Deep Sleep May Help Clear Alzheimer's Toxins
The advantages of sleep are well known to most. We function better, are less stressed, weigh less and have overall happier lives when we get enough quality, deep sleep. But even with knowing these things most Americans are still not getting enough sleep.
We get it! Even when you can find the time away from your family's needs, work schedules and many other obligations, sometimes your head hits the pillow and you just can’t force your brain to turn off. You run through your to-do list or worry about the things on tomorrow's agenda, often you count down the hours until you have to wake up. Knowing as time goes on you are losing even more and more precious sleep time.
Many things factor into this, some of us are more physically prone to have odd sleep patterns, for some our busy lifestyles and use of caffeine tax our system, and most of us experience a bit of normal stress in our day to day. Worst is when we become focused on how important sleep is, it's easy to become stressed over sleep itself!
If we didn’t need another reminder about how important quality sleep is, a new study reported in the journal of Science shows that brain waves generated during deep sleep appear to trigger a cleaning system in the brain that protects it against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Electrical signals known as slow waves appear just before a pulse of fluid washes through the brain, presumably removing toxins associated with Alzheimer's.
So the important question is, what can be done to get past those sleepless nights so you can take advantage of all of the benefits deep sleep has to offer?
Training your brain to follow a natural sleep cycle can be simpler than most people think. With a few small changes in your bedtime routine, you could see a drastic improvement in the quality of your sleep and overall health!
Here are a few steps for The Perfect Bed Time Routine:
- Make sure to reduce TV and cellphone use an hour before heading to sleep. The use of ecteronic devices has been shown to interrupt patterns in REM cycles.
- Diffuse a relaxing essential oil using a Home Tabletop Essential Oil Smart Diffuser for at least 30 minutes. A few of our favorite oils for inducing a relaxing atmosphere are:
Fast Asleep Blend (our best selling blend!)
Or the Amazing Relaxation Bundle
- Create a unique ritual that puts you in the perfect sleep mentality, for some this will be listening to relaxing music and others this might be a few simple stretches to work out any tightness from the day.
- Rub a muscle-relaxing oil like Deep Muscle Relief on any sore spots to put you in the ultimate physically relaxed state.
Let us know if you have any other tips or tricks for your sleep routine! We would love to hear them.