As you grow older, your body experiences many changes to its regular patterns, and one of these changes involves sleep. You probably notice that your sleep schedule has changed, making you feel sleepy earlier and wake up earlier. You may also notice difficulty sleeping. It may be harder to fall asleep, stay asleep, and have a deep, restful night’s sleep.
Managing your sleep patterns is important for your overall health. Sleep promotes a wide variety of physical and mental health benefits, and our bodies need it to regulate its functions. However, managing sleep when your internal clock feels imbalanced can be difficult. Our Because Market Hemp Extract Gummies contain ingredients that promote a full night of calm, restful sleep. In this article, you will learn which ingredients we integrate with our hemp gummies, the positive effect of each on your sleep quality, and how to use this product to improve your sleep and your life.
Why is Sleep so Important?
According to Dr. Harneet Walia, sleep is one of the most important components of our health. For those 65 and older, getting seven hours of sleep per night is crucial for wellness alongside eating nutritious, balanced meals. These self-care tasks work hand-in-hand to keep us healthy, happy, and well. Sleep should be one of our biggest priorities, especially as we age!
If you consistently don’t get enough sleep at night, it can impact both your short-term and long-term health:
Stress
One of the most common short-term effects of not getting enough sleep is stress. If you miss one to two hours of sleep, you may feel moody, irritable, and more stressed or anxious.
Cognitive Function
As far as short-term effects of not getting enough sleep, cognitive function is an important one. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re likely less alert, which can impair your ability to focus, remember information, and process information.
Napping During the Day
If you are not getting the sleep you need at night, it’s likely that your body tries to make up for it during the day. There is nothing wrong with taking a small nap every now and then, especially if you only sleep poorly occasionally. However, if you consistently fail to get at least seven hours of sleep, it can cause you to feel exhausted throughout the day and fall asleep often.
Quality of Life
Not getting enough sleep can severely impact your overall quality of life and wellbeing. Lacking sleep causes your stress levels to increase, decreases your cognitive function and ability to be mentally present with others, impairs your alertness, and may lead to napping throughout the day. All of these side effects negatively impact your quality of life. Improving your sleep will make it easier to go through your day without stress or grogginess.
Other Health Risks
Sleep deprivation is also associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, as well as an increased risk for heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke. In addition, not getting enough sleep can weaken your immune system, making you more vulnerable to diseases and viruses. It can also lower your sex drive.
How Can I Get Better Sleep?
If you’ve struggled with sleep deprivation for a long time, it can be frustrating. You may feel like you’ve tried everything in the book to get a good night’s sleep with little success. Luckily, there are some all-natural ingredients that you can use to promote better sleep and regulate your circadian rhythms. Let’s dive into these ingredients and see what makes each of them so special!
Melatonin
According to the Sleep Foundation, melatonin is the hormone responsible for the regulation of our sleep cycles. Our brains produce this chemical messenger to regulate our sleeping habits, so they are consistent with our internal clocks and the day-night cycle of the world around us. The way melatonin does this is by managing our body’s circadian rhythm.
Our circadian rhythm is another term for our internal clock. This is the 24-hour cycle our body goes through each day. The most important aspects of this rhythm are sleepiness and wakefulness. The brain signals for the release of melatonin during the sleepy portion of the cycle to help us fall asleep and stay asleep.
Unfortunately, melatonin levels slowly decrease as we age. Our bodies begin to produce less and less of this hormone, and this is often what contributes to sleep deprivation in older adults. Because of this, it is common to take melatonin supplements to help rebalance our circadian rhythms and get the sleep we need.
Valerian Root
Valerian root is an herb originating in Asia, Europe, and South America. It has been traditionally used to promote sleep quality and ease feelings of overwhelming. There are over 200 species of the valerian plant, but Valerian Officinalis is the one most associated with medicinal use and aiding sleep.
While it does not directly interfere with sleep cycles, it serves to aid in the initial falling asleep stages. Valerian root is especially beneficial for those who have trouble falling asleep due to worry and racing thoughts. The aspects of valerian root responsible for its promotion of sleep are the chemical messenger GABA, its high concentration of antioxidants, and isovaleric acid.
GABA is primarily an inhibitor of our central nervous system (CNS). In other words, our GABA hormones decrease the activity promoted by our CNS and thus helps us stay asleep rather than being woken up by this activity.
GABA promotes three specific aspects of our sleep cycles: decreased waking while sleeping, increased quality of the different sleep stages, and enhanced intermediate stages between slow-wave and paradoxical sleep. Valerian root helps promote the production of GABA, which in turn, promotes our quality and amount of sleep.
In addition, isovaleric acid can help decrease muscle spasms one may experience while trying to fall asleep. Antioxidants can help calm our minds and bodies, which ultimately leads to increased ease when falling asleep, and better sleep quality as you feel calm and stress-free.
Broad Spectrum CBD
Broad spectrum CBD is extracted from the whole hemp plant -- flowers, stems, and leaves. Hemp is bred to (and must legally) contain 0.3 percent or less THC, meaning that even though it’s a type of cannabis plant, it can’t get you high.
Broad spectrum CBD takes it a step further and actually has the THC removed, so you won’t feel intoxicated even if you ate a whole bag of hemp gummies at once.
Broad spectrum CBD also includes tons of terpenes and flavonoids, which have powerful benefits in their own right.
Terpenes are the compounds in the hemp plant responsible for its fragrance and they have also been shown to help support cannabinoids' wellness benefits, supporting relaxation and peace, which ultimately supports your quality of sleep.
Flavonoids are the aspects of full spectrum CBD responsible for antioxidant effects as well as the promotion of whole-body wellness.
Our Hemp Extract Gummies are infused with 20mcg of pure hemp-based broad spectrum CBD oil. They’re simple and convenient to add into your routine, and are a delicious way to reap the benefits of pure hemp CBD in a familiar (and delicious!) form.
Summary
Getting enough sleep is vital to regulating your bodily processes, remaining alert and safe during the day, and promoting your overall quality of life. If you are sleep-deprived because you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting good quality sleep, our Hemp Extract Gummies may help promote the regulation and consistency in your sleep cycle and improve your quality of life.
To integrate our Hemp Extract Gummies into your nightly routine, simply take one gummy from its pouch and chew until it has been fully dissolved. Always consult a medical professional before taking a new supplement.
Sources:
Sleep Tips for Older Adults (helpguide.org)
Drivers are Falling Asleep Behind the Wheel (nsc.org)
Melatonin, Human Aging, and Age-Related Disease (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
GABA mechanisms and sleep (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
How can hemp help you sleep? (nabino.com)
What is Circadian Rhythm? (sleepfoundation.org)
