With Americans growing fatter and more sleep-deprived, researchers are beginning to search for a correlation between the two. Francesco P. Cappuccio, MD, of the Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom, and some other researchers conducted a review of publications concerning the relationship between short sleep duration and obesity risk. According to a press release by The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the research showed that children and adults from around the world who don't get enough sleep show a consistent, elevated risk of obesity.

Dr. Cappuccio provides some explanation about the research. "By appraising the world literature," he states, "we were able to show some heterogeneity amongst studies in the world. However, there is a striking consistent overall association, in that both obese children and adults had a significantly increased risk of being short sleepers compared to normal weight individuals. The size of the association was comparable (1.89-fold increase in children and 1.55-fold increase in adults)."

He is careful as he explains his conclusions. "This study is important as it confirms that this association is strong and might be of public health relevance. However, it also raises the unanswered question yet of whether this is a cause-effect association. Only prospective longitudinal studies will be able to address the outstanding question," said Dr. Cappuccio.

Obesity is a serious problem. According to the NIDDK, being overweight or obese is a risk factor for many diseases including diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood cholesterol, stroke, hypertension, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and other breathing problems, and some forms of cancer (breast, colorectal, endometrial, and kidney). The NIDDK also reports that obesity is associated with pregnancy complications, menstrual irregularities, hirsutism (presence of excess body and facial hair), incontinence, depression and other psychological disorders, increased surgical risk, and increased mortality. Additionally, the NIDDK discloses that obese individuals also have between a 10 and 50 percent increased risk of death from all causes, when compared with healthy-weight individuals.

Therefore, while no cause-effect association between obesity and lack of sleep has been proven, it seems prudent for individuals to get an appropriate amount of sleep. Given all of the dangerous side effects of sleep medications, it also makes sense to regulate sleep using natural methods. Many of the natural ways of regulating sleep may also have some other health benefits, as well.

In an article about insomnia, Mike Adams states, "I strongly encourage you to avoid the seduction of using herbs or drugs to get your sleep. Instead, take the more difficult journey: a journey of detoxing your diet, of taking a good, hard look at everything that's going on in your life, what foods you're putting into your body, what drugs or psychoactive substances you might be consuming, how much physical exercise you're getting, how much sunlight you're getting, how much water you're drinking on a regular basis, and so on. This is a difficult journey for a lot of people, but it is the only journey that can really cure insomnia." Sounds like good advice.

About the author

Joanne Waldron is a computer scientist with a passion for writing and sharing health-related news and information with others. She runs the Naked Wellness: The Gentle Health Revolution forum, which is devoted to achieving radiant health, well-being, and longevity.

Source: http://www.NaturalNews.com/023530.html

The skin of individuals with hypothyroidism may receive as little as 20 to 40 percent of its normal blood supply. Realizing this, it doesn’t take a genius to now understand why these individuals may experience cold extremities, hair loss, dry skin, wrinkling, and other signs of premature aging, in addition to a general weakening of other organs throughout the whole body. I can’t help but believe there will be more interest in microvascular circulation when people begin to understand it better. It doesn’t matter, however, whether the mainstream health media and conventional medicine take one year or 20 to discover its importance. The important thing is that you understand how dramatically it affects your health and well-being, and that you start to take the steps to protect your own health.

The research on microvascular problems is out there and we just need to connect the dots. For example, the death rate for women with heart disease hasn’t improved the way it has recently for men. In men, the standard tests have been useful at discovering blockages in the coronary arteries, and bypass surgery and similar therapies have prolonged their lives. These same tests routinely find clear arteries in women, even in those who have all the symptoms of heart disease and often suffer fatal heart attacks shortly thereafter. Only now are researchers starting to consider the concept of coronary microvascular disease (coronary MVD) or “non-obstructive” coronary artery disease.

Early estimates are that as many as 3 million women in this country are at risk of coronary MVD. Recognizing the problem is certainly a start in the right direction and we can hope they look a little deeper into some of the available solutions mentioned above rather than wait or experiment with some pharmaceutical wonder drug. The eye is one of the few places where the blood vessels can be viewed directly, and is often the first place where trouble is noted. An Australian study, just released, found that individuals with eye diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration have a higher likelihood of premature death than individuals who don’t have those problems. However, the researchers couldn’t figure out why. It apparently didn’t dawn on them that not only are the eyes the window to the soul, they’re also a window to the rest of the body. Recent studies have confirmed that damage to the microvascular system in the brain from blood sugar imbalances, elevated homocysteine levels has possible links to dementia in the elderly and Alzheimer’s disease.

