Our CBD products might be exactly what you need #SleepDeep

Working on your sleep hygiene

While sleeping should be easy, many of us struggle with it. We spend hours tossing and turning. We wake up tired, spend our days dreading bedtime and wishing sleep wasn’t difficult. If we could buy high-quality sleep, it would be an instant bestseller. But that's not possible.

Instead, we have to work on our sleep hygiene, learn to relax before bedtime, and build helpful routines that make it easier to sleep well. With CBD becoming an integral part of popular relaxation and unwinding technique, it is an obvious choice to consider. But before making any decisions, let's try to understand sleep a bit better.

Does sleep affect mental health?

There are still many questions about sleep that science has to answer. However, we know sleep is essential for maintaining a healthy and functioning brain, and the lack of it affects our mental health negatively.

Think about the last time you stayed up all night before a day full of meetings, presentations and reports. Chances are that due to the common, short-term effects of sleep deprivation, such as short-term memory issues and decreased concentration, that day was tough.

Lack of good sleep can impact our brain similarly to alcohol, making us less efficient and more prone to causing accidents. A sleepless night can increase anxiety and depression, especially for those already prone to these issues. This can make it even harder to fall asleep the following night, resulting in a vicious cycle that can be hard to break.

Why is sleep so important?

Our bodies use sleep to recharge, rebuild and heal. People who don't sleep enough are at high risk of severe health problems, such as heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, and depression. Sleep is so vital that the lack of it can literally kill you! While three or four nights of no sleep are enough to cause hallucinations, eleven sleepless nights could result in your body shutting down entirely.

On the other hand, people who manage to get regular amounts of high-quality sleep increase their longevity. This makes sleep one of the few things you can do to live a long, healthy, and happy life.

REM, light, quiet or deep sleep - which one is the best?

Before you can fix a problem, you have to understand it. So, how does sleep work? Every time you fall asleep, your body goes through distinctive stages: entering sleep, three stages of NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement), and one stage of REM (rapid-eye movement). All are important, and each has a different purpose.

1. Entering sleep

   To fall asleep, most of us will lay in bed, close our eyes and wait for sleep to come. While it takes just seconds for some people to enter sleep, others find it very difficult, and will spend countless hours waiting for rest to come.

2. Light sleep - NREM stage 1

   Light sleep is that familiar feeling of the ground suddenly moving from under your feet and your body falling into nothingness. Also known as "dozing off", light sleep lasts between 5-10 minutes and ends with a loss of consciousness. This is where the real work begins.

3. Quiet & deep sleep - NREM stage 2 & 3

   This is when your body moves into the quiet and deep sleep stages. First, your body drops in temperature, your muscles relax, and your heart rate, breathing, and brain activity slow down. That's stage 2.

   In stage 3, your body gets busy fixing whatever needs to be fixed. Your muscles relax even further, but your brain starts showing low-level activity, allowing it to enter deep sleep. You are now ready for the last stage.

4. Active sleep - REM sleep

   The REM sleep stage is fascinating. While your brain becomes nearly as active as when you're awake, your voluntary muscles (legs, arms, hands) become paralysed. REM sleep (also known as active sleep) promotes brain health. Scientists think that REM might be essential for things like memory, learning, and creativity. Usually, your body requires 90 minutes of sleep before it can enter REM, and if you don't manage to stay asleep for that long, you will miss out. For people who struggle with sleeping disorders, active sleep is the holy grail.

Problems sleeping? These are the most common disorders.

Sleep disorders appear in many forms. While it is always good to talk to your doctor about the reasons behind your bad sleep, some conditions can be significantly improved by paying attention to better sleep hygiene.

• Insomnia

  Chronic sleeping issues, such as the inability to fall asleep or remain asleep, are symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia is often stress-induced but might also be caused by accompanying health issues, such as PMS or postpartum* health problems, which can make it hard to sleep tight.

  * Warning: breastfeeding women are not supposed to use CBD.

• Excessive Sleepiness

  While morning grogginess is very normal, feeling tired all day is not. People who experience excessive sleepiness will wake up in the morning and feel as if they haven't slept at all, making it difficult for them to stay awake.

• Narcolepsy

  Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that manifests itself in random sleep attacks. People with narcolepsy can fall asleep whenever and wherever, making it difficult to maintain a typical day-to-day life.

• Sleep apnea

  Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder. People with sleep apnea often struggle with breathing, snore and wake up throughout the night, making it difficult to reach the REM stage. This results in poor quality of sleep, and fatigue during the day.

• Parasomnias

  Sleepwalking, night terrors, sleep talking, and regular nightmares are unusual sleep behaviours referred to as parasomnias. People who struggle with sleep deprivation caused by parasomnias often find it impossible to get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, so do the people in their closest surroundings.

How to sleep better & what to do if you have sleeping problems

Whether you sleep alone, with a partner, or you are a guest at a sleepover, all you want, at the end of the day, is to sleep well. If you can't, think if there's anything in your evening routine that needs changing. Choosing the right sleep aid will make it easier for you to sleep tight. Whether it's a new sleep remedy or a sleep training technique depends entirely on you, your body and your personal preferences.

Sleeping pills

Sleeping pills might seem like an easy solution. They work quickly and bring results within seconds. But due to the magnitude of accompanying side effects, such as dizziness, change in appetite, digestive issues, and (surprisingly) daytime drowsiness, sleep meds are the last resort. Sleeping pills might be the right choice for some, but if your goal is to create natural, healthy sleeping habits, sleeping meds might not be for you.

Natural products for a better sleep

Fortunately, scientists have been running sleep studies that explore how natural remedies and lifestyle changes can impact sleep. While more research needs to be done, early results (combined with peoples' personal experiences) provide insight into which natural remedies might promote better and easier sleep.

Things like melatonin, valerian, chamomile, passionflower, and lavender have all been looked into and used by people for years. Introducing something like a sleepy tea, sleep music,spa baths, and lavender oil diffusers into your bedtime routine to help you reduce stress are all worth considering.

CBD might be worth exploring if you have tried natural remedies and relaxation techniques before, and found them helpful. This non-addictive, hemp-derived ingredient has been one of the most fascinating and promising recent additions to the wellness industry. CBD oils made from 100% natural and high-quality ingredients, such as the ones produced by HERBLIZ, have already found their way into many European households.

Even though many CBD users swear by it, scientists are still unsure if and how CBD can support sleep. This is not because they don't want to know, but because not enough research has been done (yet). Chances are we'll still have to wait a while for science to catch up and figure it out, as is often the case with natural remedies.

Fortunately, early research is promising. The preliminary results suggest taking CBD oil can be a helpful tool in coping with anxiety, a common cause of certain sleeping disorders. If you value natural solutions that can improve your wellbeing, consider including our relaxing CBD products into your evening routine. It might be the one thing that's missing.

References:

• Diego Robles Mazzotti et al., (2014) Human longevity is associated with regular sleep patterns, maintenance of slow wave sleep, and favorable lipid profile. Front Aging Neurosci.
• Xingjian Zhang et al., (2014) (A study on the effects of fatigue driving and drunk driving on drivers' physical characteristics. Traffic Inj Prev.
• Esther M. Blessing et al., (2015) Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety Disorders. Neurotherapeutics
• S. Guadagna et al., (2020) Plant Extracts for Sleep Disturbances: A Systematic Review. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
• National Institutes of Health (n.d.) Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke