sleep

Sleeping in: Great potential for diabetics

4. August 2020 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

Lack of sleep can promote metabolic disorders
Sufficient sleep reduces the risk of insulin resistance
Researchers advise: Good sleep hygiene to control metabolic diseases

Sacrificing as little as 30 minutes of sleep per day may have a long-term negative effect on metabolism and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. Scientists see this knowledge as a great opportunity for successfully managing diabetes.

Due to social and professional commitments, many people sleep too little during the week, and try to compensate this at the weekend. But even if such a rhythm is initially manageable and people like to sleep in on their day off, the loss of sleep during the working week could cause serious problems in the long term: for example, metabolic disorders, which in turn increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is what a study from 2015 wants to prove.

Connection between sleep loss and obesity

Research has already shown that there is a connection between short sleep duration and overweight or diabetes. This study, however, shows concrete evidence that even 30 minutes less sleep per night can have significant consequences for obesity and insulin resistance. The main author of the study, Prof. Shahrad Taheri, sees this as confirmation that sleep loss can have a detrimental effect on health and influence the metabolism. “Sleep loss is common in modern society, but the consequences for the metabolism have only become clear to us in the last decade. Our research suggests, on the one hand, that adequate sleep can have positive consequences for a slender body shape and metabolism, and on the other hand that focusing on good sleep can be very helpful when trying to control obesity or diabetes.

Study suggests that a sleep deficit promotes insulin resistance

The study involved 522 patients who had recently received their type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The participants kept a sleep diary for one week and calculated their weekly sleep debt. Their body measurements were taken and blood levels were checked for insulin resistance. At the beginning of the test, participants with a sleep deficit tended to be 72% more likely to be obese than those without a sleep deficit. Six months later, a significant connection between obesity and insulin resistance could be observed.

After 12 months, the risk of obesity and insulin resistance was increased by 17% and 39%, respectively, for every 30 minutes of sleep deficit.

In order to delay or stop the course of diabetes, the researchers recommend taking into account all factors that affect metabolism – including sleep. They recommend consistent and appropriate sleep hygiene in order to control metabolic diseases better in the future.

Reduced blood sugar level due to body grounding

A study by doctors at the Polish Military Clinical Hospital in Bydgoszcz specifically addressed the question of whether body grounding can support the naturally occurring physiological processes. For this purpose, patients with autoimmune diseases such as diabetes or thyroid disease were examined; half of them sleeping on special grounding pads and the other half being feignedly grounded without their knowledge. The result: The participants who had spent their night on this special grounding pad had significantly reduced blood sugar levels, while the levels of the placebo group remained almost unchanged. This suggests that nocturnal body grounding can be a valuable measure in the treatment or prevention of diabetes.

Imagesource: Freestock

Are you having troubled nights due to stress and worries? This way, you sleep off the permanent stress in a natural way

26. May 2020 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

Stress must be reduced to prevent health risks
Sleep suffers due to stress, but can also inhibit it
Certain amino acids, vitamins and minerals support sleep

There is sufficient scientific evidence for the far-reaching effects of negative stress on the body and mind. Not even people who are usually very keen on relaxation and a good work-life balance are immune to it: negative influences can never be completely excluded. As the COVID-19 pandemic is currently proving, life can change completely in one fell swoop. Far-reaching changes and the fear of the unknown require constant self-regulation and put nerves to the test.

Stress was actually given to humans as a helpful means of quickly releasing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol in threatening situations, thereby increasing the pulse rate. This efficiently speeds up the blood supply to organs and muscles, and one can react promptly to danger by flight or counterattack. However, if the stress trigger is a long-lasting, intangible danger, this direct confrontation doesn’t happen, and the stress reaction does not come to an end. If, as a result, the cortisol level rises too high for too long a time, this can – amongst other things – hinder the immune system in its important processes.

Stress hormone cortisol disrupts sleep

Apart from this “fight or flight” decision, sleep in particular can counteract the stress hormone cortisol and its possible consequences such as high blood pressure or insulin resistance. Ironically, this supposedly simple solution often gets in its own way: If the cortisol level is too high in the evening, the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin cannot be produced sufficiently. It is difficult to fall asleep; the whole organism is in a state of alarm and cannot relax. Sleeping through is also being interrupted, which is why physical and mental regeneration cannot take place sufficiently due to a lack of deep sleep. As a result, familiar aids such as caffeine are increasingly used throughout the day, which further disturbs the biorhythm and makes falling asleep even more difficult.

