Every night, millions of Americans have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Quite often this is caused by stress, anxiety, caffeine or over stimulation before bed. But there is another common cause that few people even know to consider — a nutritional deficiency of one kind or another. If you have such a deficiency, once it is identified you can easily correct it — and start enjoying peaceful slumber once again.

This is a far superior approach to prescription sleeping pills, which not only fail to address the underlying reason for sleeplessness but often are also addictive and have side effects such as disorientation and next-day fatigue.

One example: My usually bubbly and energetic colleague Kathryn suddenly started dragging at work, even nodding off during meetings. At night she would awake with unpleasant and uncontrollable urges to move her legs. The surprising cause turned out to be related to Kathryn’s new vegetarian diet, which she had started several months before — without meat, her diet no longer included the iron she needed. As a result, she had developed restless legs syndrome, which makes sleeping a real challenge. The simple solution: Her doctor prescribed iron supplements and began monitoring her levels. Now Kathryn sleeps like a baby and is once again bursting with energy at the office.

Nutritional Deficiencies Interfere with Sleep

Iron and restless leg syndrome is just one of the hidden dietary deficiencies affecting sleep. For more insight on potentially sleep-disturbing dietary deficiencies and how to address them, I turned to our nutrition guru, contributing medical editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND. If you suffer from insomnia, he recommends consulting a doctor who is knowledgeable about nutritional biochemistry to assess your nutrient levels and offer diet advice and/or supplements to support your body’s natural sleep processes.

Dr. Rubman told me that the following nutrients are strongly related to sleep…

Calcium: Nature’s Sedative

When you run short on calcium, you are apt to toss and turn and experience frequent awakenings in the night. This mineral has a natural calming effect on the nervous system. It works by helping your body converttryptophan — an essential amino acid found in foods such as turkey and eggs — into the neurotransmitter serotonin, which modulates mood and sleep. Serotonin, in turn, is converted into melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate the sleep cycle.

Dr. Rubman suggests: It’s always better to get the nutrients you need from food rather than supplements. Milk and dairy products are the most common dietary sources of calcium, but Dr. Rubman notes that many people have trouble digesting cow’s milk, especially as they grow older. Excellent nondairy sources of calcium are leafy green vegetables such as kale and collard greens, canned sardines, sesame seeds and almonds. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults over age 18 is 1,000 to 1,200 mg/day. For those not getting enough from dietary sources, Dr. Rubman often prescribes the calcium-magnesium supplement Butyrex from T.E. Neesby. (Read about magnesium just below.) Take it half an hour before going to bed.

Relieve Leg Cramps with Magnesium

Nighttime leg cramps, often due to a magnesium deficiency, are a common cause of sleeplessness. Magnesium helps your body’s cells absorb and use calcium, so this mineral pair works hand in hand to relax muscles, relieve painful cramps or spasms and bring on restful slumber.

Dr. Rubman suggests: Leafy green vegetables are the best source of dietary magnesium, followed by artichokes, nuts, legumes, seeds, whole grains (especially buckwheat, cornmeal and whole wheat) and soy products. The Butyrex Dr. Rubman prescribes for calcium deficiency contains magnesium, so it helps solve this problem too. (The RDA for magnesium for adults is 400 mg/day for men and 310 mg/day for women.)

Vitamin B-12 for Serotonin Production

Vitamin B-12 supports the production of neurotransmitters that affect brain function and sleep, helping to metabolize calcium and magnesium and working with them to convert tryptophan into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Insufficient B-12 may be a factor if you have trouble falling or staying asleep.

Dr. Rubman suggests: Foods rich in vitamin B-12 include liver and other organ meats, eggs, fish and, to a lesser degree, leafy green vegetables. For B-12 deficiency, Dr. Rubman sometimes prescribes B-12 tablets taken sublingually (dissolved under the tongue) one hour before bedtime — but notes that it’s important to take a multivitamin that contains B vitamins twice daily as well, since it helps your body use the B-12 efficiently. Note: Most B multivitamins contain B-12 but only a minimal dose, Dr. Rubman said, so further supplementation is usually necessary.

