If you’ve tried everything to get to sleep (including prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs), and nothing’s doing the trick, here’s an old school Night- cap from my favorite Mid-Century, Hollywood nutritionist, Gayelord Hauser. The author of Look Younger, Live Longer (1950), Dr. Hauser worked with many movie stars (including Greta Garbo) and high-profile clients in the Mid-Century, advising them on nutrition and how to keep their looks, trim their waistlines and get more out of life, including sleep. Some of Dr. Hauser’s famous clients came to him because they could not sleep. His prescription for one famous movie star was to learn to relax (stop worrying about not sleeping) and to start supplementing specific minerals and vitamins (more on that below). He also told her about his simple bedtime drink. His remedies can work as well today, as they did 60 years ago.
Dr. Hauser created what he called a Look Younger, Live Longer Nightcap. Here’s the easy recipe: Start with a tall glass of milk (or liquid yogurt or buttermilk),add a heaping tablespoon of powdered skim milk (which is non-fattening, but fortifying), and then finish by adding one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses. Stir well and then drink. This beverage contains all the essentials Dr. Hauser believed would bring restful sleep: Calcium plus Vitamin D and Vitamin B6. Dr. Hauser was big on drinking milk before bedtime (or yogurt or buttermilk), but for those who would not or could not drink milk, he suggested supplementing with calcium. He advised downing a few tablets at bedtime, sipping them with another tonic: warm grapefruit juice, sweetened with a morsel of honey or a dab of molasses. (Note: it is important not to take too much calcium. Check out the recommended levels for your gender and your age). For Dr. Hauser, calcium was the best sleep aid. This is what he wrote about calcium: "Calcium means rest, calcium means deep sleep, calcium means calmness and agelessness."
In a nutshell, to sleep soundly, Dr. Hauser believed, calcium (nature’s remedy), with Vitamin B6 (found in Blackstrap Molasses) would naturally calm your nervous system and help you sleep. (Vitamin B6 also produces seratonin and other neurotransmitters that promote sleep).
Fast forward nearly 55 years to Dr. James Balch, M.D. and his suggestions on how to cure insomnia without prescriptions. He also advocates supplementing calcium from milk (but only if you are not allergic), yogurt and foods. You also can find calcium, along with magnesium, he said, in leafy greens, oats, almonds and walnuts. Dr. Balch, like Dr. Hauser, suggests Vitamin B6, as a sleep aid and also B12 (The B vitamins are essential for good sleep, Dr. Balch wrote). His dietary suggestions go a bit further than Dr. Hauser’s. For a good night’s sleep, he advises serving foods for dinner high in tryptophan (turkey, chicken tuna, yogurt). He also suggests adding Brewer’s Yeast to any meal (sprinkle it over your food) or add a teaspoon to water or to a green drink.
In addition to the nutrition sleep aids recommended here, Dr. Balch recommends various homeopathic and herbal remedies, as well as body work of different varieties (massage, acupressure). Both the late Dr. Hauser and Dr. Balch also agreed about the one key element to getting good sleep: the need to relax and to reduce stress. Dr. Hauser’s book offers several relaxation techniques, including a few rounds of self-talking as you gaze in the mirror ("Relax…let go…relax….more….more") and also soaking in a tub, in a fragrant herbal bath (add a bundle of your favorite garden herbs to the warm water) or an oil bath (add thin olive oil or a more elaborate, expensive bath oil like lemon balm or the French Melissa (Ooh la la).
There are other non-prescription sleep remedies to pick and choose from - including herbs and certain well-known supplements. Other natural sleep aids: Making simple changes in your bedroom (remove the TV and the computer, for one; turn your bedroom into a delightful sleep & love-making oasis) and in your sleep habits (try to go to bed around the same time every night and get up at the same time, also. This helps set a biological sleep pattern).
Lack of Sleep is much in the news these days, as it is such a widespread health issue, and also as it concerns the death of Michael Jackson and his ill-fated, ultimately desperate, attempt to sleep. Dr. Balch believes insomnia is a "silent health crisis", with almost half of all adults reporting difficulty sleeping (that figure may have grown higher in recent Recession-troubled months). Sleep deficiency, Dr. Balch wrote, suppresses the immune system and the libido, decreases productivity and can lead to other ailments - like headaches and depression. Both he and Dr. Hauser were firmly against drug-induced sleep, believing that there were many other natural and nutritional ways to bring about a good night’s rest. In days to come, I believe we will become much more aware of how nutrition affects sleep. We will also become more cognizant about how widespread sleep deprivation and sleep problems are, affecting people of all ages.
So, at least for now, ignore those TV ads that suggest you "ask your doctor" or "tell your doctor" about prescription sleep aids. Instead, try some of Drs. Hauser’s and Balch’s nutritional and naturall remedies. Let Mother Nature lull you to sleep.
"Do not worry about sleeping; the more you worry, the more sleepless you become. It is a vicious circle that you create for yourself" –Gayelord Hauser
For more information, Look Younger, Live Longer by Gayelord Hauser (1950) and Prescription for Natural Cures by James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D. (2004). There also are many articles on getting to sleep naturally on the internet. As always, do not hesitate to seek medical evaluation and treatment if you are experiencing a long-time or ongoing problem with sleeping. Your doctor needs to evaluate your medical condition.
