![\"\"](\"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/ivilsari\/2020\/11\/image-9.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nValerian is an herb that has literally centuries of herbal lore and anecdotal evidence testifying its effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, that much knowledge is enough to bring it to the attention of modern science, but does not serve as proof that it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
works. However, modern medical science has found that this particular herb does act as an effective aid for people with sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n
problems. Nobody is quite sure how the herb works at the moment, but most experts attribute Valerian’s effectiveness to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
possibility that it works the same way modern pharmaceutical sleeping pills work. In other words, the herb may have an effect<\/p>\n\n\n\n
on the levels of certain neurotransmitters in the central nervous system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kava, while better known as an herbal treatment for cases of anxiety, has also been listed as part of a long line of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
alternative herbal sleep aids. Similar to Valerian, no one is entirely sure how kava helps people get to sleep, but there are<\/p>\n\n\n\n
theories that have been considered scientific and credible. However, it should be noted that kava is known to have side<\/p>\n\n\n\n
effects associated with its use, particularly on the liver. It has been noted by the Food and Drug Administration that kava<\/p>\n\n\n\n
can cause severe damage to the liver, especially if it is taken in the form of a dietary supplement. According to their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
reports and records, roughly 25% of all kava users have suffered from some form of liver damage. Four of those cases required<\/p>\n\n\n\n
transplants of new livers, according to the FDA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relaxation is perhaps the oldest and most natural of all sleep aids, though more and more people are having difficulty<\/p>\n\n\n\n
achieving a state of relaxation. Even in this arena, there are more than a few ancient (and not so ancient) secrets that can<\/p>\n\n\n\n
help someone get to sleep. Yoga and meditation have both been known to have excellent relaxing effects on both the mind and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
body, with the former having some exercises and positions that are particularly effective at putting people to sleep. For<\/p>\n\n\n\n
centuries, Zen meditation has been used by the Japanese to help themselves get to sleep, though the methods that are used to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
increase environmental and conceptual awareness are more popular outside of the Far East. Visualizing relaxing scenery is a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
more modern trick that is stereotypically suggested by psychologists that, if done properly, could actually work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diet can also play a role in helping someone get to sleep. Certain components in food like sugar can make it difficult to get<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to sleep. At the same time, there are also some nutrients and foods that can help a person get to sleep faster. Among the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
more popular of these is magnesium, which is a natural sedative. Some vegetables, almonds, legumes, molasses, whole grains,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and brewer’s yeast are all known to contain enough magnesium to serve as dietary sleep aids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sleep is one of those universal things that can’t be avoided. Sleep is an integral component of a human being’s physical and mental health, so it isn’t really shocking that there are so many sleep aids out in the market nowadays. However, for those who prefer to take a more naturalistic approach to the whole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41895],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23287,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23285\/revisions\/23287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/australiansleephealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}