Shutterstock.com/ Estrada Anton
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It’s getting dark and your body starts to slow down, your brain is sending signals to the rest of your body that it is time to sleep. Your eyes slowly start to flutter open and closed, you are fading. Your eyes shut closed and you fall into a deep slumber and awake seven hours later feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to attack the day. A good night of sleep and an appropriate amount of hours is essential for your brain function and to keep you awake and productive throughout the day. While most of us know this, it can still be difficult to get to sleep sometimes. Whether it is the lights from all of our devices or the stress of the day just gone or the one ahead, we sometimes struggle to get to sleep.
To help you to get your seven hours of sleep you need to follow a routine and be consistent. It’s been proved by many studies that a routine can help to improve the quality of your sleep. This allows your body to have greater clarity of when is the right time to start shutting down.
There are also a number of bad habits that you should avoid before going to bed to help you get to sleep, such as avoiding those common distractions caused by your phone, computer or TV. The brightness of the light in these devices confuses your circadian rhythm. Most importantly, the lights interrupt the process of sending the sleep hormone, called melatonin. If you are really struggling to sleep then a cup of tea can help. Here are some of our favorites.
Chamomile Tea
Chamomile might be the most famous and most often recommended tea to aid sleep and fight insomnia, this is because the herb has a powerful antioxidant called apigenin, that binds to certain receptors in your brain that will help to sleep. Chamomile is also a great tea for many other conditions such as digestive problems as well as a proven natural medicine for anxiety and depression. In short, chamomile is a great tea to have in your kitchen whether you are suffering from lack of sleep or some other ailment.
Lavender Tea
Lavender tea doesn’t have as many scientific studies to back up its efficiency or affirm that it will help you to fall asleep, but what everyone agrees is that its calming aroma provides a perfect ambiance that will relax you and promotes a relaxing sensation. Lavender is a great tea to help you unwind and can be used if you enjoy the flavor over chamomile and other teas.
Valerian Tea
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Valerian is a herb and its roots are commonly used for those who suffer from the inability to sleep, and also to treat anxiety and stress conditions. The herb is recommended for these conditions because it has calming and sedative properties, but like many other teas, Valerian has some caffeine in its composition so to get the best out of the beverage it should be consumed in moderation.
Decaf green-tea
Green tea offers the highest concentration in antioxidants among all teas, this amazing drink has been highly consumed in Asia but in recent years the consumption has grown hugely in other continents. The amazing beverage has been proven to help battle cancer and other chronic diseases as well as boost energy. Recently it was also identified to have the presence of L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes a state of calmness, for that reason many companies have found a way of extracting the caffeine out of the drink, keeping only the good antioxidants that will help those who also want to enjoy a cup of green tea and its benefits before bed.
If you have been struggling to get a good night of sleep it is important to look at your routine and take a few measures to help to solve this problem. A quality night of sleep is responsible to change mood and health. As a last tip, consider your surroundings and right before going to bed prepare a quiet ambiance, without lights, to help send signals to your body that it is time to rest and refuel for the next day.
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