Sleep: It can be magnificent, or it can be elusive. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with our beds and the nighttime ritual that ensues. Some lucky people fall asleep soon after lying down and stay asleep all night. Others toss and turn for thirty minutes, an hour, or even more before spending a restless night of repeated waking or even bathroom trips.
There is often nothing as refreshing as a good night’s sleep, but there’s nothing more tiring than not getting one. Repeatedly.
We need sleep
Sleep is vital to not only our physical well-beings but also to our emotional well-beings. With a steady routine of proper sleep, our bodies will function better, we’ll be better able to fight off infections, our mood will be happier, we’ll feel less brain fogged, we’ll be more inclined to exercise, we’ll have better emotional and social intelligence, and we’ll even have a lower risk of heart disease.
Those are all amazing benefits from something we have to do every day.
According to the CDC, adults ages 18-60 need seven or more hours of sleep per night. Those 61 years of age and older need seven to nine hours per night. But not many of us actually get the required amount of sleep. And when we don’t, we can feel the effects. We’re lethargic, grumpy, and we lose the ability to focus.
If you have trouble sleeping, you’ve likely tried melatonin or some other sleep aid. But did you know that zinc and magnesium can help facilitate healthy sleep patterns? We will explore the benefits of each, but of course before you begin taking a supplement, talk with your doctor, as some supplements can interact with prescription meds, antibiotics, and even other supplements.
Zinc
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, zinc “is a major player in the creation of DNA, growth of cells, building proteins, healing damaged tissue, and supporting a healthy immune system.”
Further, a 2017 article in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences reports that “while zinc is known to be important for many biological processes in animals at a molecular and physiological level, new evidence indicates that it may also be involved in the regulation of sleep. Recent research has concluded that zinc serum concentration varies with the amount of sleep, while orally administered zinc increases the amount and the quality of sleep in mice and humans.”
A zinc deficiency can result in fatigue, anxiety, frequent infections, and difficulty sleeping. So it makes sense that adding zinc to your diet will give you many benefits. Psychology Today reports that, though it isn’t yet clear how zinc regulates sleep, it does in fact do so. It states that zinc “seems to abet slow-wave sleep, the nondreaming, deep sleep of physical restoration and memory consolidation. Zinc doesn’t seem to trigger sleep, but adequate levels of zinc in the blood shorten the time it takes to fall asleep (sleep latency), increase the overall amount of sleep, and assure sleep quality and efficiency (time spent asleep when in bed).”
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? For anyone who has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, zinc might just be the solution you need.
Because we know how vital zinc is to your health and to your sleep, PI created a supplement called Zinc Plus that will not only help facilitate healthy sleep patterns but that will support healthy testosterone levels, muscle strength, tissue repair, and recovery. Plus, we added B6 to help support a healthy immune system and brain health.
This amazing supplement offers so many benefits to your health that you will wonder why you didn’t start it sooner!
In addition to zinc, magnesium has some amazing benefits as well—especially for sleep.
Magnesium
Magnesium is crucial to the proper functioning of our bodies. It promotes healthy bones, helps reduce inflammation, may help prevent migraines, helps support healthy blood sugar levels, helps promote heart health, and may even help combat mild forms of depression. But we want to explore why it helps with sleep.
MSN reports that magnesium can help calm and relax you before bed. According to Healthline, this is “because magnesium regulates several neurotransmitters involved in sleep, such as gamma aminobutyric acid.”
Magnesium will not give you the same effects that melatonin will, but it will help you relax so that you can fall asleep faster, and it can help you stay asleep. This is great news for people who toss and turn for significant amounts of time before falling asleep.
Studies have also shown that magnesium helps combat restless leg syndrome, which is one reason many people have difficulty falling and staying asleep.
Yet as important as magnesium is, about half of adults in the US get less than the RDA of this important element.
You can get magnesium in foods such as nuts, spinach, peanut butter, avocadoes, milk, eggs, whole grains, and yogurt. That’s great. But often it’s not enough, which is why people turn to supplements. However, be careful; it’s possible to take too much, which could be toxic for your body. WebMD says that 350 mg is the highest amount in a magnesium supplement that adults should take.
So, if you have had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, understand that it could be because of either a magnesium or a zinc deficiency. Take a look at your diet and at the symptoms you are having, then decide which supplement may work for you. With a few dietary changes and some supplements, you may soon be on your way to a better night’s sleep.
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