Insomnia

Sleep is a vital part of basically all body functions. Sleep ensures that we can recover from today’s hardships and process all impressions subconsciously. Lack of sleep and sleep disorders are becoming more common can occur due to various reasons:

  • Mineral deficiency
  • Depression, anxiety
  • Stress
  • Snoring
  • High alcohol consumption and alcoholism
  • Diseases
  • Other reasons

Causes of sleep deprivation

It can be challenging to pinpoint the cause of the sleep problems yourself, but there are effective ways to deal with the problem. First, it is good to understand how the melatonin sleep regulation system works. Sleep problems are often strongly linked to lifestyle, but it can also be due to a physical imbalance.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to make some lifestyle choices such as cutting down on alcohol consumption, eating healthy and mineral-rich foods adn excercising. In other cases, melatonin supplementation is needed. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that sleep quality depends on routines, and the more regular the sleep, the better. Being more of a night person than a morning person is not uncommon and does not necessarily have to be something wrong as long as you get enough sleep every night.

Melatonin

The Circadian Rhythm tells us when it’s time for us to go to sleep. The production of the sleep hormone melatonin makes you feel sleepy. As it gets darker more melatonin is produced, and during the day, when it is light, less melatonin is produced. When everything works as it should, you should have a natural circadian rhythm with the help of melatonin.

Too low melatonin production can lead to sleep disorders and difficulty falling asleep. On the other hand, not enough melatonin is produced, which results in the body not signalling strongly enough that it is time to sleep. Too much melatonin, on the other hand, can make you feel tired during the day. As with most other processes in the body, it is the balance you want to strive for. Low melatonin levels are common, and too high levels are almost always due to intake of melatonin, although it is not very common.

Standard treatment methods are to first review lifestyle routines linked to sleep. Alcohol consumption, smoking, exercise and ability to relax are all factors that affects the melatonin balance. The use of weight blankets are also becoming more common and have a positive impact on the sleep for many. Drugs that directly increase the amount of melatonin are usually the last step if other measures do not work.

Melatonin also has several other vital functions in the body, for example, it has been shown that melatonin can help with seasonal depression, heartburn, stomach ulcers and more.

Here you can test your melatonin levels.

Cortisol

Cortisol is what makes us wake up in the morning and have the energy to start the day. Cortisol should be at its highest in the morning and gradually decrease during the day.

Today with increasing stress, we often see reversed curves where the cortisol is low in the morning and starts rising in the afternoon and evening.

The adrenal glands produce cortisol, and if they are out of balance, it can interfere with our sleep, which can make us wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning. You can measure your cortisol levels with a simple saliva test.

Mineral deficiency

Minerals are essential for our health and wellbeing. It is vital for sleep, for our digestion, for the immune system, and can prevent us from having headaches, migraines, palpitations, etc.

Above all, magnesium is essential to avoid sleep problems. Taking magnesium before bedtime can help us relax and improve sleep. If it doesn’t help, your body may not be able to absorb the supplements you are taking. You can test your level of magnesium with our Mineral deficiency test or with the Nutrition test.

In addition to supplements, you can eat magnesium-rich foods such as:

  • Nuts
  • Leafy vegetables
  • Whole grain products
  • Legumes
  • Meat
  • Fish and seafood

Too much magnesium generally has no effects other than diarrhea.

Neurotransmitters and hormones

Certain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and GABA can affect our sleep and so can DHEA, which is a hormone. Imbalances in neurotransmitters and hormones are becoming more common due to stress. The test Neurotransmitter Basic measurse serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. The test Neurotransmitters Plus, measures all of the above plus GABA and glutamate / glutamic acid. You can also measure DHEA separately or is in the tests Women’s  Hormone Test or Men’s Hormone Test.

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