5 Simple Habits that will have you sleeping like a baby...

"I'll sleep when I am dead," "sleep is for wimps," "who needs sleep," "I'm too busy to sleep" were once common societal phrases. But times are a changing! Sleep is now an uncontested requirement of good health and has become one of the most widely talked about topics in the health, medical and sports fields. There is now an overwhelming body of evidence that confirms this. 

Most of us have experienced the negative impacts of poor sleep first hand.

Cranky, hungry, easily irritated, headaches, brain fog, low motivation - and that's just me after a single night of poor or shortened sleep!  

As it turns out sleep deprivation doesn’t just cause long-term health issues like depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, memory loss and death. It also exhibits immediate short-term negative impacts as well. These include decreased stress tolerance, decreased cognitive function, immune dysfunction and emotional instability. Are there any new mothers out there nodding their heads?

Sleep-deprived people report significantly greater subjective stress, anger, anxiety, and response to low-grade stress. Sleep loss also increases cortisol levels, which can be the beginning of Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis dysfunction (aka Adrenal Fatigue), and sleep deprivation also decreases short-term memory, reduces learning capacity, and causes a decline in mental stamina and reduction in attention. Not what we want for our children or ourselves!

Lack of sleep can be viewed as a chronic stressor. As the body tries to maintain homeostasis, sleep deprivation overloads the body’s capacity to do that, which results in increased disease risk.       

So if you are:

• Sleeping less than 7 hours a night?
• Struggling to fall to sleep?
• Waking often during the night?
• Feel like your becoming more forgetful, exhausted, unable to focus, unable to deal with stress?
• Not recovering well from exercise?
• Are craving sugar and or food all day?

Then it is time you start prioritizing and nailing your sleep ASAP! And it starts well before bedtime. 

1. Expose your skin and eyes to at least 30 minutes of sunlight every day (that is without sunglasses or sunscreen).

• When we absorb UVB rays through our skin, that leads to the production of the fat-soluble vitamin, Vitamins D (super duper important and Aussies are becoming alarmingly more deficient).
• Vit D triggers an enzyme called tryptophan hydroxylase which converts tryptophan into serotonin.
• Serotonin if you haven't heard is a really important neurotransmitter that regulates behavior, appetite, perceptions, memory, and emotions. It's our happy chemical. 
• Serotonin can then be converted into melatonin, our sleep hormone. 
• This can be broken up into morning, midday and afternoon. For example, eat your breakfast outside, enjoy your lunch or simply take a break and step out of the office. 

2. Power down your lights as the sun goes down

• Yep bring out the candles, turn off the ceiling lights and turn on the lamps.
• You also want to avoid looking into your electronic devices including the TV.
• Most electronic devices do have a form of night mode or brightness lowering action. Make sure this is on and set.
• Blue light is so much more suppressive on melatonin production (our sleep hormone).
• If the above all seems too hard for you but you're really serious, which you should be, get yourself some orange tinted glasses to pop on as the sun goes down.

3. Optimise you sleep nutrition

• Most people do best to go to bed neither too hungry nor too full.
• In terms of macronutrients, both very low-fat and very low-carb diets can also lead to insomnia.
• Carbs increase the ability of tryptophan, which is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, to enter the pineal gland, so if you are on a low-carb diet and are having trouble sleeping, increasing carbs can make a huge difference.
• Glycine (an amino acid found in collagen-rich foods like bone broth or meat on the bone dishes) also promotes the uptake of tryptophan and the production of serotonin and melatonin, so eating eat nose-to-tail and making sure you are getting adequate glycine or you can supplement with either gelatin or glycine at night can help.
• Pre-Bed smoothie: Blend a banana + 2 Tblsp Great Lakes Collagen + Your choice of milk + cinnamon + vanilla powder + Coconut Yoghurt. 

4. Take a warm shower before bed, even better take a warm bath

• Baths are one of those things when you have them you never use them but when you don't all you dream about is taking a bath
• Hot water causes vasodilation of the blood vessels in your body which results in a decrease in sympathetic tone, therefore, gives you that "Awwww" feeling when standing and sitting in warm water.
• This can be an easy and effective strategy for getting you into a more restful state prior to sleep. 

