Insomnia is getting worse

Everyone knows that sleep is very important to health, but do you sleep well? According to the survey results of the Taiwan Society for Suicide Prevention in 2021, about 25% of Chinese people have sleep disturbances or mild insomnia, and another 15% % of the population suffer from severe insomnia. Another report in 2020 pointed out that Taiwan consumes nearly 900 million sleeping pills a year, ranking first in Asia and second in the world. If these pills are lined up, the length is equivalent to three Zhongshan heights, which is really very amazing.

Poor sleep is very harmful to health, including poor metabolism, shortened life span, easy disease, brain degeneration, overeating, nervous disorders, immune imbalance…etc. It can be said that it affects every tissue and body in the body. organ. In the past, most people who were prone to sleep problems or insomnia were the elderly. However, the problem of poor sleep has also begun to become younger. There are many people who have to rely on sleeping pills to fall asleep in their 30s, and they can sleep well. For these people, it has become an unattainable luxury.

How to help sleep

Normally, sleep is an automatic function built into the human body. After a busy day, when the sky gets dark, we will naturally feel tired and need to rest, and we can fall asleep quickly in bed. Due to the highly tense life and work pressure in modern society, it is not easy to relax the brain nerves, coupled with excessive use of 3C products and continuous exposure to bright fluorescent lamps at night, the sleep pattern is disrupted by these external factors, which in turn affects falling asleep process and sleep quality.
In order to fall asleep smoothly, we must do something to help fall asleep 2~3 hours before going to bed, especially for those who already have sleep problems, we need to pay attention to the following 4 key points:

1.Turn off the lights early

Stay in a dimly lit environment 2-3 hours before going to bed, such as switching the white lights at home to yellow lights and reducing the number of lights on. A dark environment helps the secretion of melatonin, which is the most important key hormone that allows us to enter a deep sleep. Turning off the lights in advance helps to fall asleep.

2.Stop receiving news

Make a habit of not watching all kinds of Internet information, news media, advertisements, social media, etc. one hour before going to bed, and turn off your mobile phone, computer or TV to slow down the brain waves, which will help shorten the After falling asleep, the time for the brain to enter deep sleep improves sleep quality.

3. Relax your nerves

Drinking some sleep aid teas, such as lemon balm, chamomile, lavender.. and other caffeine-free herbal teas, is also very helpful for maintaining a good sleep pattern. Do not drink caffeinated beverages 6 hours before going to bed to avoid the nerves being in an excited state before going to bed and affecting sleep.

4.Low temperature environment

The temperature of the sleeping environment is lower than the body temperature, which makes it easier for people to enter a deep sleep state. When the weather is hot, you can turn on the air conditioner 10 minutes before going to bed to reduce the temperature of the bedroom and improve sleep efficiency.

Eat quality sleep

If you want to improve your sleep through diet, you can eat some sleep-promoting foods or nutritional supplements at dinner or before going to bed. Some helpful ones are listed below.

1. Sleep-promoting amino acids

Tryptophan :

Tryptophan is the raw material for the brain to make serotonin. Serotonin helps regulate sleep and melatonin secretion, which is important for maintaining normal sleep. Foods rich in tryptophan include: various fish, meat, milk and dairy products, and soybeans; others such as nuts and bananas also contain tryptophan.

Glycine :

Glycine can calm the central nervous system, dilate blood vessels, promote body temperature drop, and increase the time of deep sleep, so that the body can get more rest. Foods rich in glycine include: cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, seaweed, kelp, spinach, bananas, kiwi fruit, various meats, fish, seafood, dairy products and eggs. Glycine is more easily absorbed by cooking meat and bone broth.

Glutamic acid (or glutamic acid):

Glutamate is converted by the brain into gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to aid sleep. GABA has the functions of suppressing excitement, stabilizing the mind, and helping to relax, which is very helpful for improving sleep problems. Foods rich in glutamic acid include: milk, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, mushrooms, etc.

2. Melatonin good partner

Increased melatonin helps deep sleep. Among the nutrients, vitamin B group (B3, B6, B12), minerals (magnesium, zinc) and taurine are all nutrients needed for the brain to secrete melatonin. Green vegetables are rich in vitamin B group and magnesium, eat more vegetables every day. Zinc is abundant in shellfish such as oysters and clams. Taurine is abundant in mollusc seafood, such as small rolls, squids, and soy sauce.

Can drinking broth help you sleep?

Many people like to eat something before going to bed. In addition to being afraid of waking up hungry in the middle of the night, they also hope to have a sleep aid effect, so that falling asleep later can be smoother. The more well-known ones are like eating a banana, drinking some honey water or drinking a cup of hot milk. Some people like to drink a little hot broth before going to bed when it is cold, thinking that it can warm the body and shorten the time to fall asleep.

From a scientific point of view, there are currently no research results that can prove that drinking broth before going to bed can help you sleep, but we can analyze the nutrition in the broth. Generally, families often cook beef, chicken, pig, and fish soup, because After cooking, the protein in the meat will be hydrolyzed into the soup and become small molecular amino acids that are easily absorbed. Therefore, after drinking a small bowl of broth, there is a chance to quickly absorb tryptophan, glycine, and glutamic acid. Amino acids that help sleep, and some nutrients that help melatonin production, such as taurine, B complex, magnesium and zinc, can also be taken in. For some people, drinking some hot broth before going to bed does help them fall asleep, perhaps because the soup contains well-absorbed sleep-promoting nutrients. Of course, if you are worried that there is too much oil in the soup, you can remove some of the oil, or replace it with commercially available drops of beef essence, chicken essence, and fish essence, which are convenient and delicious without being afraid of eating too much oil.

/The content of this article is reproduced and published with the authorization of Huang Chenglong, a health promotion manager/
/The content of the article does not represent the position of the company/
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References

Dr. Chiu Ka-sing《Glycine: Muscle Growth, Brain Health, Sleep Quality》

Kong Yixian Nutritionist《Often insomnia? 7 Nutrients and Foods to Help Improve Your Sleep》

Dr. Satoshi Tsuboda《Sleeping well and waking up is not a dream! Follow a sleep doctor to eat right and sleep well》

Science and Technology News《The “smallest” amino acid is helpful to health but “big”》

Reporter Li Hongdian《Toxic starch shock! Lin Jieliang: One black wheel exceeds the standard, four steps to detoxify》

Reporter Wang Qianling《The consumption of sleeping pills in Taiwan ranks tenth in the world! A quarter of the population suffers from sleep disturbances》

Reporter Xie Jiajun《Taiwan’s drug consumption is the second in the world! What should I do if some people can no longer use these 4 ingredients of sleeping pills?》

Good morning health《Eat the right 4 types of food, nourish the intestines and stabilize the nerves, and you will never suffer from insomnia》

Dr. Yang Zhengyi《Effects of Melatonin on Sleep》

Hong Feng and the pharmacist《Eat the right food to help you sleep well》

Reporter Lin Yishen《Eat well and sleep well! Nutritionist: These foods are rich in tryptophan and vitamin B6》