techniques that consider each health affection as having a manifold structure: spiritual, energetic and physical. Every time you are unhappy, a physical reaction takes place in the body by the secretion of some chemicals which can be more or less harmful, depending on the amount. This is why people who suffer from depression find it so difficult to sleep well; tension accumulates in the tissues and prevents the normal functioning of the system.

The use of acupressure and acupuncture reinstates the natural energetic flow in the body favoring relaxation and freedom feelings to take the place of the negative burden that didn’t let you sleep. 90% of the patients who have used acupressure or acupuncture, have reported significant improvement for both depression and insomnia. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that in order to preserve a proper health state, one needs to stick to a balanced way of life, trying to keep emotions under control and avoiding excesses of all kinds.