Key Nutrients for Restful Sleep

• February 23, 2022

Until a betrayal is healed, we have a wild range of emotions and symptoms to manage like sadness, anger, anxiety, exhaustion and more. It’s important to do something to modulate all of these feelings and aspects of healing that you’re going to be working through until you’re able to move through it completely.

Last week I wrote about the importance of sleep. It’s non-negotiable and at a time where we need quality, restorative sleep the most, it’s common to have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up feeling refreshed. This leaves us feeling exhausted and lethargic which then contributes to a lack of clarity as well as less patience.

While in last week’s post I talked about how to improve your sleep environment as well as create a helpful sleep routine, it’s also important to realize how quickly nutrients become depleted during stressful times. Even the healthiest diets may not be enough to combat how quickly we’re burning through nutrients that supply us with the energy, strength and clarity we need.

So what nutrient support do we need?

Just as you might find additional support to help navigate your mental and emotional state after an experience with betrayal or shattered trust, it’s important to get nutrient and sleep support as well during these times. Let’s talk about key nutrients that combat stress and help promote restful sleep.

GABA, Gamma-aminobutyric acid helps promote sleep while also reducing mental and physical stress. It helps create a sense of calmness and helps to reduce anxiety which is important when we’re working through feelings of fear and stress.

L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea leaves. It boosts GABA (which helps create a sense of calm) along with other neurotransmitters that help to regulate emotions and mood. It also helps reduce brain chemicals associated with anxiety and stress.

Melatonin: Melatonin helps to regulate our circadian rhythm by being secreted in response to darkness. Light at night can disrupt melatonin production (which is why sleeping in a dark and tech free room promotes restful sleep). Melatonin can help us fall asleep more quickly as well as improve the quality of our sleep.

5-HTTP: 5-Hydroxytryptophan is another amino acid produced within the body. It helps raise serotonin levels in the brain. Since serotonin helps regulate mood and behavior, 5-HTP may have a positive effect on sleep, appetite, anxiety and mood.

Pyridoxal phosphate (P-5-P or PLP): PLP is an active form of vitamin B6, a nutrient that supports the brain, heart and immune system. While B-6 is found in certain foods, processing and refining foods dramatically reduces the availability of B-6. It’s common to have a B-6 deficiency due to a poor or processed diet, and this can impact our sleep, strength, mood and more.

Ok, so now what do we do?

Any food or supplement that’s processed, that includes fillers, or is of poor quality is a waste of energy and expense. These nutrient-void subquality products actually cause your body to work harder to absorb, digest and process them. As if betrayal wasn’t hard enough to “absorb, digest and process,” this is why it’s important to take your nutrition and supplementation seriously: even if it’s only for a short period of time while you’re struggling to find solid ground again after your experience. It’s a time when you want to have the highest concentration of nutrients of the highest quality so you have the additional support necessary to sleep when you need to, as well as to help you think clearly when you’re awake.

Here’s why we created Sleep.

Sleep is a blend of botanicals, nutrients, and neurotransmitter precursors designed to support quality, restful sleep. By providing nutritional support for calm brain activity, Sleep promotes relaxation and offers help for occasional sleeplessness.

Sleep is a formulary blend of botanicals, nutrients, neurotransmitters, and neurotransmitter precursors designed to support quality sleep.   By encouraging the calming of brain activity, Sleep helps not only with the ability to get to sleep, but also to stay asleep.

Sleep may:

• Serve as a sleep aid and general relaxant without causing sleep hangover
• Provide a natural sedative effect without causing morning drowsiness
• Reduce generalized anxiety symptoms
• Improve pain tolerance in chronic pain syndromes, increasing the ability to sleep through the night

Key ingredients include: 

• Blend of safe nervine botanicals known for their relaxant properties and ability to reduce tension and promote sleep, without causing morning grogginess. It’s also made with non-GMO ingredients
• Calm-a new, proprietary form of GABA (body’s main calming neurotransmitter), naturally manufactured through a fermentation process and considered more effective than other traditional, chemically produced synthetic forms of GABA
• L-theanine for support of calming neurotransmitter production, clinically proven to reduce stress and improve the quality of sleep
• Melatonin– a hormone whose main role is in the control of the circadian (day/night) rhythms. Its production should peak at night and is instrumental for maintaining quality sleep patterns. Melatonin production declines significantly with age, often causing sleep difficulties as­sociated with aging.
• 5-HTP– precur­sor to serotonin, supports further melatonin production during the night to help with staying asleep
• Pyridoxal-5-phospate(activated form of vitamin B6) – helpful in the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin (5-HT)

Who Should Take Sleep?

Check with your doctor first, but sleep is ideal for those experiencing difficulty getting to sleep, or staying asleep through the night.

Prioritizing sleep is key when we’re stressed and betrayal is certainly a time when stress is extremely high. When we’re well rested, we can then move through all of the other priorities that need our attention. And, with sleep, we’ll move through them more effectively and efficiently.

Dr. Debi
Founder and CEO, The PBT (Post Betrayal Transformation) Institute