Not Sleeping Well Lately? Herbal Remedies for Insomnia

You hear everything - learn from the refrigerator, the yowl of the neighbor's dog and the shrill siren of a police car off in the distance. You hear everything because you're awake, is the three o'clock and you have to give a briefing to work five hours. You can not sleep and insomnia is on your nerves.

Fortunately, traditional herbal medicines are now available to help with this common cause, today's problem. More than half of all Americans have some sort of difficulty in obtaining or maintaining a rested night's sleep. It is sold without a prescription not herbal medicines for insomnia are limited to those that are commonly used antihistamines for allergies, but who help you sleep because they are so sedative. The options among herbal remedies insomnia, on the other hand, are numerous and mankind has had centuries of practice using them for the difficulties sleeping. Several of them even have the backing of scientific research showing its safety and efficacy to help improve sleep patterns.

Valerian root is one of the two most popular herbal therapies for insomnia. The plant from which the root is taken grows in temperate climates around the world. It has been used for more than a thousand years as a sleep remedy, especially for the great Hippocrates himself. Nobody knows exactly how to induce sleep, however, modern scientists have embarked on studies showing that it does, in fact, the clinical work in humans. A German study published in 1998 showed that a combination of valerian root and hops (another dream of inducing herb) worked, as well as a prescription of benzodiazepines force (similar to Valium) in treating sleep disorders. And valerian root, unlike benzodiazepines, is not addictive.

On the other side of the world, natives of the South Pacific have their own cure for insomnia. Kava kava, a shrub native to the islands, has long been used by the natives to induce relaxation and provide a sense of wellbeing when drunk in important religious rites. Scientific research supports the effectiveness of kava kava as a cure for anxiety and sleep disorders. An article published in Pharmacopsychiatry in 1997, for example, showed a significant improvement in anxiety in subjects who took kava kava compared with those who took a placebo. Like valerian, kava kava is not addictive.

Modern science has not been so generous with other medicinal plants commonly used for insomnia. Research on humans using herbs such as hops, chamomile and passionflower is scarce and there is no scientific evidence to indicate one way or another if they have an effect on sleep. However, are often sleep herbal of aid. Fortunately, no one has shown that they are unsafe for consumption either. Given centuries of tradition-based plants that supports its effectiveness for insomnia, can we expect at least something useful for those with trouble sleeping. Some herbs actually sleep-aid are a mixture of a primary as kava kava or valerian herb along with smaller quantities of hops, passionflower and chamomile. Se cree que the last three herbs increase the dream of promoting properties of the main herbal ingredients.

How much should you take?

Determining the appropriate dose of kava kava or valerian root of the packages in the store or pharmacy healthy can be complicated enough to keep you awake at night. There is no labelling rules for herbal preparations, many of the labels can be quite confusing (and I daresay, misleading?).

When looking for a product kava, make sure the capsule contains a "normalization of extract of kava." Most normalization of extracts from kava kava containing approximately 30% kavalactones, the active ingredients in kava. The recommended dose is kavalactones of 60-200 milligrams per day, usually taken twice daily. Therefore, if the package states that a capsule contains 300 milligrams of kava kava standardized to 30% kavalactones, which actually contains only 100 milligrams of active ingredient. (Tip: 300 milligrams multiplied by 30% or 0.3 to get 100 milligrams of kavalactones). Fortunately, a capsule containing 100 milligrams of kavalactones is just right.

By choosing valerian root, look for a capsule containing at least 500 milligrams of valerian. Two of these capsules should be taken simultaneously for insomnia relief. Valerian root is perhaps more commonly in combination with other herbs to sleep that is kava kava. Usually, if you look for a capsule containing the correct amount of valerian root, the rest of the ingredients are in much smaller quantities. While the other herbal ingredients may or may not be effective for sleep disorders, which probably can not hurt either.

I encourage you to experiment with different products to see what works best for you. None of the herbal remedies is intended to be used every night indefinitely, but rather for the occasional night when the dream escapes. If you have a serious problem with insomnia, I suggest you consult your health care provider for further advice. Happy sleeping!