Vitamin D Modulates Circadian Rhythms

Again with the vitamin D! We can’t hear enough about the importance of this vital nutrient, it seems — and indeed, vitamin D turns out to be essential to support your body’s uptake and usage of calcium and magnesium. Its role in sleep involves modulating your circadian rhythm (the sleep/wake cycle that regulates your 24-hour biological clock).

Dr. Rubman suggests: Pointing out that most Americans have less than optimal levels of vitamin D, Dr. Rubman said he commonly prescribes daily supplements of D-3, the form most efficiently used by the body. He noted that 10 to 20 minutes of sunshine daily helps your body manufacture vitamin D, and foods such as fish and fortified milk are rich in this nutrient.

Herbs: Some Help, Some Interfere with Sleep

Although they do not specifically address nutritional deficiencies, Dr. Rubman also recommends relaxing herbal supplements such as chamomile, hops or valerian to gently nudge you toward sleep. Try them in teas, capsules or tinctures from reputable manufacturers such as Eclectic (www.eclecticherb.com), taken half an hour before retiring.

Though many people swear by melatonin, Dr. Rubman said that there is not enough scientific evidence yet to demonstrate that this popular sleep supplement works efficiently and without long-term ill effects. He does not prescribe it.

It’s also important to be aware that a number of supplements are stimulating and may cause sleep irregularities in some individuals. The biggest stimulators: Ginseng, ginkgo, St. John’s wort, alpha lipoic acid and Sam-e. If you take any of these, do so early in the day, take the lowest dose that seems effective for you or discuss alternatives with your physician. These are all best used under professional guidance.

A Soothing Bedtime Snack

Dr. Rubman told me that his favorite sleep inducer is to head upstairs each evening with a soothing bedtime beverage — either a cup of herbal tea with honey or a glass of warm milk (though not everyone’s digestive system easily tolerates milk). He generally advises against late-night snacking, which can disturb sleep, but if you must have something keep it light. A high-protein, low-glycemic snack, such as a banana with peanut butter or half a turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread, can help encourage serotonin production… and sweet dreams.

Source(s):

Andrew L. Rubman, ND, director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.southburyclinic.com.

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You’re exhausted and you really need a good night’s rest… but what if you always feel that way and sleep doesn’t help? A common and often misunderstood cause of constant fatigue is a condition called adrenal fatigue, which regular Daily Health News contributor Mark Stengler, NMD, says he sees in approximately 40% of his patients and which affects as many as 20% of Americans, at least to some degree. However, since few medical doctors recognize and treat adrenal fatigue, millions of people live with feeling chronically exhausted and confused about why that’s so. What makes this particularly disturbing is that once adrenal fatigue is diagnosed, it can be treated and resolved and people start to feel better in just a few months’ time.

Running on Empty

Under normal circumstances, the adrenals (small walnut-sized glands that sit on top of the kidneys) produce numerous hormones — adrenaline and others — that impact bodily functions including blood pressure, heart rate and metabolism, liver function and immunity. They also produce two crucial stress hormones — DHEA and cortisol — whose job it is to balance the body’s response to stressful influences, including blood sugar fluctuations. According to Dr. Stengler, living with stress — whether mental, physical or emotional — for a protracted period results in a situation where the need for a constant supply of these two hormones outstrips the adrenals’ production of them. This deficiency dulls cognitive function, energy levels and, of course, your ability to handle stress. It also slows the immune response and with it the ability to fight off infections and even possibly cancer. DHEA and cortisol interact in complex ways that affect many functions — deficiencies can contribute to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight gain, fatigue, allergies, infections, mood disorders and poor libido, says Dr. Stengler.

To Know Whether You Have Adrenal Fatigue

Fatigue is just one adrenal fatigue symptom. If you are chronically tired and have any of the following, you may want to consider asking your doctor for a blood or saliva (Dr. Stengler’s preference) test to determine whether you have adrenal fatigue…

• Morning fatigue
• Mood swings
• Light-headedness after standing up
• Decreased sex drive
• Inability to focus
• Memory problems
• Body aches, including pain in the lower back
• Craving for salt and/or sugar
• Slower recovery from illness than is usual for you.