Sleeping pills can promote depression

Especially in times of high psychological and emotional stress, sleep becomes an indispensable weapon when fighting for your own health. But how can you benefit from the precious qualities of sleep when you cannot sleep or sleep through due to inner tension?

The use of conventional sleeping pills is as obvious as it is risky: Pharmaceutical sleeping pills are often associated with a certain risk of dependency and – especially in combination with other drugs – can lead to undesirable and sometimes dangerous side effects. In addition, these sleeping pills immensely shorten the crucial REM dream sleep phases, which means that psychological and physical regeneration falls by the wayside. This increases the susceptibility to memory problems, but also to depression and the weakening of the immune system. So we recommend a sleeping aid which even intensifies this special sleep phase, and also naturally supports the body from the inside in its sleep-regulating processes. Such a sleeping aid is available in form of the “SAMINA Night” sleep drink, which combines well-founded knowledge from sleep science and naturopathy in a practical and, above all, effective drink.

Natural sleep drink helps synergistically and without risk

The 17 carefully selected ingredients include the B vitamins B1, B3, B6 and B12, which are mostly used to support the nervous system and its regeneration. Natural treasures such as rose root, valerian and field horsetail, but also amino acids and minerals such as tryptophan, glycine, L-theanine, magnesium and iron already have separate properties that inhibit negative stress and its consequences. In the balanced formula of SAMINA Night, these ingredients now come together to create synergistic de-stressing, and an improvement in sleep. The formulation of SAMINA Night is also designed to efficiently stimulate the body’s production of the hormone melatonin. So even in very stressful times with a particularly high cortisol level, falling asleep and staying asleep is easier, and sleep can let its healing powers work in peace.

Imagesource: Fotolia

New study shows: sleep is an effective remedy for anxiety

21. April 2020 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

• Lack of sleep makes you more anxious
• Deep sleep reduces anxiety
• Important brain networks are reorganized during the night
• Heart rate and blood pressure decreases during non-REM sleep

Whether everyday worries or deep-rooted existential fears: there are many reasons for not being able to relax at night. Deep sleep phases in particular can help the brain to cope with fear – according to a study by UC Berkeley in California. At the same time, lack of sleep is said to make people more susceptible to anxiety.

As one of the basic emotions, fear is part of human beings and fulfils its purpose. However, if not adequately mastered, it can have a significant impact on social and professional life, and also health. For this reason alone, it is worth proactively dealing with fear in order to reduce it. Apart from various therapeutic forms of treatment, we have a particularly valuable means available every night at no additional cost: sleep.

Study discovers: deep sleep reduces anxiety naturally

Regarding anxiety, sleep is crucial in two ways: on the one hand, lack of sleep can promote inner restlessness and susceptibility to anxiety by up to 30%, on the other hand, deep sleep in particular can reduce this anxiety. That was the conclusion of a study published by UC Berkeley in California in November 2019. This not only clarified the close connection between sleep and fear, but also made the discovery of a new function of deep sleep possible: “By reorganizing networks in the brain, anxiety is reduced overnight,” says Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology. According to Prof. Walker, deep sleep is a natural anxiolytic, i.e. an anxiety reliever – provided you experience it every night.

Brain activity changes due to lack of sleep

For the study, 18 young adults were shown emotionally disturbing videos and their brains were simultaneously scanned using functional MRI. This situation was carried out under two different conditions: once after a good night’s sleep, another time after a night with sleep deprivation. The fear experience was also surveyed after each session. The result: after a sleepless night, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex was greatly reduced. This area is usually instrumental in regulating anxiety. At the same time, increased activity was found in the deeper emotional centres of the brain. However, when the test subjects slept well, the MRI scanning showed a significant decrease in the level of anxiety. This difference was particularly noticeable among those who had enjoyed more deep sleep with long non-REM sleep phases.

Anxiety disorders increase in industrialized countries due to lack of sleep

The scientists’ explanation: deep sleep restored the prefrontal mechanism, which reduced emotional and physiological reactivity and prevented an escalation of the anxiety state. In non-REM sleep, neuronal vibrations are also synchronized, heart rate and blood pressure decreases. These insights also come to bear at the social level: according to Prof. Matthew Walker, one can assume that the common occurrence of increasing lack of sleep and the widespread dissemination of anxiety disorders in most industrialized countries is no mere accident, but that there is a causal factor here too.

