SPECIAL HEALTH REPORT

You Can Get A

GoodNight’s Sleep

Naturally

Contrary to popular opinion, a good night’s sleep is not a luxury. Seven to eight hours of sleep a night are an essential for optimal health. Chronically inadequate sleep puts you at increased risk for such major degenerative illnesses as heart disease, cancer and diabetes1-8… as well as obesity, emotional and psychological problems.

Sadly, a propensity for workaholism along with the multiple stressors of daily life has resulted in serious sleep issues for many of us. A staggering 30% of Americans now suffer from chronic insomnia,9 while about 60 million of us experience problems falling asleep.10

Prescriptions for pharmaceutical sleep aids are at an all-time high. And such drugs can lead to dependence as well as adverse side effects. So, what’s a body to do? Well, there are a number of natural solutions you can consider.

Melatonin: natural hormoneMelatonin is the hormone that regulates your body’s biological clock. Most of it is produced in your pineal gland. But normal aging can result in the calcification of pineal tissue, causing a decline in melatonin synthesis. And that can lead to the kind of sleep disturbance where you wake up more frequently and for longer periods at night.

You Can Get A Good Night’s

Sleep Naturally

Life Extension Foundation®

For more than 32 years, the Life Extension Foundation has sought to help people like you live healthier longer. To that end, we’ve spent over $100 million on innovative anti-aging research, and made it our business to provide our members with products, services, and information to help them make better health decisions.

Based on the research we fund and the information we report, we’ve formulated some 350 different premium-quality, science-based nutritional supplements to help you achieve and maintain optimal health … and assembled an integrative team of Health Advisors to help you in customizing personal regimens of diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements.

With our help you can feel younger, stay healthier, and live longer. So call a Life Extension® Health Advisor at 1-800-226-2370 to get started today.

A number of studies show that melatonin deficiency may well be an underlying cause of insomnia in older people. When melatonin is administered to humans in clinical trials, it induces sleep sooner and produces better sleep patterns compared to a placebo.11-14

Unlike Canada, Europe and Japan, where melatonin is regulated as a drug, citizens of the United States can buy melatonin inexpensively as a supplement. The problem is figuring out just how much to take.

Recommended dosages of mela-tonin range from 300 mcg to 6 mg, depending on your individual needs. Most people use 3 mg at night to induce better sleep … while others find they sleep better using just 300 mcg (1/10 that amount) to induce drowsiness and provide better quality sleep.

Bioactive milk peptides: natural sedativeFor generations, mothers have given their children a warm glass of milk before bedtime to help them fall asleep. But it wasn’t until 12 years ago that researchers understood why.15 It turns out that the bioactive peptides (chains of amino acids) in cow’s milk have a sedative effect on the brain and induce sustained sleep patterns.

Bioactive milk peptides act on the brain’s GABA-A receptors,16 the same mechanism of action that makes benzodiazepine sedatives (like valium) so effective.17 But milk peptides induce relaxation and sleep without the side effects associated with long-term benzodiazepine drug use.

In human studies, a proprietary bioactive milk peptide compound

used widely in Europe was shown to effectively induce relaxation, leading to deeper, more restorative sleep while substantially improving a wide range of stress markers including elevated cortisol, heart rate, blood pressure, and psychological symptoms.

Recent studies validate milk peptides’ capacity to restore more restful sleep patterns while enhancing daytime performance and cognition. For example, in a placebo-controlled study of 165 healthy adults with a history of insomnia, participants took 150 mg of milk peptides or a placebo every day for a month. Changes in their ability to relax and fall asleep were evaluated using diagnostic tools that measure 27 individual indicators of sleep disorders and insomnia-related problems.18 The proprietary milk

peptide yielded positive outcomes in nearly all indicators measured, for both men and women.18 Sleep quality, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction all improved.

These results were confirmed by yet another clinical analysis where thirty-two healthy men and women suffering from insomnia during the preceding six months took a 150 mg capsule of patented milk bioactive peptide or a placebo one hour before bedtime for a month.19 After two weeks, the bioactive milk peptide group experienced a 50% improvement in sleep quality. At four weeks, they needed 30% less time to fall asleep and experienced improvements in daytime alertness and function.19

Tryptophan & Theanine: natural amino acidsSerotonin is a compound in the brain that promotes feelings of personal security, relaxation, and confidence. A serotonin deficiency can result in sleep disturbance … as well as anxiety, depression, and a propensity to overeat.