According to Dr. Maas, if you sleep more on weekends, need an alarm clock, or can easily fall asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed, you are sleep deprived. The process of sleep restores, rejuvenates, and energizes the body and the brain. Maas reports that sleeping has profound effects on your life, in terms of alertness, energy, mood, body weight, perception, memory, thinking, reaction time, productivity, performance, communication skills, creativity, safety and good health.

SLEEP STRATEGIES FOR SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Dr. Maas says there are four “golden rules” for a great night’s sleep and a better tomorrow:
1) Determine your sleep requirement and meet it every night;
2) Maintain a regular sleep/wake schedule;
3) Get continuous, uninterrupted sleep; and
4) Make up for lost sleep (power nap).

Dr. James B. Maas, is the author of the New York Times Best Seller Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, (HarperCollins 1998). He is Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Professor and past chairman of the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. In addition, he is a Recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Educator Award; and serves as a keynote presenter for major corporations worldwide including the Young Presidents Organization, Marriott, IBM, Apple Computer, Eastman Kodak, etc. He received his B.A. from Williams College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Dr. Maas has made television appearances on The 700 Club, NBC Nightly News, ABC’s 20/20, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. www.powersleep.org

[tags]sleep, sleep and aging, sleep and weight gain, lose weight, slow aging[/tags]

Everyone wants to get a good night's rest however it is increasingly difficult for many individuals due to their work and family schedule, stress, and even their diets. While there may be nothing we can do to control some things in our life that make getting sleep difficult eating right is one thing we can control and is something that should be made a priority if you want to get some shut eye each and every night. To get good deep sleep there are certain foods you should eat and foods you should avoid in order to close your eyes and get the best benefits from sleep. Of course, if there are any food intolerances they should
be removed from the diet altogether as they may be the prime reason an
individual cannot get good rest at night.

Food to Eat for Sleep

All green and leafy vegetables are sleep promoting and good things to include in your diet to enhance sleep. Following the green theme is micro algae like chlorella. Whole grains are another food group that really helps calm the nervous system and promote sleep in an individual. Carbohydrates in general make you sleepy because they cause a boost in serotonin that makes you feel sleepy and tired. So, if you need some sleep eat some carbs and you should be on your way to dreamland soon. Other great foods to promote sleep include mushrooms, oyster shell supplements, dill, basil, certain fruits and all processed carbs like bagels and bread.

Lettuce might be the magic sleep food much to the surprise of everyone.
Amazingly, lettuce has opium like substance that enhances sleepiness. As a result, if you suffer from insomnia or just can't get to sleep make sure you include a big lettuce salad as part of your dinner and you will fall off to sleep faster than you ever imagined.

One old trick for getting to sleep that has been around for ages is a cup of warm milk. You have probably heard of this remedy and even tried it yourself, but were unaware why milk makes you sleepy. The answer is because milk has tryptophan that is converted to serotonin and promotes sleep when it is in the body. This same element is found in turkey and the cause of many a Thanksgiving afternoon nap! Also, niacin helps the production of serotonin to produce sleepiness and a great night's rest. Niacin is found in fish, peanuts, poultry, and other foods.

Foods to Avoid for Sleep

Getting the shut eye you need and deserve can frequently be obtained by simply avoiding certain foods and drinks that make sleep difficult. The following foods are things you should avoid after late afternoon to ensure a good night's rest.

Alcohol and caffeine are two foods that make sleep difficult and for this reason should be avoided at all costs in the early evening. Chocolate is another food that should be avoided because it contains caffeine and can rev you up rather than soothe you for bed. Spicy foods get your metabolism rolling and as a result they make getting to sleep difficult not to mention they can cause digestive problems that result in a shady night's rest. All foods that are refined carbohydrates or have additives or preservatives should also be avoided at nighttime. Foods high in sugar allow for an energy burst rather than induce sleep so sugar should be saved for the daytime. High protein foods should also be avoided near bedtime as well because they block the serotonin in our brains and make getting to sleep difficult.