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Make use of your sleep and defend yourself against the corona virus – with a natural sleep drink

7. April 2020 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

You can strengthen your immune system in particular by means of a healthy sleep.
Due to the rapid spread of the corona virus, we are looking everywhere for solutions. It becomes evident that our sleep actually plays the most important role when it comes to virus defence. For only during sleep are our self-regulating, self-repairing and self-healing powers activated. Although this has long been proven by scientific studies, none of the experts, epidemiologists, doctors, etc. has yet recommended it. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years! It is one of the best ways to greatly improve our immune system and thus defend ourselves against viruses and pathogens. However, it is important that we achieve healthy and sufficient sleep. Sleep is the best natural immune booster without any ifs and buts.

How to improve sleep immediately

At the moment we all feel more or less as if we are going through a crisis. This means inner stress, tension, fear, uncertainty … All of this does not make us sleep well. Between work, family and everyday tasks, it is currently a great challenge to relax after a day full of activity. Stress hormones confuse our body and brain chemistry resulting in difficulties falling and staying asleep. Consequently, sleep is not restful, the physical-emotional regeneration is disturbed and the immune system is further weakened. What is to be done? Over the past three decades, numerous natural products and solutions have been developed under my leadership at SAMINA, which measurably improve sleep. But what is the quickest help? The solution is – as if I almost suspected it – the natural sleep drink SAMINA Night. A 12-night cure improves sleep at all levels with a 90% guarantee. You fall asleep quicker, sleep through better, have more deep and REM (dream) phases, feeling relaxed in the morning. In addition to thousands of positive customer experiences, the sleep medical specialist Prof. Dr. Josef Alexander Wirth, known from press and TV (Institute for Sleep Diagnostics, Alfeld), confirmed this in an application study.

Order online now

If you order now, you can start your sleep cure in 2-3 days. Like many other users, you will be surprised how the SAMINA Night sleep drink, developed under my leadership, will noticeably improve your sleep after just a few nights. The secret? A tasty sour cherry and chokeberry juice with plant-based melatonin, amino acids, minerals and vitamins bringing relaxation, peace and harmony to body and mind. -> Order now

Grinding of teeth during sleep: health risk for body and mind 

24. March 2020 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

Extreme grinding can lead to tooth loss .
Tendency decreases with age .
Psychological stress as the most common cause of teeth grinding .
Physiotherapy and autogenic training can help

One in five does it – often without knowing it: in many bedrooms people grind their teeth night after night. This leaves traces on the enamel, the quality of sleep and thus also on general good health.  

Often, the first thing that the dentist notices is, what is going on in the patient’s sleep: ground down teeth, sharp edges or enamel cracks indicate night-time teeth grinding. Even fillings and implants can suffer damage and necks of teeth can be exposed. But even without this information, the person concerned could suspect that the jaw muscles are anything but resting at night. If they are working for hours during sleep, it is not uncommon to wake up with severe headaches and facial pain, migraines and tinnitus can also occur.

The strongest muscle in the human body

Known in technical jargon as bruxism, grinding of teeth denotes a rhythmic activity of the masticatory musculature. During sleep, it may show what it is actually capable of: When grinding teeth at night, the tooth surfaces are pressed against one another with an enormous pressure of up to 480 kg / cm², which corresponds to about ten times the force exerted when chewing food. No other muscle can act more powerfully on an external object, which is why the masticatory muscle is considered the strongest muscle in the human body. And that leaves its mark – for example on tooth enamel and dentine, or in the form of damaged fillings and implants. In extreme cases, even the pulp and nerve may suffer, sometimes leading to tooth loosening and tooth loss.

A question of age?

A distinction is generally made between primary sleep bruxism, which cannot be assigned to a clear cause; secondary bruxism, which occurs in connection with other diseases, such as neurological diseases or various sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea; and iatrogenic sleep bruxism, which is triggered as a side effect of medications such as some psychotropic drugs and antidepressants. Officially, there is no general cure for the cause of primary sleep bruxism, i.e. the form of teeth grinding that does not appear as a side effect of medication or as a symptom of a disease. The good news is that the tendency to grind your teeth decreases with age. According to estimates, 14% to 18% of children are affected, but only 5% to 6% of adults and 3% of seniors.

