Do you fail to get enough sleep on a consistent basis, leaving you feeling fatigued and unable to concentrate during the day? You’re not alone; a 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that over a third of Americans have trouble getting enough sleep several nights a week.
In the long term, not getting sufficient sleep can have serious consequences for your mental and physical health, so it’s important you do everything in your power to help your body rest.
Read on to discover three proven natural techniques that can help improve your sleep.
1. Follow a Consistent Sleeping Pattern
Setting and following a consistent sleeping pattern is important to help your body fall asleep at night, as having an inconsistent sleeping routine can confuse your body clock and make it difficult to fall asleep.
If you’re not used to following a consistent sleeping pattern, the first nights are likely to be difficult but you’ll be surprised by how quickly your body adapts and gets used to having a routine.
It’s also important to avoid the temptation to nap during the day, as this can often be a sure-fire way of messing up your sleeping pattern. Avoiding or at least limiting lie-ins on the weekend is also important for the same reasons.
2. Watch Your Diet
What you eat has a surprisingly large impact on your sleep. In addition to the obvious things, like avoiding caffeine in the several hours before you plan on sleeping, your diet can play a significant role in helping or preventing you from getting sufficient quality shuteye on a consistent basis.
Eating healthily and cutting out junk food should improve your sleep – and it’s also good for your general physical and mental wellbeing.
3. Consider Natural Sleep Aids
Many Americans are understandably reluctant to use prescription sleeping pills, as they don’t want to become dependent on them and would rather avoid their unpleasant side effects.
However, natural sleeping aids can be equally, if not more, effective and usually have very few known side effects.
Examples of natural sleeping aids including the likes of Passionflower, Valerian Root, and Cannabinol (CBN). CBN (aka cannabinol) is one of the most powerful natural sedatives out there, and it’s more effective than many prescription sleeping drugs, so it’s not surprising that it’s often referred to as “the sleepy cannabinoid.”
If you’ve never heard of CBN before, it’s simply a compound found in cannabis that can be used to treat a multitude of ailments, including insomnia, sleep apnea, and many other conditions that aren’t related to sleep.
CBN is legal throughout the US because it contains virtually zero THC so taking it won’t make you high. Technically though, CBN is considered mildly psychoactive.
A Quick Summary
- Sleeplessness is a serious and growing issue in the US, with over one-third of Americans failing to get enough sleep on a consistent basis.
- In addition to leaving you feeling fatigued, irritable, and unable to concentrate, this can have more serious effects on your physical and mental health in the long run.
- There are several natural sleeping aids and lifestyle changes that you can try to improve your sleep.
- For example, having a consistent sleeping pattern should help you get better quality sleep, and watching your diet is also advisable.
- As for trying out natural sedatives, CBN is considered to be one of the most effective natural sedatives out there.
- It is known as “the sleepy cannabinoid” and it can be legally purchased throughout the United States.