While there are numerous foods that are great for promoting sleep and foods one should certainly avoid to get a good night's sleep, their affects are different on everyone. So, if you notice when you drink caffeine you can't get to sleep you know to eliminate caffeine from your nightly routine. The same goes for any other food that consistently keeps you awake. However, if you have insomnia and don't know why simply avoid all of the foods on the list before bedtime and you should be able to get some sleep. If not, there might be other reasons you can't sleep like working in front of the computer late, anxiety, stress, and many
other reasons that can negatively impact a good night's rest.

This article is by http://www.sleepingcommunity.com. A great resource for those who love sleep, and
those who need solutions to get to sleep. This article and many more similar articles can be found at our Sleeping Nutrition section!

Nutritents To Relieve Sleep Problems And Promote Healthy Sleep:
(Take 30-60 minutes before bedtime.)
• >Valerian 500 mg
• >Melatonin 1—3 mg
• >5-HTP 100 mg
• >Magnesium 500 mg
• Dilantin* 100 mg

There can be a number of reasons for stiffness or pain in the morning, but this time around we’re going to focus on two that are fairly common and that may have a pH imbalance problem as the cause. (1) morning muscle stiffness (2) bursitis. We will cover each of these in different sections.

Eliminating Morning Muscle Stiffness
There are actually a couple of things that can help eliminate morning muscle stiffness. You should first consider whether the mattress you sleep on needs to be replaced with one that works better for you. Twenty years ago, the best choice would have been a water bed (and they're still good if that's what you prefer), but today the technological advances in such mattress materials as TEMPUR (a special foam-like material developed from NASA technology for space flights) have given us more options than we used to have.

If you already own a fairly new mattress and think it's too firm, get a mattress pad. You can find good TEMPUR pads at most reasonable prices. There are many mattress pads on the market, but we recommend the TEMPUR which even come with waffle-type construction as opposed to the solid piece of foam rubber. The waffle type looks like the bottom of an egg carton and you should get a three-inch pad. These pads may look uncomfortable, but once you have them under your sheets, you will find them to be much better than a mattress that's too firm.

If the problem with morning stiffness isn't due to your mattress, you should consider a possible pH problem. As the years pass, our bodies tend to become more alkaline and less acidic. Our circulation slows down when we're not moving around and this can cause stiffness, especially after being asleep for several hours. One reason for being too alkaline is a decrease in lactic acid waste product of muscle activity that causes the small blood vessels to open up and increase blood circulation to different parts of the body (which, in turn, eliminates stiffness).

Not only does being too alkaline (a high pH) cause stiffness, it also throws your calcium out of proper solution causing allergies, migrating arthritis-type pain, insomnia, short-windedness, and irritation and itching around the anal area. If you have any of those symptoms, you might be too alkaline.

There are many ways to check your pH balance. You can check your stool, stomach acid, urine, or blood. However, the easiest way is to check your saliva. All you need is some pH Hydrion paper or strips, which you can get at a medical supply store or a pet store in their fish and aquarium supply department. You can usually buy a roll of test paper that comes with a color chart. Test your saliva when you first get up in the morning. All you have to do is put the test paper in your mouth and compare to the color chart.

If you're too alkaline, you can usually regain normal pH with hydrochloric acid digestive tablets or by using the old folk remedy of apple cider vinegar and honey. The Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar is the best. Here’s how we recommend taking it to make it more pleasing to your taste buds. In a one-quart jar, mix one cup of apple cider vinegar with three cups of distilled water. Each day, take one cup of the liquid and add two tablespoons of honey. Drink one cup (plus honey) each day for four days— either all at once or sipping it throughout the day. This concoction will help acidify your system, aid your digestion, and remove excess calcium deposits in your body. You should also take a daily multivitamin with at least 5,000 IU of beta­carotene (vitamin A). Additionally, be sure to drink a minimum of 48 ounces of distilled water a day (separate from the amount mixed with the apple cider). Additionally, be sure to drink a minimum of 48 ounces of distilled water a day (separate from the amount mixed with the apple cider). Men should drink half their body weight in ounces.