Most of you have heard of melatonin–and possibly used it–to help you sleep. But what if I told you that there is a little-known property to melatonin that is especially important in today’s world: It can boost immune function, and especially improve resistance to viruses? Here’s what we know about this elusive pseudo hormone and … Read more
Are you having trouble drifting off to sleep at night? Or are you waking up in the middle of the night and unable to go back to sleep? You’re not alone. There seems to be a lot of it going around. Chalk it up as another of many effects of the coronavirus. We’re all stressed … Read more
As the hubbub of the holidays passes, this is a great time for self-care. Yeah, yeah, I know you’ve heard about self-care before. You think your life is too busy to take good care of yourself. Actually, your life is too busy not to take care of yourself. Self-care is important and perhaps never more … Read more
If you’re like 43% of all Americans, you have trouble sleeping at least one night a week. I have the problem occasionally and I’ve found natural and effective ways to lull myself to sleep or back to sleep when I awaken in the middle of the night. Please! At all costs avoid sleeping pills of … Read more
Tired of being tired? You’re not alone – as many as 70 million Americans have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep and 45% of the adult population reports having insomnia at least once a week. And moist of them report their sleep is poor quality. We all need sleep, deep restful sleep, for 7 to … Read more
The laundry list of the health risks linked to lack of sleep is growing longer and more frightening. Several new studies have unveiled a truly jolting series of results that boil down to this: Lack of sleep results in brain damage, brain shrinkage, poor memory and Alzheimer’s disease. Here is the down low on the … Read more
Ya’ll know I’m a contrarian thinker, so bear with me here. Are you one of the millions of us who go to bed, fall asleep and find yourself wide awake at 3 a.m.? What if I told you that in many cultures this is perfectly normal? It is standard in cultures that have long winter … Read more
It seems like a no-brainer (pardon the pun), but sleeping with lights on or –- horror of horrors—the television screen flickering – is bad for your brain and bad for your health. In these times of COVID, it’s important to care for ourselves like never before. We’re all stressed, we’re all concerned about getting sick … Read more
Several people have told me lately that they are having troubles sleeping. I have that problem occasionally myself. Sometimes it’s a matter of that infernal “to-do” list cycling endlessly through your already exhausted mind. Does that stress pattern sound familiar? How about the one that goes, “I should have said/done,” re-living the day’s events over … Read more
Last weekend, I had the great fortune to accompany three teenaged girls on a horrific bus ride from our town in Western North Carolina to Raleigh, about five hours drive to the east. I won’t go into all the details, but the painful journey began with meeting them and their mothers at 2:45 a.m. That … Read more