Sleep is a vital element of life, but these days an increasing number of people report not being able to sleep or stay asleep. When there is a long period of a disturbed sleep-wake cycle, we can say that one is suffering from insomnia.
The condition called insomnia or sleeplessness is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep for long enough to wake up feeling rested and restored. You may be experiencing this condition if your sleep disturbance occurs more than twice per week for at least three weeks.
To reduce signs of insomnia, it is important to recognize what the main causes of your symptoms are, and then proceed to fix them more effectively. For many people, the symptoms last for only one night at a time, in which case home remedies can be effective. For others, the symptoms might be recurring, and that is the case where we begin to label the problem as “insomnia”.
There are several home remedies for insomnia; some of them are behavioral, while others are more traditional treatments or activities. All of them are beneficial in various cases, it simply depends on which approach works for you! A comprehensive list and explanation can be found below.
Table of Contents
Behavioral Changes
If your insomnia is being caused by an unhealthy lifestyle and poor sleep habits, here are some behavioral changes to help you sleep better:
Alcohol and Nicotine
When people are experiencing sleeplessness or insomnia, many of them choose to turn to alcohol or nicotine, either to induce sleep or to get a boost of energy following a bout of insomnia or a sleepless night. According to the National Sleep Foundation, this is a poor choice as both have negative health effects over the long term, and it is only a temporary remedy. It increases the negative cycle of sleeplessness and can exacerbate the problem by forcing your body to be awake or tired when the other chemicals in your body are urging you not to be. This internal struggle is a stress on your body. By cutting these out of your routine, particularly in the afternoon or evening, your body can naturally get back on the right schedule. [19]
Specialists suggest no caffeine or alcohol after 2 pm, and removing that crutch can help your body get back to normal! Alcohol-related insomnia is also more prevalent in women, so be extra careful depending on your gender. Nicotine consumption and subsequent withdrawal, even over a shorter term, can result in insomnia. [20]
Late Night Eating
If you eat 2-3 hours before going to bed, it can stimulate your body to stay awake since your body will naturally want to metabolize and digest the food. If you are going to eat something, try to avoid refined carbohydrates and excessive sugar since they can act as a stimulant and can increase the “fight or flight” response in the body by boosting adrenaline or cortisol levels.
If you are going to eat, try complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, bread, or whole-grain cereals as recommended in a report published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. These can regulate your glucose level in a normal way and stimulate the secretion of serotonin in the body, which is a beneficial neurotransmitter that creates a feeling of happiness or relaxation. Serotonin is then converted to melatonin in the brain, a known sleep-inducing agent. [21]
Physical Activity
Being active before bed is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly sexual activities since they can release serotonin and other sleep-inducing chemicals in the body, but intense exertion is not recommended. Your body needs time to wind down from your high-energy activities of the day, and having a definite change in the daily cycle will help get your body in a normal circadian rhythm that incorporates healthy, restful sleep like a normal part of your daily routine. [22]
Mental Stimulation
There is an adage that says not to ever go to bed mad, and it turns out to be true. Being overly mentally stimulated can keep your mind working while it is trying to relax and get to a rested state. Cliff-hanger books, action-packed movies, fighting with your spouse, or engaging in very intense or stimulating conversation right before bed can increase your neural activity and inhibit the effects of sleep-inducing hormones and chemicals that will help you sleep.
