If you ever have trouble sleeping and mention that you’re considering taking sleeping pills, someone invariably asks if you’ve considered natural sleep remedies. Your friends are probably just concerned about your health and welfare, and they want to make sure you’ve considered gentler alternatives to prescription medicines. However, if you’re anything like me, you may view alternative medicine with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, do these herbs and flowers really work? You might be surprised to find that many natural sleep remedies have actually faced rigorous clinical test methods. Let’s see what researchers found out.
Most natural sleep aids fall into the broad categories of either supplements, teas, or essential oils. Valerian is one of the strongest natural sleep supplements and has probably been tested more often than the others. One of the more well-known studies compared the action of valerian with the sleep aid oxazepam. The results of the research showed that valerian was at least as effective as oxazepam, but was less likely to cause negative side effects. Score one for the natural remedies.
If you’ve ever wandered down the tea aisle in your local grocery store, you may have noticed some herbal tea with a sleepy bear on the box. This popular tea contains an ingredient called chamomile. This herb has been used for many years to calm anxiety and promote drowsiness. Although many chamomile tea drinkers swear by the formulation, there have actually been no well-designed clinical trials. So we’re still waiting for the science to speak on the effectiveness of chamomile.
The essential oil lavender is often cited as promoting relaxation and sleep. The safest and most common way that lavender oil is used is to place a few drops on a cotton ball, and then put that cotton ball by your pillow at night. The aroma of lavender from this nearby source provides calming effects throughout the night. Scientific support for the effectiveness of lavender is actually quite good. Lavender has performed well in several studies, including usage for geriatric and cancer patients.
Based on this quick review, it would appear that natural sleep remedies really do work. These alternative sleep aids, with their gentle effectiveness and long safety record, are a valid choice for anyone having trouble getting a good night’s sleep — even if you require a scientific stamp of approval on your medications.
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