Need a Good Night's Sleep?

After a busy or stressful day, we often find it hard to get a good night’s sleep. One reason for this is that your sympathetic nervous system is on alert, and you are likely holding tension in your muscles as well. Nature’s Sunshine’s Herbal Sleep formula is one of my favorite formulas for supporting a good night’s sleep. Herbal Sleep combines the herbs hops, valerian, and passion flower, which help relax the nervous system, quiet the mind, and relax tight muscles and reduce pain.

Here’s more information on each of the herbs in this formula:

Hops- is rich in B complex vitamins and magnesium, which nourish your nervous system. Hops increases the flow of bile and relaxes the liver; this is helpful for sleep because the liver is most active between 1 AM and 3 AM. If your liver is congested, you may tend to wake up or have high energy during that time. The herb hops helps to release the tension in the liver thereby improving the ability of the liver to detoxify the blood while you're sleeping. Hops also contains lupulin which is a natural sedative to help induce sleep.

Valerian - is also a nervous system tonic but has slightly different properties from hops. Valerian has a property of relaxing muscle spasms as well as reducing nervousness and anxiety. I find this very helpful if you have a tendency towards leg cramps or stiff muscles when you sleep. Valerian is high in calcium but also contains potassium and magnesium, which is why it helps so much with muscle cramps and tension. Valerian has been found to be helpful with pain, because of its muscle relaxing properties.

Passion Flower - Passion Flower has a tranquilizing effect on the sympathetic nervous system, so it helps to take you out of that "fight or flight" mode after a busy day and move into relaxation mode instead. Passionflower is also known for helping to bring down high blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels to improve blood flow throughout the body. Passion flower has anti-spasmodic properties and pain relieving properties. It is often used to help relieve tension headaches. Passion flower is a wonderful herb for relaxing the mind and quieting the thoughts. So, if it's hard for you to turn your mind off when you go to bed this formula will help you in that area.

You can see why the Herbal Sleep combination is helpful for so many people. Keep in mind that Nature’s Sunshine also sells each of these herbs separately. This allows you to customize your sleep program with the herbs you feel are most helpful for your body. I like to take 1 Time Release Valerian with a 2-3 Herbal Sleep. The valerian releases all night long helping me to fall into a deep sleep, so I don’t wake up when my husband gets up for work at 4 AM. My son Harlow likes to combine Herbal Sleep with a couple extra passion flower to help quiet his mind after working on computers all day.

Because these herbs are balancing your nervous system, rather than having a drug effect on the body, you can take any of these herbal formulas during the day to help reduce tension, tight muscles, pain, or just to help you relax; and most people find that they do not make them sleepy. If you did find that they make you feel sleepy during the daytime it usually indicates that you're overtired and actually do need to get some rest. Nature’s Sunshine’s Nutri-Calm is a popular B-complex formula which I love to take when I am stressed, the formula contains the same herbs as herbal sleep, along with Vitamin C, bee pollen and the herb Schisandra to further support stress. B-complex vitamins are water soluble so the formula works better if you spread it out in 2-3 doses during the day, rather than taking several in the morning.

I'm so thankful that we have so many wonderful herbal formulas to help enhance our quality of life, and our quality of sleep.

Sweet dreams, Valerie

Feeling Stressed?

September 18, 2018

|Valerie Greguire, CH, Natural Health Consultant

After a stressful week full of challenges, you can find yourself feeling tired and achy all over. On top of that you start craving sweets and carbs. It’s time like this that I grab my AdaptaMax and Fibralgia.

AdaptaMax is a favorite herbal blend of mine. It contains adaptogen herbs which help reduce the negative effects of stress on the body. Adaptogen herbs also increase stamina and endurance and support a healthy immune system – this is so important during times of stress. To help abolish that nasty sweet tooth, the formula also contains the mineral chromium which improves blood sugar balance. In addition, Adaptamax contains kelp and alfalfa which provide trace minerals to nourish the thyroid (it is common for the thyroid to become sluggish when under stress). Rosemary and Gingko are also included in the formula to help keep your brain alert during stressful times.

Fibralgia is a key combination to help release tension in the muscles and restore energy production in the cells. The formula combines malic acid and magnesium. Fibralgia is amazing for releasing the tight muscle spasms one often develops during times of stress. This formula contains malic acid an organic compound found naturally in fruits such as apples. It is often taken to help combat chronic fatigue and reduce the pain from fibromyalgia.

A special thanks to my cat Jim for sticking himself in the picture at just the right time.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. We do not claim or imply that any instruction, advice, counsel, recommendations or products that we provide will cure, treat, prevent, or mitigate any disease condition. They are provided solely for nourishing and strengthening the natural function of the various body organs and systems so that they will have a greater capacity to heal themselves. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems.