In a very old undated medical book of mile, William Whitla M.D., `Professor of Therapeutics in Queen’s College, Belfast’ gives this obviously Irish remedy:

Of the drugs used to counteract sleeplessness, there is not, on the whole, one so generally valuable as Alcohol in most mild cases. The various wines are inferior to whisky, and brandy does not produce as good results as whisky. Strong ale is highly hypnotic, and so is porter or stout. Alcohol acts more certainly if given warm, but not hot. One wine-glassful of good whisky, made into warm punch, and swallowed as a draught—not sipped’ in spoonfuls—is a most invaluable soporific.

It should be noted that alcohol can also act as a stimulant and keep you awake or wake you up in the wee small hours.

Two herbs that are very effective calm-me-downs are passionfruit flowers and valerian root. They are most effective as teas. (The tablets and tinctures of valerian do not seem to be as effective as a tea made from the dried roots. The parts of valerian that help sleep are volatile and unstable and are sometimes wholly or partly lost in manufacture or processing. Alcoholic tinctures are okay if they are freshly made.)

Herbal BeautyTake a cup of valerian and/or passionflower tea half an hour before bed. It is important to get reasonably fresh tea or store it in a well sealed jar. Valerian smells awful to many people, but fortunately it does not taste as bad as it smells. (The old chemists used to remove the smell from their hands by rubbing with sodium bicarbonate.)

Camomile tea is also a good calming herb, though not as strong as valerian. Camomile can be used with safety by very young children. Hop flowers are also very calming. They can be made into a tea, drunk as beer or just stuffed into a large pillow or left in a bowl in the bedroom.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a gentle, relaxing herb. It is traditionally given to children boiled with sugar to make a syrup.

A few drops of lavender oil in the bath is relaxing.

Another simple remedy is to take a large dessertspoonful of honey, a pinch of cinnamon and a cup of warm milk. This works well with those people who eat early and then stay up late without eating in between.”

Tryptophan is a calming amino acid found in most plants. Evening primrose seeds have the highest amount of tryptophan, according to James Duke,94 but the seeds need to be ground or they pass through the digestive system whole.

Do avoid substances that keep you awake. These include coffee, green or black (camellia) tea, Yerba mate, chocolate, cocoa, cola drinks and ginseng if taken with drinks containing caffeine. Some people find they can’t drink these closer than 12 hours before bedtime! Avoid taking vitamin tablets at night, especially strong multi-B tablets, as these can keep some people awake.

Sometimes, drugs such as cortisone can disturb sleep patterns. If all else fails, discuss your problems with a naturopath as there are other herbs, diet and lifestyle factors that may help.

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