5. Essential oils

• Essential oils contain super small compounds that when applied to the skin can rapidly penetrate the tissues and enter the bloodstream exerting their many effects of which calming, relaxing and soothing can help with sleep
• The chemical components in Lavender essential oil have been shown to enter the bloodstream within 5 minutes of massaging the oil on the skin. The 1992 study that showed this, also demonstrated that maximum concentration levels were observed within 20 minutes and most of the lavender was eliminated at 90 minutes. 
• This may seem like a bad thing but I see it as a huge advantage as most sleep medications take hours if not days to be eliminated from your body and often require metabolism and elimination via our liver or kidneys. This can put pressure on those systems and often leave residual side effects.  In the words of a 2014 systematic review of the literature, “A majority of the study findings suggested a positive effect of essential oils for sleep. Lavender was the most frequently studied essential oil. No adverse events were reported.”

For those who already have a doTERRA wholesale account - this month, receive this product for free by placing a single LRP order of over 125PV through the Australian or New Zealand warehouse between 1-15 May!

Now it isn' just Lavender oil that helps with sleep albeit it's a goodie and has the most research behind it. 

I've never had a problem with my sleep. But the first time I applied my doTERRA Lavender to my temples before bed and diffused it beside my bed I woke up having experienced a different level of sleep. It literally felt like I went to La La Land. This has been one of the biggest feedbacks I have received from peeps in my oily tribe. And if you want to step it up to the next level... Lavender Peace Baby! A blend of lavender, cedarwood, Ho Wood, Ylang Ylang, Marjoram, Roman Chamomile, Vetiver, Hawaiian Sandalwood). Peace had me in a dream state, which I actually don't usually achieve. 

Ok, so what if you aren't a lavender fan (gasp). What other oils can help with sleep:

A lot actually so I will try to narrow it down:

• Vetiver (referred to as "liquid valium")
• Roman Chamomile 
• Bergamot
• Frankincense
• Cedarwood
• Juniper Berry (often used for night terrors)
• Ylang Ylang
• Neroli
• Clary Sage 
• Pettigran 

DoTerra actually has a whole PDF on sleep and essential oils. Sing out if you want it ok.  

How to use essential oils for sleep:

• 1-2 drops in the diffuser next to your bed. Goodnight!
• Apply 1-2 drops on your temples and to the back of your neck 
• Drop a few drops onto the floor of your shower and let the steam lift the aroma. Plus, you'll feel all goddessy as the smell seeps into your hair and skin (Clary Sage, Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Roman Chamomile work well for this as they are great for skin too)
• Add a few drops (or more) with some Epsom salts into a warm bath (and be grateful you have a bath you lucky duck)
• Make up a pillow spritzer with a few drops of essential oil in water and mist over your pillow. Don't saturate it, that wouldn't be cool!
• Apply to the soles of your feet. This is a good way when using oils for sleep with children. Remeber always dilute, use less oil than you would on an adult and stick to oils like Frank, Lavender, Roman Chamomile that tend to be very gentle. 
• Add to your tea. eg. Roman chamomile to your chamomile tea or Bergamot to your earl grey. 
• Con your partner into a message - you deserve it Babe!

There you have it. Try these five super simple yet very effective routines TODAY and continue for the next month. Report back! 

If you are still struggling with low energy, fatigue, inability to recover, hormonal issues, gut issues, sleep problems then it is time to dig a little deeper. You can request to work with me here. 

And if you want to get your hands on beautiful quality, pure and potent doTERRA essential oils to support your sleep and so much more then please reach out! You can also take a read of why I chose to incorporate doTERRA essential oils into my business here and the low down on how to order them here.  

Love

Chantel x

MAGNESIUM…. ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH?

Magnesium is a very well talked about mineral. Most people have heard about it, tried it, take it or should be taking it. So before we get into, are you getting enough magnesium, let’s find out a little more about our popular friend, Mr Magnesium (yes it’s a Mister).

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Magnesium is vital to our body. How vital? This vital..