Psychological stress encourages teeth grinding

In order to get closer to the cause of teeth grinding, some self-observation is advisable. Do I tense my jaw repeatedly during the day? Is my tongue really relaxed or is it pressing against something? Am I breathing calmly and deeply enough? Physical tension often indicates a deeper, mental and psychological stress. Negative emotional stress is regarded as the undisputed leader among the causes of night-time teeth grinding. Sleep bruxism is not uncommon, especially in people with anxiety disorders, but it can also occur temporarily in periods of intense emotional stress. A therapeutic approach is advisable if you develop e.g. chronic pain, or if dentition is permanently damaged.

How do I get rid of teeth grinding?

How can you actively do something about the grinding of your teeth? First of all, a dental examination is necessary. Sometimes one needs a precise analysis of the masticatory apparatus to clarify problems with the temporomandibular joint. Usually, however, an occlusal splint is prescribed. The grinding is only treated symptomatically, but at least the teeth and joints are being protected.

Since psychological stress is often the basis, stress management is particularly important. Behavioural therapy or psychological support can help especially with an increased perception of stress – relaxation techniques such as autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation are considered promising measures. Medications for muscle relaxation will sometimes be prescribed, but usually only for a short time to avoid possible side effects. Sometimes, an injection of the neurotoxin Botox will be applied to loosen the jaw muscle, but is not recommended due to possible bone resorption. Physiotherapy is more advisable, such as massage or special stretching exercises for the jaw. Also, in the wider context, attention should be paid to the muscles and physiotherapeutic treatment be considered, since the cervical spine and the position of the head affects the position of the jaw: if the head is pushed too far forward, as is often the case with computer work or excessive use of the smart phone, then this may lead to tension in the muscles of the jaw. Summarizing, it can be said that almost everything that brings mental and physical relaxation can help prevent teeth grinding.

Image source: Fotolia

Staying healthy and well rested all winter

20. November 2018 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

The cold winter months mean high season for germs and viruses. One outbreak of the common cold is often followed by another. Wet and cold weather combined with the dry air of a heated room makes the mucous membranes of nose and throat more likely to dry out. This paves the way for infections and leads to coughs, sore throats and head colds as possible consequences. In order to prevent this from happening, it is essential to strengthen the body’s immune system.
Here are some simple tips on how to fight colds and tickly throats.

How to strengthen the immune system

Even simple measures can contribute to strengthening the immune system in a natural way, for example by sticking to a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting healthy, restful sleep.

The right groceries

A deficiency in nutrients during the winter months can lead to a lack of energy, tiredness and absent-mindedness. An insufficient intake of vitamins also weakens the immune system. All the more reason to maintain a healthy diet! The supply of fruit and vegetables is not anywhere near as abundant now as it is during summer. The tendency to reach for fatty or sweet dishes is not surprising. However, there are vitamin-packed fruits and vegetables that provide plenty of valuable substances and are available during the cold season. For example, the Vitamin C in cabbage or citrus fruits is a highly effective antioxidant, supports antibody production and thereby helps to prevent common colds.

Drink sufficiently

Did you know that dehydration puts mucous membranes at a higher risk of drying out? Make sure to drink at least 1.5 – 2 litres of liquids a day, preferably water, mineral water or herbal tea. Not only does a healthy hydration level keep your mucous membranes moist, it simultaneously prevents tiredness, headaches or difficulties in concentration.

Reduce stress

When you experience stress, your body releases cortisol – a hormone closely linked with the body’s defences. Chronic stress can suppress immune reactions. It’s therefore important to make time for several rest and relaxation phases throughout the day. Getting a massage or enjoying a warm bath is just as effective as practicing relaxation techniques like yoga or autogenous training. If you are too busy during the day, taking a nightly walk is another great way to reduce stress.

Regular exercise

Sticking to a exercising schedule and getting fresh air doesn’t only strengthen your immune system. By taking in sunlight the so-called “happiness hormone” serotonin is released. Moreover, the metabolism is also stimulated.

Healthy, relaxing sleep

Sleep doesn’t only serve the regeneration of body and mind, it also reinforces our immune system. During deep sleep, the body’s defense system stores information about pathogens and builds antibodies. It is therefore vital to not only sleep sufficiently, but also restoratively. By incorporating a healthy lifestyle, creating a healthy sleeping environment and choosing the right bed you are ensuring ideal conditions for high-quality sleep.

Imagesource: @depositphotos