"Sleep is the best meditation."
--Dalai Lama
Whoever invented sleep is my hero. Nothing beats a great night’s sleep.
I talk with so many people who take prescription drugs
for sleep. Doctors love to hand out
prescriptions for sleeping pills instead of getting to the root cause. How much profit is being made by Big Pharma
with all the prescriptions written? What is the marketing budget? Apparently,
we can a big problem sleeping in the U.S. because we spend more than $32
billion a year trying to sleep.
A good night’s sleep is key to staying at a healthy
weight. When people who want to lose
weight ask me for help, one of the first questions I ask is about sleep. Not getting enough sleep is a risk factor for
obesity.
According to National Institutes of
Health, “Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you
feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your
level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you
feel hungrier than when you're well-rested.
Sleep also affects how your body reacts to
insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose (sugar) level. Sleep
deficiency results in a higher than normal blood sugar level, which may
increase your risk for diabetes.”
Here are 3 tips you can use:
- Maintain regular bedtimes.
- Keep electronics out of the bedroom.
- Have sleep hygiene habits such as no caffeine after 3 pm.
Parents should be mindful of the importance of a good
night’s sleep for their own health and children’s health. Teach your children. Be a good role model. Now, off to bed!
In gratitude,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.
