Welcome back! In this post, I'm going to be talking about another natural sleep aid. This one is called Melatonin. Melatonin is a natural sleep aid, because it is a hormone already found in your body. Melatonin could be compared to a sleeping potion. During the day, the pineal gland in the brain creates a hormone called serotonin. When light decreases, serotonin is converted into melatonin. Melatonin then creates a drowsy effect, which makes you fall asleep. This is why it is much easier to sleep in the dark than the light. You are aided by a natural sleep aid: Melatonin.
Melatonin is a hormone, but you can take it in capsule form. You can buy melatonin at pretty much any convenience store and is much preferable to taking artificial sleep aids. If you take a melatonin pill about 30 minutes before you sleep, you should begin to feel drowsy. This is the "sleep potion" taking effect. Some patients that suffer from insomnia do not have enough melatonin. They try to sleep every night, but they never feel sleepy. This is because their bodies do not produce any sleep potion, so they feel the same in bed as they do when fully awake.
For those of you who have no desire to use any type of pill to induce drowsiness, I'd recommend reading about two easy natural sleep aids. If neither of those work for you, there are a variety of methods you can use to increase the amount of melatonin you produce naturally, without a pill.
Hindu traditional beliefs have said for many years that meditation can produce melatonin. In Hindu meditation, pineal gland is located in the Head Chakra. In 1995, a study actually proved this to be true. Two groups of people were selected for the study. The first group practiced daily meditation. The second group did not. After a period of time, a night-time urine sample was taken from both groups. The group that practiced daily meditation had significantly more melatonin than the control group. Another study tested participants that practiced meditation just before sleeping. In the first group, participants meditated nightly on a consistent basis. In the second, participants meditated just before the test. The results of this study showed that the first group received a melatonin boost, while the second did not. This suggests that if you want to meditate at night, you need to do it nightly to receive the benefits. There are many types of meditation you can use, and I'll go over each one in future posts.
Melatonin can also be useful for people not suffering from insomnia. People suffering from jet lag or workers switching shifts may also find melatonin to be a helpful natural sleep aid. Often, after a long plane ride, you can feel jet lag for days. Taking melatonin before you sleep can speed up this adjustment period. Also, if you have to switch from working the day shift to the night shift quickly, melatonin can be a natural sleep aid you should use.
As you can see, if a diet change or music don't improve you sleep, melatonin might be the natural sleep aid for you. Remember, natural sleep aids are neither addictive or harmful, so they are much preferable to artificial sleep aids. Once again, thanks for reading natural sleep aid. I hope you've found the information you need, and if you haven't, I address your concerns in a future post. Good luck choosing a natural sleep aid!
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