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– Over 300 enzymes need it to function. In particular those enzymes involved with ATP (ATP is the little energy fuel within cells) and enzymes involved in DNA & RNA production (that’s some pretty important stuff right there).
– It’s an important mineral for bone health (most people only consider calcium when discussing bone health) and actually most of the body’s magnesium is stored within bone.
– Magnesium calms the nervous system.
– It is an important mineral for hormone health. In particular steroid hormones (progesterone, testosterone and oestrogen) and thyroid hormone.
– It sensitisers insulin receptors
– And is a great sleep enhancer

Are you getting enough magnesium?

Unfortunately most people don’t get adequate magnesium to support these essential functions. Reason being, it is quite difficult to get enough through the diet. Firstly, the major reasons for this is the richness of magnesium in todays soil has declined. And secondly, the presence of anti-nutrients like phytates which inhibit the absorption of magnesium, are present in many of the foods highest in magnesium.

Certain conditions can also predispose you to having lower levels of magnesium. They include:

– digestive disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Gastrooesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) especially those taking Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI’s)
– Renal disorders
– Some diuretic medications
– Alcoholism
– Older age

Signs of magnesium deficiency can include:

– muscle cramps, probably the number one reason seek out magnesium. On a side note cramps can also be associated with several other mineral deficiencies. Check out this podcast for more info about cramps.
– heart arrhythmias
– headaches
– type 2 diabetes
– migraines
– PMS
– tremors
– hypothyroidism

So how much magnesium do we need?

Well the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is 400 to 420mg per day for males and 310 to 320mg a day for adult females. However, RDA refers to the amount required to avoid deficiency versus optimum performance. It has been suggested that a more optimal range is about 500 to 700 mg per day from a combination of food and supplements.

So unless you are consciously aware of your intake, be it through food or supplements, it’s pretty safe to assume, that you’re probably not getting enough.

How to ensure you are getting enough magnesium?

1. Eat foods that are rich in magnesium.

– Nuts and seeds. Eg. pumpkin seeds and almonds. But they also contain phytates. Remember they are anti-nutrients that reduce the absorption’s of the magnesium (and other minerals). One way around this is to soak nuts and seeds overnight, then put them into a dehydrator or roast them at a low temperature (150-170 degrees) before consuming them. This process is call “Activating” and reduces the phytic acid. For the most delicious Activated Nuts and Seeds, check out Star Anise Organics, the taste is like no others.
– Dark leafy veggies. Eg. spinach, chard.
– Molasses (Did anyone else use to dip their finger in the horses molasses and like it? I did, haven’t had any recently, but maybe I should get back into my old habits!)
– Dark chocolate .. MMM HMM … That’s right, I say go ahead with some quality dark chocolate. Are you craving it? Maybe your body is trying to tell you something.
– Banana’s …. See delicious Bedtime Banana Tea Video BELOW!!!
– Legumes are a good source too. Impressive on paper but they also contain phytic acid, so they need to be soaked prior to eating in order to make the magnesium more bioavailable (means the amount that actually gets absorbed into the blood stream and has an effect i.e. different to the amount written on paper).

2. Supplementation

– Probably a good idea considering the average American gets less than 250mg per day (sorry couldn’t find the Aussie data, but I assume it will be around the same) through the diet which is below the RDA (which as I mentioned it not the “ideal level”). Those who consume a nutrient dense, whole foods diets probably do have a higher intake closer to the RDA, hence may only need to supplement with an additional 100 to 200 mg per day.
– Chelated forms of magnesium are better absorbed. Eg. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium malate. I have had a hard time finding these forms in Australia in most shops but ask at your local health shop/pharmacy/naturopath. When it comes to supplements – quality matters!!! Like most things you tend to get what you pay for. So look for quality brands, as the quality of the ingredients, manufacturing, form of the compound, what else is in the supplement matters. This one is a pretty good option http://au.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Magnesium-Bisglycinate-Powder-8-oz-227-g/59860
– Epsom salt bath. Well absorbed, cheap and an awesome excuse to have a bath. Go on, when’s the last time you treated yourself!!!!
– Topical magnesium preps. I like the Ancient Minerals Brand. Rub in yourself, or con someone to give you a massage, just before bed. That should get you feeling relaxed and ready for bed!

