How To Make Honey Remedies To Help You Fall Asleep Naturally

Thousands of years, people all over the world use honey as natural remedy to influence to fall asleep. European healers have been recommending a cup of warm milk with teaspoon of honey since the Middle Ages, while the traditional Mexicans use to have a cup of warm chamomile tea or te de manzanilla before bedtime. Another old-fashioned remedy is to add two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and two teaspoons of honey in warm water and drink it before sleeping. Different recipes but with one purpose – to induce sleeping.

HONEY AND SLEEP

According to the Scottish pharmacist Mike McInnis, honey remedies improve the restorative sleep and make it last longer by three mechanisms. He says that honey taken before sleep:

1. Ensures there is enough quantity of liver glycogen for eight hours of sleep (this prevents release of cortisol and adrenaline, the two stress hormones, in the morning).


2. Keeps the level of sugar in the blood stabilized


3. Helps the exemption of melatonin, the hormone needed for recovery of the body tissues during the rest.

The best way this process to be described is by what McInnes calls the honey-insulin-melatonin cycle or HYMN Cycle. The process begins with consuming one or two teaspoons before going to bed, as follows:

1. The cycle begins when the glucose of the honey will be delivered into the general circulation and will provoke a mild glucose spike.


2. After the level of blood sugar is increased, the pancreas is provoked to release insulin.


3. The insulin in the general circulation will bring the tryptophan into the brain.


4. The next step is converting the tryptophan into serotonin, hormone that encourages relaxation.


5. When is dark, in the pineal gland comes to the process of converting the serotonin into melatonin.


6. The melatonin is reducing the body temperature and activates sleep. Also hinders the release of more insulin from the pancreas and because of that a rapid drop in blood sugar level is prevented.


7. Also the release of the growth hormone which manages all of the recovery physiology is encouraged by the melatonin. This is actually the first step in the overnight recovery physiology.


8. All the body tissues start to repair and rebuild initiated by the recovery hormones.


9. The melatonin by its requirements for forming neural cell adhesion molecules during the RAM phase, also makes an impact into the memory consolidation. These molecules are needed to process the short-term memory from the hippocampus into long-term memory in the brain cortex.


10. In the same time, the fructose from the honey accomplishes its critical role. The fructose is transformed into glucose and then to liver glycogen, consequently providing the necessary amount of glucose during the night.


11. Furthermore, the fructose also regulates glucose intake into the liver by inducing the liberation of glucokinase from the hepatocyte nuclei. Therefore, the liver is ensured with good glycogen supply overnight.


12. If the liver is supplied with sufficient amount of glycogen, the stress hormones won’t be release.

It is very exciting that we can use honey as safe and inexpensive remedy to induce sleep. Thus, we think that more attention needs to be paid in this field and more researchers to be done.

NATURAL REMEDIES FOR CHRONIC INSOMNIA

In addition, we give you some recipes that can help you to forget about chronic insomnia:

• The cup of warm chamomile, lemon balm or linden flower tea enrich it with one teaspoon of honey. Drink before going to bed.


• To the cup of warm milk add two teaspoons of honey. Drink before sleeping.


• In one-half of lukewarm water add the same amount of orange juice and then add two teaspoons of honey. Drink just before going to bed


• In a cup of warm peppermint tea add one teaspoon of honey, optionally you can add a clove.


• Make a mixture of honey and lavender oil and add it into a warm tub of water. You can enjoy this relaxing soak for 15 minutes.