Magnesium for Sleep and Other Nutritional Deficiencies That Can Cause Insomnia

By Jessica Velasco | Courtesy of Natural News

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Shared by Nutrition Breakthroughs,
maker of the effective calcium and magnesium based sleep aid Sleep Minerals II
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You are what you eat,” as the saying goes. Apparently, what you eat affects how you sleep too.

Studies have found that nutrition has a huge impact on how well you do (or do not) sleep. Ensuring that you get sufficient amounts of the four nutrients listed below is a great step toward ridding yourself of sleep troubles and insomnia.

1. Calcium

It is common knowledge that calcium is necessary for bone development. What is not as well-known is the subtle role that calcium plays in allowing your body to sleep well.

Calcium naturally soothes the nervous system, which speeds up the process of quieting down the mind prior to sleep. When you are stressed, calcium levels are rapidly depleted, which makes it even harder to fall asleep.

Good sources of calcium are organic dairy products, beans, nuts, seeds, seaweed, broccoli, and calcium-fortified products.

If you decide to take calcium supplements before bed, remember that your vitamin should also contain vitamin D as vitamin D facilitates calcium absorption.

2. Magnesium

Magnesium deficiency can lead to unexplained anxiety and nervousness, which makes it difficult to fall asleep.

Even worse is that once asleep, people with magnesium deficiency sleep lightly and wake up frequently. As a result, it is difficult to feel rested even in the morning even if you were able to fall asleep.

To counteract a deficiency, eat foods that are high in magnesium like almonds, cashews, and bran.

3. B-Complex Vitamins

Several vitamins are included in the B-complex. Vitamins B3, B5, B9, and B12 are particularly important in the body for regulating sleep cycles.

Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, is recommended to help people with depression or those who wake up frequently to sleep better. Vitamin B3 also enhances the effectiveness of tryptophan, an amino acid that aids in the production of serotonin (a mood regulator).

Vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid, can help reduce feelings of anxiety or stress. Without enough vitamin B5, you may start to feel fatigued yet unable to sleep.

In its natural state, the vitamin B9 is called folate; folic acid is the term used when the nutrient is man-made. Whether you get folate from your diet or folic acid from a supplement, it is yet another B vitamin deficiency that can exacerbate insomnia. Folate is found in green leafy vegetables (spinach, lettuce, broccoli), beans, peas, lentils, lemons, bananas, and melons.

Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, helps the body maintain its circadian rhythms, which control the sleep and wake cycles. Without enough B12, you may start to feel irritable, exhausted, and have trouble focusing and falling asleep. Many doctors recommend vitamin B12 to treat insomnia and possibly rectify other sleep disorders.

4. Zinc

A study on the zinc levels of adults found that higher levels resulted in participants sleeping uninterrupted for longer duration.

Zinc is found in beef, lamb, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, turkey and lentils.

In closing, if you suffer from insomnia or sleep disturbances, take a moment to consider your diet. In general, if you eat well, you sleep well. Talk to your doctor about potential absorption issues that can lead to deficiencies, which in turn can cause insomnia.

A note from Nutrition Breakthroughs: Supplements that encourage good digestion and absorption of food and vitamins include digestive enzymes and probiotics such as acidophilus. Fermented foods like sauerkraut also add beneficial bacteria to the stomach.

This health news is shared by Nutrition Breakthroughs, a publisher of nutrition articles and supplier of effective natural remedies since 2002. Nutrition Breakthroughs makes the original calcium and magnesium based sleep aid Sleep Minerals II.

 

Article Source: http://blogs.naturalnews.com/four-nutritional-deficiencies-can-cause-insomnia/