Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Probably Not…
Did you know that as many as 1 in 3 American adults are not getting the recommended amount of sleep on a regular basis? The most recent major survey showed that 35% of us are sleeping less than 7 hours a night on average.
Part of the reason for this is the worryingly high prevalence of insomnia. Studies show that half of all adults in the U.S. experience occasional bouts of insomnia, with 1 in 10 describing their insomnia as chronic.
For anyone struggling to get enough sleep, it can seem like an impossible problem to solve. You can quickly slump into a cycle of fatigue, overeating and insomnia that is incredibly tough to break out of. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry, there is help out there.
We recommend a quality natural sleep supplement – made with safe ingredients and non-habit forming – such as Performance Lab Sleep. A natural way to combat sleep problems and improve your mood and performance during the day too. More on that shortly.
The Importance of Sleep
Most people are aware of the fact that sleep is important, but just how important is it? To understand this, you should check out some of the most common and concerning side-effects of not getting enough sleep. They include;
- Decreased attention, concentration, alertness, reasoning and problem solving. Basically, lack of sleep makes you dumber.
- Reduced ability to recall past events
- A long list of serious health issues including stroke, heart attack diabetes
- Low sex drive due to increased tension and, in the case of men, lower testosterone levels
- Depression. The link between insomnia and depression is well-established. In fact, 90% of insomniacs have at least one other ongoing health condition
- Ageing of the skin due to increased cortisol (the stress hormone) and lack of human growth hormone (HGH) which is released as we sleep
- Increased risk of obesity. When we are overtired, our bodies tend to crave high-carb foods. Studies have shown that someone who sleeps 6 hours a night is 30% more likely to be obese than someone who sleeps 7-9 hour a night
Not getting enough sleep is a serious health risk. Anyone wanting to maintain a healthy lifestyle should put sleep towards the very top of their priority list, alongside a healthy diet and regular exercise.
To help maintain a healthy sleep cycle, there are supplements available, natural ones too, that don’t leave you feeling groggy or hungover the next morning. Just as there are multivitamins to help you get the right nutrition every day, or pre-workout and protein supplements to support your exercise goals, there are supplements for sleep too. Of course, choosing the right one can be a minefield.
Which is why we’re going to look at a couple of popular ingredients in detail and explain why they are among the most beneficial supplements for sleep…
Montmorency Tart Cherry
These cherries are not quite the same as ones you might find in your Grandma’s signature cherry pie. Tart cherries, and specifically the Montmorency variety that is grown mainly in the U.S., Canada and France, contain very high amounts of natural melatonin.
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by your pineal gland to signal to the rest of your body that it is time to go to bed. It is known as ‘the sleep hormone’ because it is produced when it starts to get dark.
This process is thought to be a bit of a throwback to when humans lived as hunter-gatherers and would be unable to do anything other than sleep when it got dark at night.
Just as darkness prompts melatonin production, light can inhibit it. This includes natural and unnatural light sources and because our homes are now full of unnatural light from screens and bulbs, our bodies may not be producing enough natural melatonin. This is known to be a contributing factor to many adults in the U.S. and around the world not getting enough sleep.
Melatonin helps to regulate body temperature, blood pressure and levels of other hormones such as dopamine (that causes us to feel awake). It also bonds with receptors in your brain to slow down nerve activity, helping you feel more relaxed and ready for sleep.
The effectiveness of melatonin as a sleep aid is supported by scientific evidence. One study showed very clearly that melatonin supplementation reduced the time it took to fall asleep, increased the duration and quality of sleep and did so in a way that mimics the natural sleep signaling processes of your body. Another study supports this evidence and goes on to suggest that melatonin is integral to regulating circadian rhythms, or our natural ‘body clocks’, to ensure maximum benefit from sleep.
Other potential benefits of melatonin include improved eye health, increased HGH levels in men and a reduction in the intensity of tinnitus at night-time.
Montmorency Tart Cherry is one of the richest natural sources of melatonin which makes it one of the best sleep supplements available. The cherries also contain anthocyanins – pigments that have antioxidant properties which benefit overall health and could contribute to the higher quality of sleep that many melatonin users report.
L-Tryptophan
One of 9 essential amino acids that are not produced naturally inside the body and must be consumed as part of your diet, l-tryptophan is primarily used to produce serotonin, another chemical that is highly conducive to healthy sleep.
L-tryptophan is converted in to 5-hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HTP for short, which promotes the production of serotonin and melatonin. We know how melatonin helps you establish and maintain a healthy sleep cycle, but what about serotonin?
Serotonin interacts with transmitters and neural pathways to regulate activity and prepare your mind and body for sleep. It is one of the so called ‘happy chemicals’ as it promotes feelings of calm and contentment.
This is helpful in maintaining a positive mood during the onset of sleep and could help to improve sleep quality by reducing the likelihood of waking in the middle of the night due to unwanted bad dreams or involuntary movement.
Scientific evidence of the effectiveness of l-tryptophan as a sleep aid goes back many years. This study from 1982 looked at the previous 20 years of evidence and concluded that l-tryptophan reduced time to fall asleep and increased quality of sleep in the majority of previous studies.
The groups that can benefit most from taking l-tryptophan are those with insomnia (though it becomes less effective as the insomnia becomes more severe) and those with a less-than-perfect sleep cycles, like the 36% of us sleeping less than 7 hours a night.
The Perfect Combination, Naturally
Montmorency Tart Cherry and L-Tryptophan go together so well because they support the natural processes that your body already goes through before you fall asleep. These are the processes that are so easily interrupted in the modern, noisy, light-filled world of today.
Re-establishing this natural rhythm is not easy without the right support. These two ingredients will help your body get back on the right track and not simply knock you out for the night and leave you feeling groggy the next day like so many of the synthetic sleep supplements.
Recommendations
A supplement that contains l-tryptophan and a natural source of melatonin like Montmorency tart cherries is the best choice for anyone that wants a better night’s sleep for better performance throughout the day.
Performance Lab® Sleep contains both these top-tier ingredients plus a little something extra in the form of Magnesium. This mineral plays an important role in hundreds of bodily functions and processes and synergizes nicely with the other ingredients in the formula.
It helps to regulate melatonin production, lower blood pressure and interacts with neural transmitters in a similar way to serotonin to calm your nervous system and prepare for a restful night’s sleep.
Performance Lab® have carefully combined these three components to create a product that helps you get to sleep faster and achieve a better quality of sleep. It is effective for people who have sleep disorders, though you should consult your doctor before starting a course of any supplement, and for people that simply find it hard to switch off and want a better sleep/life balance.
One of the best things about Sleep, and any other Performance Lab® product is that they are completely natural, even down to the capsules themselves which are made from 100% plant-based materials. They are also guaranteed to contain no gluten, soy or other allergens, no synthetic compounds, additives or GMO and no animal products, so they’re vegan-friendly too.
Try it Yourself Now
The best and only way to get your hands on Performance Lab® Sleep is to order via their official website here: https://www.performancelab.com/collections/core-range/products/sleep
You can get enough to ensure you sleep better than ever for a whole month for just $40, that’s $1.33 per night.
If you order 2 or 3 bottles at once you automatically receive a discount of 5% or 10% depending on the size of your order.
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