The Native Americans and Mexican Aztecs first used passionflower for its sedating action. It is now widely used in Europe and North America to relieve stress and treat sleeping problems.

“Some investigations of passionflower have been conducted in humans; in addition, animal and other studies suggest that the herb has sedative, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic properties. The German Commission E, considered an authoritative source of information on alternative remedies, reported that passionflower appears to reduce restlessness in animals. In a 1988 study involving rats that was published in a German journal of pharmacology, passionflower was shown to prolong sleep, reduce motor activity, and protect the rodents from convulsions”.(Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, 2nd Edition 2005- Volume 3, p.1556)

Boil a cup water and pour it onto a teaspoon of passionflower. Let it infuse for 10 minutes, covered. Strain it and drink it 30 minutes before going to bed.

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

Technorati Tags:insomnia,sleep disorder,sleep deprivation,natural sleep aid,sleep tea

-Photo by outlier's eye's-

Tags: Sleep, Tip, Sleep Aids, Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Disorder, Natural Sleep Solutions

More studies on sleep (don't researchers have better things to do?): A study conducted at Pen State University Medical School revealed that people who don't get the adequate sleep are more prone to suffer from high blood pressure.

Lack of sleep, insomnia, sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are all a source of stress which is known to cause cardiovascular problems.

The sad part is that there are hundreds of people taking blood pressure medications on a daily basis, when solving their problem could be as simple as getting more and/or better sleep.

Resorting to medications to treat physical problems (insomnia, high blood pressure or any other one) is usually the first step people take. But is it the best one?

In my opinion no! Pills are only hiding symptoms without addressing the root of it. Find what is causing the problem, change it and then you have a permanent and efficient solution. Yes it is easier said then done, but isn't your health and ultimately your life worth a little effort?

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

Technorati Tags:insomnia,sleep disorder,heart disease,sleep deprivation

-Photo by Bob.Fornal-

Tags: Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Disorder, high blood pressure, Sleep Aids, Natural Sleep Solutions, heart disease, Dangers Of lack Of Sleep

There are two solutions to solving sleep deprivation, however, you don't necessarily have to do both depending on the problem. Are you ready?

1. Get more sleep
2. Get better sleep

That's right sleep deprivation needs to be solved by doing either of the above or both. Now the question is "How?" Well there is not short answer to that, just like there is no magic pill that will solve your problem once and for all.

First you need to determine what your problem is to get solutions for your sleep deprivation. Is it really that your are not sleeping enough hours? Or is it that you are not getting good quality and restorative sleep? You see many people mistaken poor quality sleep for lack of sleep when really there are two different problems all together.

You could be sleeping 10 hours, but if you don't get the right kind of sleep then you might as well stay up all night. Sleep quality, as with many other things in life is at least 10 times more important than quantity.

So how do you go about getting more sleep and most importantly more quality sleep? First you can browse through the rest of this site where you will find countless tips that can help you sleep better right away.

But to take it to the next step and truly transform your life, I have written a whole manual that takes you by the hand and explains everything for you, step by step, just as if you were talking to me on a consultation, only better since you can have access to it 24/7.

To start sleeping better tonight purchase "How To Get A Better And Healthier Sleep Starting Tonight".

-Photo by limonada-

Tags: Sleep Deprivation, Tips, Solutions

Most symptoms of sleep deprivation are easy to recognize:

• Difficulty getting out of bed
• Constant yawning
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dozing off
• Grogginess during the day
• Irritability and mood swings
• Feeling tired all the time

You can also have a look at the effects of sleep deprivation to get an idea of how this can show up in a person.

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

Tags: Sleep Deprivation, Symptoms

I know this is going to hurt and it's probably not what you want to hear, but it's the truth, whether you like it or not: if you are suffering from a sleep disorder, you are causing it! That's right; the number one cause of sleep deprivation is your lifestyle; the choices you are making everyday are going to dictate whether or not you will sleep at night. If you are having some sort of sleep problem, most likely you are doing or not doing something that's is causing it.

People always argue and fight about the causes of sleep deprivation; they spend years and millions of dollars developing drugs that will supposedly solve insomnia... But you know just as well as I do that this doesn't work. And not only do sleeping pills not work, they are potentially dangerous and in the vast majority of cases, cause even more sleep or health problems. As a matter of fact sleep medication consumption is one of the lifestyle choices that can directly cause sleep deprivation.

I know you probably think this sounds crazy and are wondering "What? How can sleep medications be the cause of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders?" They may not be the direct cause; other poor lifestyle choices may trigger the sleep deprivation, but sleep medications will only increase the problem and add more negative components to it. But enough about sleeping pills, this is not the topic here, if you want to learn more about this read Chapter 23 (p.129) of How To Get A Better And Healthier Sleep Starting Tonight

Here is a non exhaustive list of the causes of sleep deprivation:

• Caffeine consumption (calculate your caffeine intake)
• Alcohol consumption
• Smoking
• Stress (calculate you stress level)
• Working shifts
• Lack of routine
• Poor scheduling
• Inadequate exposure to light (improper amount and wrong time)
• Bad bed
• Inadequate room temperature
• Poor diet
• Being overweight/obese
• Inadequate "before bed activities" (such as watching TV, working, being on the computer...)
• Lack of or no exercise
• Medication consumption
• etc...

