Don’t you love getting a great night’s sleep? Everyone does! So here are a few tips—and a beautiful laminated infographic—to help you sleep like a baby.
There are numerous reasons we experience sleep issues. Melatonin, a neurotransmitter your brain makes, helps a lot of people. If you’re one of them, the problem may actually be an underlying zinc deficiency, because your pineal gland needs zinc to make melatonin. The pineal gland also needs sunlight, which is transmitted through your eyes, so wearing glasses and sunglasses all the time may also upset your sleep patterns.
If your trouble is falling asleep, or you’re tired but your brain just won’t shut off, your nervous system is in sympathetic dominance. That means your get-up-and-go is always on. You’re tired, but your mind can’t relax. That’s a mineral deficiency. I recommend Organically Bound Minerals or Min-Tran from Standard Process. These supplements will calm your nervous system. Once your brain can relax, your body will follow.
If you doze off in front of the TV, but then can’t get back to sleep once you finally go to bed, you have an adrenal insufficiency. Whole food supplements and herbs that support the adrenal gland will make a huge difference in helping you sleep. Try this simple home test to check your adrenal function: Take your blood pressure lying down and note the numbers. Stand up and immediately take your blood pressure again. If the top number doesn’t rise by at least 10, your adrenal glands aren’t functioning as well as they should. Consult your holistic provider to find out what Standard Process or MediHerb products will help.
Perhaps your problem is that you wake up around the same time nearly every night. This is an acupuncture meridian issue. Gallbladder time strikes from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. In two-hour intervals, the gallbladder is followed by the liver (1:00 to 3:00), the lungs (3:00 to 5:00), and lastly by the large intestine (5:00 to 7:00). Again, if this is happening to you, consult your acupuncturist and/or your holistic health provider for the right MediHerb products or Standard Process whole food supplements products.
Or perhaps you’re the person who wakes up frequently throughout the night to urinate. This problem can be traced to a deficient nerve flow to the bladder that results in a lack of tone. Vitamin B—particularly B1 and B4—allows the nerves to carry normal signals that help the bladder muscle remain toned. Standard Process is the only company that carries vitamin B4, in its Cataplex B formula.
How about nightmares and night terrors? This state of erratic high-voltage nerve activity in the brain is due to general nutritional insufficiency. Without all the right nutrients, the body can’t produce enough carbamide. This can occur to people of all ages. When a patient in her forties approached me about her long history of night terrors, I recommended A-C Carbamide from Standard Process. Her sleep improved dramatically. The A-C Carbamide slows down rampant excessive nerve transmission. The patient gets the rest she needs, while the practitioner continues to guide her to better health.
A few final notes: Eliminate sugary snacks before bed. And eliminate alcohol several hours before bed—there’s a difference between sleeping and passing out! Turn off the TV and the radio in the bedroom, and keep the room nice and dark. Finally, be more physically active. It helps if your body wants to relax.
Sleep is a very important time for your body to do its healing. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man [and woman] healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Contact your wholistic health provider so you too can sleep and feel better.
Photo from iStock/Central IT Alliance
Dr. Keppel received a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Logan College of Chiropractic in 1983, following an associate degree in science from Southwestern Michigan Community College. He became certified in Neuro-Emotional Technique in 1999, having studied directly under the program’s founder, Dr. Scott Walker. He has undertaken a variety of further training, including herbology, spinal rehabilitation, and ongoing nutritional education.
Dr. Keppel knows there is always some seminar, book or journal that might deepen his knowledge or contribute one more bit of information that he can directly translate into an effective treatment. He gives sound advice from the perspective of clinical experience and years of practice.
More recently, Dr. Keppel has been teaching seminars for Standard Process West. He has become their in-house chiropractor and is recognized as a mentor for other practitioners throughout the greater Denver area.
For more information, visit his website at DoctorKeppel.com, check out his YouTube channel, or contact him directly at drkeppel@gmail.com.
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Dr. Lowell Keppel
