Natural Sleep Aids

In the last few decades the large pharmaceutical companies have made a concerted effort to get as many people as possible using prescription medicines. Often our doctors are willing accomplices in the business strategy of these drug companies. Of course the more people that are dependant on these medications the more money the drug companies and the doctors make. This effort has paid off in billions of dollars in pharmaceutical sales each year. Nearly half of all Americans are currently using at least one prescription medication. Many of these medications are very helpful and often absolutely necessary, but I think there is little questioning that there is a vast amount of medication that is being overprescribed by the medical community. Nearly half of all Americans report having insomnia at some time of their lives. The causes of these sleep problems can be varied, but much of our insomnia can probably be attributed to the many stresses in our modern society. There is no doubt that in decades past life was certainly simpler. With both parents having to work these days to make financial ends meet the pressures in life can seem overwhelming. One of the first things that seem to be affected by this pressure is our sleeping patterns. We just don’t seem able to turn our brains off at bedtime. With this convergence of pharmaceutical drugs and the virtual epidemic of sleep related problems it is not very surprising that so many people are now using pharmaceutical drugs to get to sleep each night. Medications such as Ambien, Unisom and Lunesta can come with many side effects. These drugs can also be both physically and psychologically addicting. Meaning that when you try to discontinue your usage of these medicines you can experience severe withdrawal like symptoms. I don’t know about you, but I do not like the idea of going through drug withdrawal just because I have a hard time sleeping. There are many natural herbs, amino acids and minerals that have a strong sedative action. Why is it that doctors don’t first recommend these natural sleep aids to their patients? The answer is simple; there is no money in natural sleep aids for them. They get no kickbacks from the drug companies. It is easier and more lucrative for the doctors to just get out their tablet and write another prescription. Let me make it clear, there are many natural sleep aids on the market these days that are every bit as effective as pharmaceutical drugs. And these products do not come with side effects and are not addictive. You will not have withdrawals when you decide to stop using a natural sleep aid. I believe strongly that the best natural sleep aids to use are combination products. What I mean by this is that they have a nice synergistic formula containing herbal extracts, amino acids, and minerals. I have found through experience when certain natural nutrients are combined in the proper ratios they become more effective than if each nutrient is used alone.