The one exception that wouldn't be a lifestyle choice causing sleep deprivation, would be an illness or a physical pain. But you would have to ask yourself "Why do I have this pain or illness? Is it because of poor lifestyle choices?"

So the point and conclusion of this section is that you are totally responsible for your own sleep problem, you created it, you nurtured it and now you have to find a way to fix it. But let me tell you this: fixing it will not come from the outside in (such as taking a pill), but from the inside out (making the proper changes in one or probably many areas of your life).

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

-Photo by seraphimc-

Tags: Sleep Deprivation

Sleep as you may already know is a vital function, and therefore, lack of it (sleep deprivation) has dramatic consequences on an individual. Sleep deprivation affects the living body both physically and mentally to the point that it can self-destruct if the deprivation is pushed to the extreme: Let’s look at a sleep deprivation experiment performed on rats to illustrate this point (note that the average rat normally lives for about 2 to 3 years). In this experiment rats were divided into 2 different groups and the results were pretty conclusive as to the negative effects of sleep deprivation:

The rats in group number one, deprived of REM sleep, lived an average of 5 months.
The rats in group number two, deprived of all sleep, survived only about 3 weeks.

This experiment shows us that even though rats can survive an incredible 3 weeks without any sleep, it dramatically shortened their life-span.

But enough about rats, lets looks at the physical effects of sleep deprivation on the human body:

• Memory problems
• Chronic pain
• Attention problems
• Poor motor responses to stimuli
• Difficulty controlling emotions, mood swings
• Increased risk of motor vehicle accident: A 1998 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that approximately 100.000 motor vehicle accidents each year are the results of the driver being drowsy or fatigued at the wheel
• Increased risks of certain diseases
• Depression
• Irritability
• Increased risk of work related accidents
• Decreased work performance
• Social problems, marital problems
• Lowered immune system

Those are the dangers of sleep deprivation. As you can see the effects can be really dramatic, the simple fact that sleep deprivation lowers your immune system is scary enough, since this can lead to many other health problems. Not to mention the direct link between sleep deprivation and car accidents.

Do you ever find yourself irritated, depressed, or not able to pay attention to things the way you were able to? All of these are direct physical effects of sleep deprivation.

The link between sleep deprivation and stress is even more important than you can ever imagine. So if you find yourself stressed or experiencing any of the above, maybe it's time to get some adequate rest.

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

-Photo by sunface13-

Tags: Sleep Deprivation

If there was one natural supplement I would strongly urge anybody who is suffering from sleep problems to try it would be 5 HTP. This one product really work wonders at re-establishing proper sleep patterns, and I have recommended it to many of my patients, all of whom have been really happy and have seen dramatic results and improvements.

But why does 5 HTP work so well at helping people regain sleep?

Serotonin, a hormones produced by the human body, is a major sleep regulator. Lack or decreased serotonin will not only cause sleep disturbances or insomnia, but also depression, digestive problems, a lower threshold for pain and even fibromyalgia.

One of the major factor causing a decrease in the body levels of serotonin is stress. Not occasional stress but repetitive, chronic stress as millions of people are experiencing it nowadays due to the increase workloads, financial crisis, etc...

So just think that if you are living a stressful life, you are probably asking too much of your body and depleting from the extremely important serotonin that is the precursor for melatonin.

Therefore the combination of stress reducing activities such as exercise, meditation or breathing exercises combined with a proper supplementation of 5 HTP, is key to restoring proper sleep hormone levels.

Sleeping pills such as benziodiazepines will never address this issue and while you think you may sleep better or more while taking them, the hormonal levels will remain low. This is another reason why resorting to sleep medication makes no sense.

Stay tuned for the second part on this topic as I will explain how to take 5 HTP, what types of reactions can occur in your body and what to do about it. I will also review a few of my favorite brands. In the mean time, if you are anxious to start on 5 HTP and improve your sleep, you can buy it here.

Tags: Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, 5htp, Supplement, Natural, Vitamin

It seems men are ready to do just about anything to screw up their bodies and one example of that is how researchers are investigating how a naturally occurring neurotransmitter called Orexin-A could "solve" the intellectual problems caused by sleep deprivation.

Apparently, according to a recent news article, injecting Orexin-A in monkeys has improved their ability to perform intellectual tasks that involve short term memory, after they had been kept awake for 30 to 36 hours. However the administration of the neurotransmitter had no positive effect on the monkeys' performances when they got adequate rest, but rather made them perform worse on the tasks. The article also mentions that best results were achieved when Orexin-A was administered through the nose: the monkeys improved their performance on harder test and "cognitive performance was restored to normal alert levels".

Obviously more tests need to be performed before this can be applied to humans, but I can already imagine the dollars flowing into the bank accounts of pharmaceutical companies while people sniff Orexin-A in their car on a sleepless cross country journey.

This is absolute non-sense! The consequences of lack of sleep are far more reaching than decreased cognitive function. Sleep is vital, and no nose spray is going to "Solve" anything.

Get some rest, get some sleep, nap if you need to. That is the best solution to restoring normal brain function if you haven't slept enough.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

Tags: Sleep Deprivation, Orexin-a