Eat Yourself Drowsy
Want to fall asleep faster? Have some
lettuce. According to a 2017 study,
lettuce—especially romaine—contains
lactucarium, which has sedative prop-
erties and affects the brain similarly to
the way opium does. Antioxidants in
lettuce and other vegetables may also
help, by counteracting the oxidative
stress caused by sleep disorders.
You can kick it up a notch by topping
your lettuce with fish such as tuna,
halibut, or salmon, all of which are
high in vitamin B6. Your body needs B6
to make serotonin, a relaxing
neurotransmitter, and melato-
nin, a sleep-regulating hor-
mone. Cherries, bananas,
pineapples, oranges, and
walnuts also naturally
boost levels of mela-
tonin, while kiwifruits
contain serotonin.Become a Dream
Weaver
Disrupted REM (rapid eye move-
ment) sleep—the last and
most dream-filled sleep
cycle—is as big an issue as
overall sleep deprivation,
according to a 2017 review
published in Annals of
the New York Academy
of Sciences. People
with fewer dreams
are more subject
to extreme irritabil-
ity, pain sensitivity,Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, demen-
tia, and delusions (ironically, dream-
ing helps you maintain your sense of
waking reality).
Unfortunately, some sleeping
pills—especially benzodiazepines
such as Xanax, Halcion, and Valium—
can disrupt REM sleep. Alcohol does
too. Another common culprit: alarm
clocks, which interrupt sleep cycles.
Training yourself to wake naturally
takes practice, but you’ll be more
rested if you can do it.Don’t Worry About It
“People often think, I won’t be
able to function if I don’t have a
good night,” says Tanja van der
Zweerde, a psychologist at Am-
sterdam’s Vrije Universiteit.
Wakefulness-inducing anxi-
eties such as these can trans-
form what otherwise would have
been a rough night or two into
chronic insomnia.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
for insomnia, or CBT-I for short,
helps you identify and address
the roots of your problem.
Often it involves relaxation
training or meditation to
reduce anxiety. For Ladd,
“picturing myself be-
ing cocooned in a nice
fleece blanket” helps.
For Henry Nicholls,
author of Sleepy-
head, repeating
the word the,38 may 2019
Reader’s Digest
matthew^cohen