Sexual Activity
Specialists have long proposed sexual activity as a healthy way to induce sleep. It is known to eliminate anxiety, and the release of chemicals and endorphins during the act of lovemaking can have a generally calming and stress-reducing effect on the body. Endorphins have a soothing and calming effect on the body and help thousands of people to fall asleep naturally. If you have a partner or a spouse, sexual activity may be your best option for that last push towards sleep if you are struggling with insomnia. [23]
Taking Naps
No matter how comfortable your couch may be on a lazy Sunday afternoon, avoid taking naps if you find yourself suffering from chronic insomnia or sleeplessness. Harvard Health Men’s Watch recommends a 15-20 minute nap in the early afternoon, if necessary. This disruption of your normal sleep pattern can train your body to be tired during the day and alert at night, exacerbating the tendency to be awake when you want to be sleeping. Napping is also habit-forming and can be one of the most difficult routines to break once it is solidified in your normal circadian rhythm. [24]
Bedroom Behavior
It is important to organize your bedroom behavior to two things, sleeping and sexual activity. Your mind is powerful and will begin to associate the bedroom space with other activities like stimulating conversation, television, reading, or eating meals if you do these things regularly. Don’t let your mind build those alternative neural connections and pathways, which can be confusing when your body is finally ready to go to sleep! [25]
Music and Aural Stimulation
Many people who suffer from insomnia find relief from listening to music, although hard rock and high-energy music is not the best path. Soothing, relaxing music like soft jazz and music without lyrics or words is usually recommended since it can induce a relaxed state in the mind. Many people who suffer from insomnia are hypersensitive to stimulation around them, so silence can almost be deafening, and they focus on every creak and whisper of noise, not allowing their mind to relax. Try listening to music and see if it can lull you to sleep. [26]
Bore Yourself to Sleep
The brain might be smart and prefers to stay active, but you can trick your mind into boring itself to sleep by trying to focus on things that aren’t interesting to you. Think about the local business leaders of your town, government regulation, or other traditionally boring subjects to which your mind will begin to daydream away from and be too bored to remain active, thereby inducing sleep
Build a Sleep Schedule
Life can be unpredictable, but if you are struggling with insomnia and sleeplessness, then do your best to build a sleep schedule that you can consistently stick to. The variation that we force our bodies to account for, like binge drinking, late nights, early mornings, all-nighters, lazy weekends, and every other variance in our behavior is a confusing mix. To establish a reliable circadian rhythm for sleep, do your best to find the schedule that is realistic for your life, and also has some sort of consistency to it so your body can try to figure out exactly what it is expected to do. [27]
Home Remedies for Insomnia
Home remedies for insomnia are as follows:
Acupuncture
The debate on acupuncture in treating insomnia continues to go back and forth, and although certain studies claim to be inconclusive, thousands of years of tradition and numerous modern medical studies point towards acupuncture as a legitimate solution. Abdominal acupuncture is specifically useful for women, and depending on what your underlying cause of insomnia may be, different types of acupuncture are recommended. [28]
Speak to an authorized acupuncturist for further details and an examination of your needs for that specific type of remedy. Some of the effects of acupuncture appear to be psychosomatic, but whatever the reason, if it helps you get to sleep, it is probably a good thing!
Hot Baths
Many naturopathic practitioners suggest hot baths with Epsom salts before bed to induce sleep and relaxation. The relaxing nature of the warm bath, combined with the privacy, is believed to stimulate the release of various endorphins in the body that result in natural sleep. Asian cultures commonly utilize baths before going to bed, and those that do this regularly show a greatly reduced appearance of insomnia.
Aromatherapy
One of the most widely used and well-studied solutions to insomnia is aromatherapy. The inhalation of vapors from certain essential oils and plant materials can stimulate hormonal activity and chemical releases in the body which can regulate your sleep schedule. There are dozens of relevant aromatherapy techniques that can positively affect your sleep patterns, and millions of people find relief from this approach. [29]
Sugar
Although, as we explained earlier, excessive sugar can act as a stimulant, small amounts of sugar can actively regulate your insulin level and induce the release of tryptophan, which then stimulates the release of serotonin. This natural cycle of sugars is well known to cause sleep, on the smaller scale of a sugar high and subsequent “crash”. A piece of candy, or some honey in milk can do the trick, and if you are lying down when that chemical “crash” occurs, then your body can drift off into peaceful, natural sleep. [30]
Melatonin and Magnesium
Melatonin is a timekeeper for your internal schedule, and it will tell you when your body is ready to go to sleep. A small amount of milk and honey can help you get to sleep, but not only because of the sugar in honey. Milk not only has tryptophan in it, but the calcium in milk helps the brain make tryptophan, the chemical that stimulates serotonin and eventually melatonin to be released into the body. This is why a warm glass of milk is so common in traditional solutions for insomnia! [31]
Magnesium accomplishes the same goals as calcium, but it approaches the problem differently. Magnesium causes a reduction in the speed of nerve impulses and thereby induces a relaxed or low-activity level. It is also responsible for reducing the presence of stress hormones in the body, so it relaxes our muscles, calms our nerves, and eases us into a state where sleep can occur. Magnesium supplements can be easily acquired, or food with high magnesium levels like leafy green vegetables, beans, lentils, brown rice, and certain types of fish like halibut have high magnesium content. [32]
Hormonal Balance
Melatonin is a very important hormone in the regulation of sleep, but it is not the only one. Hormonal imbalance can result in all sorts of challenges to establishing circadian rhythms, disruption of organ systems, and a general state of unrest in the body. Managing your hormonal levels through the proper intake of essential vitamins and minerals is one of the best ways to make sure your endocrine system is functioning normally. Speak to a doctor about regulating your hormones naturally with food and supplements if necessary. [33]
A Final Word on Insomnia
Sleeplessness is a serious problem that affects millions of people every day. You can take control of your sleep if you actively try to change your behavior and mentality regarding rest. Before you make any drastic changes or start any of these home remedies, be sure to speak with a doctor to make sure the causes are not something more serious, since some forms of insomnia are manifestations of dangerous or potentially fatal conditions that need appropriate medical attention.