I like to think of myself as a minimalist when it comes to supplements in general. There are less than a handful of supplements that I recommend to take as maintenance supplements and magnesium is one of them. It is also helpful therapeutically for people dealing with a lot of stress, tension and sleep disturbance. For more tips on sleep check out this blog here.

It does interact with a few medications (bisphosphonates, nitrofurantoin, digoxin) so check with your doctor or pharmacist before starting if you are on any other meds. If you take too much, you will know about it –  because it is also used as a laxative. So if you notice things are on the looser side, dial it back.

Do you want to add a little more magnesium into your life RIGHT NOW?

Here is a little Bedtime Banana Tea recipe that is super easy, quick to make, and tastes delicious.

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Enjoy - Love Chantel

HAVING TROUBLE SLEEPING? HERE’S A SUPER EASY TIP

DO YOU HAVE A SET OF BLUE-LIGHT BLOCKERS? Hopefully I am going to convince you why you should at least consider it....

Yep, this actually does happen….

STudying with the blue blockers ....

No, it’s not overly sexy.
Yes, they are oversized and take a bit to get used to. Admittedly sometimes they end up spending more time on top of my head. And No, you can’t see your orange vegetables very well on your plate, nor your highlighting if you are are using orange/yellow.

BUT they do block out blue light pretty well. Not sold yet …. I DON’T BLAME YOU, maybe just keep reading….

A bit of history

• Exposure to light in general has a profound impact on the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis (HPA axis) (our stress hormone control tower, that influences loads of other hormones as well like thyroid and sex hormones).
• All life on Earth evolved, with this 24 hour light-dark cycle.
• For most of our evolutionary history, we lived in sync with the natural rhythms of day and night, without exposure to artificial light. And our hormones were happy and healthy.

Why does this matter?

• Well environmental light has the strongest influence on the circadian system and light exposure has been shown to shift the natural human biological clock (and hence any disruption can and will effect our hormones).
• For example, exposure to artificial light in the evening or at night can delay sleep onset, and light exposure during the day affects sleep quality and duration during the night
• Nighttime light exposure, suppresses the production of melatonin, which not only affects our sleep but also disrupts the HPA axis. Melatonin suppression has also been shown to increase the risk of cancer, impair immune function, and possibly lead type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Blue-light is the worst

• Short wavelength, or blue light is the most melatonin suppressive, and this is the type of light emitted from electronic devices.
• This is a big problems as 95% of Americans (and I assume around the same for Australians) report using some type of electronic device at least a few nights a week within an hour before bed. Let’s all be honest, it’s a tough habit to break!
• In addition to too much light exposure at night, most people are not getting enough exposure to light (natural light) during the day
• Outdoor light is far more intense than indoor light. Bright light exposure during the day helps to regulate cortisol levels and balance the HPA axis, which actually helps anchor your circadian rhythm so that light at night has less of an ability to shift your rhythm.

What to do?

• Make outside time a priority! The first 30 to 60 minutes of outdoor light exposure creates about 80% of the anchoring effect. So just going outside for about half and hour at lunchtime or in the morning can provide you with the majority of anchoring light you need to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.
• Power down devices at least 2 hours before bed time – that means minimal lights, TV, electronic devices. I hear you…. you’re thinking what the hell am I going to do then? Well life did exist before… so embrace some of the old time traditions like conversation, reading, games, and maybe just maybe if your really stuck for ideas some hanky panky?
• Use candles and minimal lights leading up until bed time. Bring back the romance, nothing wrong with dinner by candle light, and let’s face it, it’s sexier than the glasses right?
• If you have to use your devices make sure you have night mode activated on your iPhone, f.lux for your MacBook (and equivalent applications for non Apple users) and wait for it….. YOUR VERY own, super sexy, night glasses for screen time. Thinking it’s only a matter of time before TV’s catch up and start making a “night mode” too.

So there you have it. Did I pull off those glasses and convince you?

If so, you can purchase them for a total of $24.00 from http://www.optimoz.com.au/products/uvex-blue-light-blockers?variant=13482833159

Love Chantel