What Helps Sleep

It’s not rocket to understand that getting a good night’s sleep is vital for physical and mental health. And yet, most adults suffer from poor sleep quality at one time or another.

For some, it’s a decades’ long battle that starts with the hustle of their stressful lives. Insomnia is a problem among 30 percent of American adults, says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. It is especially hard for older adults to fall asleep. It’s estimated that nearly half of elderly adults complain about difficulty sleeping.

If you have a hard time falling asleep at night, if you’re plagued by racing thoughts as you lie in bed, or you find your legs twitch, you may have a reason to see a professional sleep therapist. But perhaps you could try some of the top tips that have worked in the past for the restless sleeper.

5 Tips That Can Help You Sleep Better

1. Turn off all device activity before 7pm.
2. Try and meditate for at least 10 mins a day.
3. Drink at least 6 to 8 cups of filtered water.
4. Keep the bedroom at a temperature of 62F (17 C)
5. USANA Mineral Calm

Lets go through this list one by one.

There is significant research to suggest our mind finds it challenging to switch off at night after prolonged usage of devices. Recent sleep studies have shown over 39% of recipients who switched devices off before 7pm each night had improved sleep behaviors.

Meditation needs no introduction. There are people that swear by it and some that couldn’t care less. Meditation doesn’t necessarily mean sitting crossed-legged sniffing incense listening to calming music while you utter the words – Ohhmmmm. Meditation can me sitting in nature under a tree in your back yard or on the couch in silence, sipping a cup of team – doing nothing! Not talking. Not reading. Just closing your eyes and letting your mind rest.

Drink Filtered Water! Flush those toxins out of your body or do a USANA RESET 5 day Weight Loss Kit if you feel you would like to rid yourself of some weight or go even harder with the USANA 28 Day Active Nutrition Transform Kit. But enough said – drink water.

Having a cooler environment when you sleep has proven the body to lower it’s surface temperature ever so slightly and this small adjustment has shown to improve sleep by up to 25%. So cool that room down and give it a crack.

USANA Supplements, or in this case USANA Mineral Calm has had a rapid increase in demand since it’s core ingredients have been known for years to help with even the toughest of insomniacs . And it seems a mundane mineral that many of us aren’t aware of, magnesium carbonate, that is the solution.

USANA Mineral Calm Beverage – Ingredients

Mineral calm is a supplement with a simple ingredient list. Each serving of a rounded teaspoon or 5mg contains around 300 mg of magnesium in the form of magnesium carbonate. It also contains some sodium (100 mg) in sodium bicarbonate and potassium (80mg) in the form of potassium bicarbonate. For flavor, the powder also contains some citric acid, stevia, and natural flavors.

You’re meant to take the supplement by adding a rounded teaspoon of USANA Mineral Calm into 3 ounces of hot water. Let the drink effervesce fully. Then add around 3 to 5 ounces more of water. Blend till the powder dissolves completely. Chug down your sleep potion half an hour to an hour before bed.

The experience with magnesium carbonate is that it relaxes muscles and calms the nervous system. Let’s take a closer look at this compound and how it works.

Magnesium Carbonate for Better Sleep

A 2012 study conducted by Iranian researchers found that Mg2+ ions play an important role in regulating sleep. They do this by supporting a certain neurotransmitter to calm activity in the central nervous system.

The neurotransmitter we’re speaking of is GABA. It sends chemical messages through the nervous system and the brain. It participates in the communication and interactions between neurons. It reduces feelings of anxiety and fear. People with healthy GABA action are less likely to have anxiety, insomnia, depression, ADHD, and even premenstrual syndrome and inflammation. As a bonus, it may also help to increase the levels of human growth hormone.

Mg2+ ions seem to act as GABA agonists in the body. An agonist is a substance that triggers a physical response when combined with a receptor such as GABA (an antagonist is just the opposite.)

Anything – a drug or, in this case, a mineral – an agonist for GABA produces sedative effects. It may also help to relax muscles and soothe anxiety. It may ease convulsions as well.

Through a complex process of ions and interactions with NDMA, magnesium ions help keep the body’s sleep quality normal.

What Does Sleep Disorder Look Like?

Sleep disorders can be of many kinds. And when there’s a sleep disorder, the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor may be involved. NDMA is a protein found in neurons. They live in the membranes of these neurons. They have been associated with poorer delta oscillations and fewer sleep spindles in natural sleep.

What are sleep spindles? When you look at an EEG or electroencephalograph of a person’s brain in non-REM sleep, you’ll see little sections of dense spindle-shaped scribbles in the graph. NREM sleep is just as crucial as REM sleep every night. During this phase, essential functions of long-term memory-storing and brain cortical development play out.

Delta oscillations are another characteristic of natural sleep. When you’re in the deep sleep stage or slow-wave sleep stage of NREM sleep, delta waves oscillate in your brain. It’s not clear what delta oscillations do. But they are linked with sleep quality. The deeper your sleep quality, the more rejuvenated you feel afterwards, ready to tackle a new day.

NMDA receptors have a role in sleep disorders, including in people with mental illness or psychotic states. Magnesium seems to be an NMDA antagonist. It subdues the effects of NDMA. Through this action, as a bonus, magnesium may even have the ability to reduce pain.

This means magnesium can work great for people with insomnia related to arthritis and other such painful disorders. And this simple ingredient in USANA Mineral Calm may have the ability to help you sleep again at night.

How USANA Mineral Calm Can Help You Have A Restful and Rejuvenating Sleep

The USA led study from 2012 found that those among the elderly who took magnesium supplements were able to sleep longer and have better sleep quality for as long as they were asleep. They found magnesium also increased the concentration of melatonin and serum renin in the body.

Now, melatonin regulates the sleep cycle. It helps us fall asleep faster. Renin is an enzyme made by the kidneys. It helps to maintain levels of sodium and potassium in the body. In other words, it indirectly impacts blood pressure.

There is a clear connection between sleep and blood pressure.  A good night’s rest can help lower blood pressure and improve heart health. Lower blood pressure is also associated with anxiety. When blood pressure drops too low as you lie in bed, your mind filled with racing thoughts, renin slips into your bloodstream to indirectly calm you down.

The Bottom Line

How to sleep better doesn’t need to be such a long drawn out process. The magnesium supplement USANA Mineral Calm effectively gets you a good night’s rest. It supports your body with the nutrition it needs to be calm and relaxed. It’s a warm, citrusy drink flavoured with ginger that will work as a delicious nightcap before bed.

If you’re taking a prescription drug or are pregnant, you may want to speak to your doctor before you start taking USANA Mineral Calm. For everyone else, this may be the simple supplement they’re looking for to bring positive changes to their sleep cycle slowly.

USANA Health Sciences – Salt Lake City. UT