Specific Foods and Nutrients That Promote Healthy Sleep – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 265
One of the most underestimated factors in our overall wellness is sleep. But foods and nutrients can really support a restful night of sleep?
Tag: sleep
How Tart Cherry Supports A Good Night’s Sleep – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 224
Cherries are a very healthy food choice. Above all other cherries, when it comes to proven health benefits, is the Montmorency tart cherry.
Experiencing Brain Fatigue? L-Tyrosine Can Help! – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 190
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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We’ve all experienced staying out late at night, but still having to get up early for work the next morning. You can feel awful and miserable all day long. If you’ve ever burnt the candle at both ends like this, the supplement L-Tyrosine can help. L-Tyrosine can offset the mental grogginess, grouchiness and fatigue, so you don’t feel awful all day. L-Tyrosine is not a replacement for sleep, but on days when you have not had enough sleep, L-Tyrosine can combat mental fatigue.†
Why Should Tyrosine Help Fatigue?
Our brain uses a wide variety of chemicals called neurotransmitters that are used to communicate messages. Science knows approximately 100 different neurotransmitters. Our body uses tyrosine to make neurotransmitters for mental alertness and focus. L-Tyrosine enters the brain and makes these important neurotransmitters. They are called dopamine and norepinephrine. When released appropriately, these neurotransmitters foster arousal, alertness, attention, motivation, and anticipating and seeking a reward but also, and importantly, reducing brain fatigue. L-Tyrosine enters our brain easily and is quickly converted into the neurotransmitter dopamine. It can also be converted into norepinephrine and, when needed, epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline.†
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When tyrosine is converted into dopamine, it is involved in the reward system. This takes place in conjunction with other neurotransmitters and multiple brain regions, but mostly takes place in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and the mesocortical dopamine pathway. These pathways improve motivation and reward seeking. Norepinephrine is involved with alertness, focus, attention, and arousal.
Dopamine and norepinephrine support many activities of the brain, including:
- Memory†
- Sleep and awake regulation†
- Paying attention and being focused†
- Arousal†
- Alertness†
- Motivation for willingness and goal seeking†
- Seeking reward†
- Motivation†
- Reducing brain fatigue†
Tyrosine is commonly used to improve learning, memory, and alertness, and works especially well if used during stressful situations.†
What is L-Tyrosine?
L-Tyrosine is an amino acid. Proteins are made out of amino acids, so when you eat protein you get some L-Tyrosine. When you eat yogurt, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, oats, and wheat, you get some L-Tyrosine. But you’re not getting enough to combat occasional fatigue or help during stressful situations.†
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When to use an L-Tyrosine supplement
- Mental performance: Research shows that taking tyrosine improves mental performance under stressful conditions. These include cold-induced stress, noise-induced stress, or even studying for an important exam like the LSATs or MCATs.†
- Memory: Research shows that taking tyrosine improves memory during stressful conditions. These include cold-induced stress, multi-tasking, or just overload of the brain.†
- Improving alertness following the loss of sleep: Taking tyrosine helps people who have lost a night’s sleep stay alert for about 3 hours longer than they otherwise would. Also, early research shows that tyrosine improves memory and reasoning in people who are sleep-deprived.†
For jet lag, take melatonin at bedtime and L-Tyrosine when you wake up. Tyrosine is not used in elderly people for brain energy or memory. It is used in healthy adults who’ve just overdone it and are experiencing brain fatigue. You don’t use it every day, you use it when it’s needed. You can keep tyrosine in your medicine cabinet and have it at your disposal for weekends when you stay up too late or have to focus on an important exam. To learn more about the role of tyrosine in the body, make sure to tune into the full podcast episode.
Melatonin Supports Immunity, Sleep & Beyond – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 87
Did you know that your immune system can manufacture and release Melatonin? This demonstrates the importance of Melatonin, like Vitamin D, to our immune system. Here’s what you need to know.
How Insomnia Impacts Your Overall Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 56
Anyone can have a bad nights sleep, but when it is persistent and beyond your control it is called insomnia, which can damage your health and sometimes shorten your life. Chief Scientific Director and Pharmacist, Jerry Hickey, Ph., brings you information on natural remedies for insomnia.
Sleep Better, Faster & Longer – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 37
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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On today’s episode, I am going to be talking about sleep! Often times people take its importance for granted and that we need at least seven to eight hours every single night.
Did you know that 35% of Americans do not get adequate sleep? This has been shown to have a direct link to conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. I will be giving you some tips in terms of dietary changes and nutrients that can help support and maintain healthy circadian rhythm.
Importance of A Healthy Sleep Routine
The CDC performed a sleep questionnaire to determine self reported sleep quality, investigating how poor we do as a nation with getting adequate sleep. The National Health and Nutrition Examination study showed that African Americans and Hispanics seem to have the hardest time.
Fifty million Americans report having a hard time with concentration, focus and memory. So, why aren’t we doing more to address this?
Getting adequate sleep is vital to overall health. It impacts learning, memory, mental health, immune system health and even heart health. The long term risks of insufficient amounts are linked to chronic disease starts like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety to name a few.
Impact on Your Heart
Trying to decipher the exact cause of your sleeping issues may be complicated. But we know that there are very common factors that can impact it. The University of North Carolina reports that only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy so we know our diet plays a huge role.
The journal of the American College of Cardiology came out with their findings on the correlation between sleep quality and heart health. Researchers looked at overall sleep duration and the coronary artery. They were able to determine that lower sleep time was independently associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis. This shows that healthy sleep directly benefits a healthy heart.
The European Heart Journal studied the baseline data on insomnia – problems with falling and staying asleep. In this study, researchers assessed people over an 11 year time span and looking for correlations between sleep disturbances and cardiovascular risk. They found it is indeed associated with an increased risk of heart failure.
Separately, women have a greater likelihood tvo struggle with this more than men, due to the impact of their hormones during menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.
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Lifestyle Modifications
You have to make sure your brain is getting essential nutrients like Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin D3, following a Mediterranean diet antioxidants fro foods alone. Everyone should focus on this as a healthy foundation, but especially those who do shift work.
Other modifications are:
- For many, too much light impacts your sleep like from your TV or cell phone. Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet.
- Keep a sleep schedule, even on the weekends.
- Limit daytime sleeping
- Stay physically active
- Avoid caffeine
Nutrients for Healthy Sleep
5-HTP (or 5-Hydroxytryptophan) is an amino acid that contributes to healthy serotonin activity in the brain, helping to boost your mood and promote a feeling of wellbeing. Studies have shown this amino acid may be beneficial for an overactive brain.
Melatonin is a hormone naturally found in the body that signals the body to prepare for sleep and supports healthy sleeping patterns. For individuals who have trouble falling asleep, this hormone may reduce the length of time it takes to fall asleep. For those who wake up frequently, Melatonin has been shown in studies to induce deeper, more refreshing sleep.
L-Theanine is an amino acid derived from the tea plant that safely promotes relaxation and natural stress relief, without the side effects. It works by offsetting cortisol, the stress hormone.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