Given the mainstream resistance to recognizing adrenal fatigue, Dr. Stengler suggests that those who think they may have it should seek out naturopathic physicians.

Fixing Your Fatigue

Once adrenal fatigue is diagnosed, treatment is multi-pronged, including a combination of nutrients and lifestyle changes:

Stress reduction. Not surprisingly, your first task is to review what’s causing all the stress in your life so that you can determine what changes need to be made to reduce it.

Get more sleep. You need plenty of high-quality, restorative sleep — Dr. Stengler says to aim for eight to 10 hours every night, and he also advises taking daily naps. For those who have trouble falling asleep or who find themselves awakening in the night, he often prescribes 0.5 mg to 3 mg of melatonin, the “sleep” hormone, or 100 mg of the amino acid 5-HTP an hour before bedtime to help the body prepare for sleep. Ask your doctor which you should take.

Adjust your diet. Dr. Stengler points out that people with adrenal fatigue often have blood sugar swings and cravings for sweets, so it’s very important to have breakfast every day and to eat small, healthy snacks between meals. He advises eating plenty of whole-grain foods and protein, including almonds, walnuts and macadamia nuts, and avoiding processed foods and simple sugars, including refined grains, fruit juices and, of course, sugary sodas. Also stay away from caffeinated beverages and alcohol. And if you have low blood pressure, which often results from adrenal fatigue and further contributes to fatigue, do be sure you are getting enough salt, which helps maintain blood volume and proper circulation. However, don’t go overboard — 2,400 mg per day of sodium from all sources is usually about right.

Exercise – in moderation. While exercise helps regulate stress hormones, too much will exhaust adrenal fatigue patients further, says Dr. Stengler. He advises his patients to start by walking 15 minutes a day, adding time as symptoms improve until reaching 45 minutes per day, but again, keeping it to a moderately intense level. Reduce the amount of exercise if afterward you find yourself feeling more tired rather than less — the goal is to increase overall energy.

Supplements

To help speed recovery, Dr. Stengler often prescribes the following nutritional supplements…

Vitamin B5 — (pantothenic acid) is especially important for stress-hormone production… he often prescribes 500 mg of B5, three times a day. A good multivitamin (or B-complex) will supply enough of the other B vitamins needed, says Dr. Stengler.

Vitamin C – typically 1,000 mg to 2,000 mg twice daily is prescribed, but reduce this dose if loose stools develop.
Adrenal glandular extract (AGE) — made from cow, pig or sheep adrenals, AGE contains growth factors that promote cell healing and also has nutrients to support gland function and repair. Take one to two tablets daily without food, and reduce the dosage if you become jittery or have trouble sleeping.

Ashwagandha — this herb, popular in Ayurvedic medicine, helps normalize adrenal functioning. A brand Dr. Stengler often dispenses is Jarrow Sensoril Ashwagandha… typically one to two capsules are taken daily on an empty stomach.

Rhodiola rosea — most often, he directs his patients to take 500 mg twice a day away from food… he uses a standardized formula of 3% to 5% rosavins, such as Paradise Herbs’ Dual Action Rhodiola. Note:Those with bipolar disorder should not use this product, since it can increase brain levels of serotonin, a chemical that affects mood.

Dr. Stengler said he sometimes uses hormone therapy consisting of DHEA, cortisol or other hormones and supplements to treat severe adrenal fatigue, but he noted that such measures require the supervision of a physician who is well practiced in the therapy.

Effective adrenal fatigue treatment ends up being an intensive self-care regimen in which you ratchet back the unreasonable demands you’ve been making on your mind and body. Fortunately, given time to recover, the adrenals are able to regain their strength… and with it, your natural energy will return.

Source(s):

Mark A. Stengler, NMD, a naturopathic medical doctor and leading authority on the practice of alternative and integrated medicine. He is editor of the Bottom Line Natural Healing newsletter, author of The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies (Bottom Line Books), director of the La Jolla Whole Health Clinic in La Jolla, California, and adjunct clinical professor at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about his work, visit www.drstengler.com and www.lajollawholehealth.com.

