One cannot stress enough how essential a good night sleep is to your health. Lack of good rest at night exposes your body to high risk of fatigue, diseases, mood-swings, hypertension and reduced energy. By allowing our body a good night sleep, we allow our minds sufficient quality time on their own to revamp themselves from your everyday activities.
This doesn’t only protect your mental and physical health but also supports proper brain function, correct growth and development in children and teens. This is also the time when your body can work on recouping and rejuvenating your different systems.
Moreover, when you deprive your body of sleep for a longer period of time you expose it to serious health threats, as chronic lack of sleep can affect your ability to react, think, work, learn and communicate. This problem is much bigger than it seems, and many people suffer from it from various reasons. According to the Institute of Medicine in America, more than 50 million Americans have one form or another of chronic sleep deprivation or poor sleep.
If you’re one of them, we have a perfect tasteful smooothie. Consume it one hour before going to bed and it might just offer you the solution you needed to solve your sleeping problems. It is made off bananas and cinnamon, which are both extremely beneficial for your health. Cinnamon is rich in essential oils, while bananas make a great source of potassium and magnesium.
Ingredients:
1 raw banana
½ tablespoon cinnamon
1 liter of water
Preparation:
Pour the water into a small pot and bring it to boil. Cut off the banana ends and add them into the boiling water. Leave them for 10 minutes. Pour water through colander and into a cup. Add the cinnamon to taste.
Consume this smoothie about an hour before going to bed.
Very often your poor sleep is an indication of mineral deficiencies, and although there are some medicines that may help you, it’s always much better to find a natural solution to your problems. Being made of bananas and cinnamon, this beverage fits this criterion perfectly.
We’ve already mentioned that bananas are a fantastic source of potassium and magnesium. The role that both of these elements play in improving your sleep has been scientifically confirmed by different studies. They help your body to reverse the negative impact that excess amount of stress caused cortisol has on our system. Furthermore, bananas also provide our body with potassium, iron and calcium, which also help with insomnia.
Bananas are also rich in amino acid known as tryptophan that helps in increasing the serotonin levels which regulate your sleeping pattern, and improves your mood and control your appetite.
Cinnamon on the other hand contains eugenol and phenylpropanoids. These two essential oils are the chemical compounds behind cinnamon’s sweet and aromatic scent. In addition, they are also known to improve blood circulation and digestion, thus helping eliminate two possible causes for bad sleep. So, besides improving the taste of the beverage, you provide it with another perfect ingredient for sound rest.
However, if this recipe fails to provide you with the wanted results and you continue experiencing sleep difficulties, than your problems might have deeper roots, like anxiety, unhealthy diet, mineral deficiencies and hectic life style. You can try different short term solutions, but the real approach would be to solve the problem that’s gnawing on your sleepless nights.
Consider trying out different techniques that provide relaxation to your brain and body, change your diet to consume healthier food, stop worrying about everything, and exercise more. Most importantly, when night comes, be prepared to treat your body with a good sound sleep.
sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1947601
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4466762/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22038497
