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Tips to Get Great Sleep this Winter

Tips to Get Great Sleep this Winter

Posted by Henry Maitland on 9th Jan 2019

While more and more people are attempting to get by with less sleep and pack more into their busy lives, the reality is that only 1-in-100 people are clinically ‘short sleepers’ – people who don’t experience any negative effects from sleeping for less than 7 hours.

For everyone else, 7 hours is the absolute minimum you should be aiming for. Sleep is essential for the formation of long-term memory, healing, balancing hormones and cleaning harmful substances from the brain. This all helps to ensure long-term wellbeing and reduce the chance of harmful conditions developing.

So how can you get great sleep every night, wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the challenges ahead in this new year? We’ve created this list of our favourite natural sleep remedies to improve sleep quality.

Valerian Root

Valerian has been used as a medicine since the classical Greek era, helping to promote relaxation and calm the nerves. Although there are over 250 species of Valerian, typically the roots of the Valeriana officinalis species are most widely used.

Numerous studies have shown over the years that Valerian root can help to reduce the amount of time required to fall asleep and improve sleep quality. We’d absolutely recommend it as the first port-of-call in your journey to better sleep, whether as a supplement, tincture or tea.

5-HTP

5-Hydroxytryptophan is a chemical naturally produced by the body from amino acids in food. This is then utilised in the formation of essential neurotransmitters, including serotonin, which is key to regulating mood and sleep.

In studies, low tryptophan levels have been shown to be associated with reduced sleep quality and insomnia. Furthermore, as we age, the body becomes less able to break down tryptophan into 5-HTP. By supplementing with 5-HTP you ensure that your body isn’t deficient and quickly give your body everything it need to manage important mood managing neurotransmitters.

Magnesium

Magnesium is well known to help in the relaxation of muscles, reduction of hypertension and support bone development. However, magnesium is also key to getting great sleep.

GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid), a natural neurotransmitter helps brain cells to communicate with each other. If you’re deficient in it, you may struggle to relax before bed. Magnesium supports the response of GABA receptors and helps maintain healthy GABA levels. Along with allowing muscles to relax, magnesium is an all-round great candidate as a sleep supplement.

One of the many tips we see online for restful night sleep is taking a bath and luckily for you, we sell BetterYou Magnesium Flakes Bath Soak. These combine a relaxing bath with the benefits of magnesium.

Melatonin

Melatonin is universally known as ‘the sleep hormone, so it’s no surprise that it’s an incredible supplement to support healthy sleep. It’s excellent for insomnia, but can also be taken when experiencing jet-lag or working nights to adjust the body clock.

Melatonin is effective in very small doses of only a few milligrams, and is the ideal choice for those wanting to try a highly effective supplement which gets right to the heart of the issue.

Anything else?

In addition to supplementation and nutrition, why not explore yoga or meditation to calm the mind and relax the body before bed? How do you relax before bed? We’d love to read your suggestions in the comments below!