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For those that spend endless hours on a computer each and every day you’ve probably heard or experienced carpal tunnel syndrome yourself. Well now it is time to see how carpal tunnel syndrome and sleep are coinciding eachother.

Before the 1980s, few people had heard of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). But as computer use proliferated, CTS seemed to proliferate right along with it, going from being nearly unknown to being the wrist and hand injury du jour.

Make CTS a problem of the past

To get the latest information about CTS I called hand surgeon Roy Meals, MD, clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and former president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Dr. Meals told me that CTS is eminently treatable and that computer use is no longer the most common cause of the problem. The previous problem was that people used the keyboard with their wrists in a flexed position and “flexing causes CTS because it stresses the nerve,” says Dr. Meals. Today computer users are much savvier about positioning their hands correctly — arms parallel to the floor and wrists straight when using the keyboard. Dr. Meals says you can achieve this position by adjusting the height of the chair or the keyboard… whichever is easiest and feels best.

SLEEP POSITION MAY CAUSE CTS

CTS is common in people over age 50, mostly because of health conditions that bring hormonal shifts (such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis)… menopause… and especially mechanical stress. All of these make the nerve more vulnerable to irritation. Repetitive motions that flex and extend the tendons in the hands and wrist such as job tasks on an assembly line or in carpentry, for instance, continue to be common causes. Surprisingly, Dr. Meals told me one of the most frequent triggers of mild CTS is when people sleep in the fetal position, flexing their wrist and curling up with the back of the hand under the chin, which puts hours of stress on the median nerve.

You should suspect CTS if you find yourself shaking your hands most mornings to get rid of numbness and tingling.

To help primary care doctors screen for CTS — and with it provide proper referral to diagnostic tests and/or orthopedic hand specialists — a group of researchers has now developed a simple screening questionnaire. It includes seven questions, but three of them were found to be especially important:

• Is tingling present in at least two of the first four digits?
• Do symptoms worsen at night or on awakening?
• Does shaking your hand cause symptoms to recede?

Researchers found that “yes” to at least two of these questions correctly predicted CTS by 97%, as was proven in follow-up electro-diagnostic tests.

Dr. Meals says it is fine to treat a mild case of CTS at home. Purchase a wrist splint at the drugstore and wear it at night for several weeks in order to break the habit of flexing your wrist in sleep and irritating the nerve. When symptoms are serious, though, including not being able to fasten buttons, put on earrings or even touch the thumb to the little finger, it indicates that the nerve is degenerating.

Initial treatment from the doctor may be a cortisone injection to reduce inflammation in the area, but Dr. Meals says that about 25% of his patients end up needing surgery. Minimally invasive endoscopic surgery is used by some surgeons today, though Dr. Meals says he prefers open surgery — the wrist area, unlike the abdomen, he notes, is tiny and difficult to see well with an endoscopy camera. Following surgery (of either kind, endoscopic or open) patients are generally almost immediately able to perform ordinary tasks involved in getting dressed and the like and return to desk activity in a few weeks… although participation in forceful grip and pinch work and athletic activities typically takes six to eight weeks. Fortunately, even nerves that have degenerated considerably will heal, says Dr. Meals, but it can take from six to 12 months.

NATURAL TREATMENT

Before resorting to surgery, natural treatments may be helpful in addition to lifestyle changes. Acupuncture has become a popular way to treat CTS, says Yi Hung Chan, LAc, DPM, who has a private practice in West Orange, New Jersey. Dr. Chan says that acupuncture needles can relieve the pain caused by CTS and also quiet irritation in the nerve. Some people also find that acupressure, in which hand pressure (rather than needles) is applied to certain areas of the hands and arms, is helpful as well. Obesity is known to contribute to CTS, so losing weight can have an effect. When performing activities that stress hands and wrists, be sure to take frequent breaks and try to avoid positions that cause extreme flexion or extension of the wrists, all of which will help keep your median nerve pain-free and working smoothly.

Source(s):

Roy Meals, MD, clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and former president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

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