But serotonin levels decline as we age.20-22 So serotonin deficiency is at least partially responsible for all those depressed, sleep-deprived, overweight people you see walking around. If you happen to be one of them, here’s what you need to know.

TryptophanThe amino acid tryptophan is neces-sary to produce serotonin in your brain.23 In fact, tryptophan is a precur-sor to both serotonin and melatonin.

Now, the amount of tryptophan you get from your daily diet may be enough to meet your basic metabolic requirements … but it probably fails to provide optimal brain serotonin levels. So it’s not surprising that in human clinical studies it’s been shown that low levels of tryptophan contribute to insomnia24 … and supplementation with tryptophan helps to normalize sleep patterns.25-27

In fact, tryptophan has been researched for sleep disorders for the last 30 years. Improvement of sleep normalcy has been noted28 at doses as low as 1,000 mg.29 And supplementing with tryptophan doesn’t cloud your thinking or make it difficult to wake up in the morning.

By restoring serotonin to an optimal level, you can regain the neurotransmitter balance you enjoyed in your youth and experience significant improvement with age-related sleep difficulties.

Theanine Theanine is a unique component of green tea that’s only recently been significantly researched. We now know that theanine crosses the blood-brain barrier to positively impact levels of amino acids that affect serotonin and other neurotransmitters.30

Theanine’s effect on the brain can be clearly seen on an EEG where brain waves are actually smoothed (not flattened) out.31 The body relaxes without getting drowsy.30 Maybe that’s why this nutrient is so highly prized as a mood enhancer

in Japan,32 where it’s used to relax and rejuvenate, restore mood and motivation.

By calming and centering you, theanine promotes exactly the kind of relaxation prescribed by sleep therapists. And studies show that this kind of pre-sleep relaxation is highly effective against even tough cases of insomnia!33-35

Not surprisingly, people suffering from insomnia are often advised to take both tryptophan and theanine, which seem to work in a highly complementary fashion.

Additional Resources for Your Review:

Natural Strategies for Managing Insomnia, Life Extension Magazine®, December 2006

What is the Proper Dose of Melatonin, Life Extension Magazine®, May 2001

Widely Used in Europe ... Natural Sedative Restores Youthful Sleep, Life Extension Magazine®, April 2011

Why Aging People Become Depressed, Fatigued, and Overweight, Life Extension Magazine®, April 2008

Theanine, Life Extension Magazine®, January 2006

Online Magazine Articles

References:1. Occup Med (Lond). 2010 Jan;60(1):10-20.2. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2005 Mar-Apr;27(2):100-12.3. Arch Environ Occup Health. 2009 Fall;64(3):194-201.4. Obes Rev. 2009 Nov;10 Suppl 2:37-45.5. BMC Public Health. 2007 Jun 28;7:129.6. J Clin Sleep Med. 2007 Dec 15;3(7):681-8.7. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Feb 18;43(4):678-83.8. Am J Hypertens. 2010 Dec;23(12):1286-91.9. J Clin Sleep Med. 2007 Aug 15;3(5 Suppl):S7-10.10. Available at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/

story.php?storyId=90638364. Accessed August 6th, 2012.

11. Lancet. 1995 Aug 26;346(8974):541-4.12. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 1997 Oct 3;109(18):714-21.13. Biol Signals Recept. 1999 Jan-Apr;8(1-2):84-9.14. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2000 Feb;263(3):116-8.15. J Dairy Sci. 2000 Jun;83(6):1187-95.16. Ther Umsch. 2009 Jun;66(6):425-31.

So take the next step.

Call a Life Extension Health Advisor now at 1-800-226-2370 toll-free and see what natural solutions you should consider to facilitate healthier sleep.

www.LifeExtension.com

17. FASEB J. 2001 Aug 15;15(10):1780-82.18. So Ken Study: Effect of Lactium® on sleep

disorders. October, 2006. Available at http://www.lactiumusa.com/pdf/restudy/effica-cy-of-lactium-on-sleep.pdf

19. The Open Sleep Journal. 2009;2:26-32.20. Mol Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;10(12):1133-9.21. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004 Dec;29(12)

2258-65.22. Neuropsychopharmacology. 1998 Jun;18(6):407-30.23. Science. 1971 Jul 9;173(992):149-52.24. Psychiatry Res. 2002 Mar 15;109(2):129-35.25. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1987 Nov;20(6):242-4.26. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1983;80(2):138-42.27. Int Pharmacopsychiatry. 1981;16(3):162-73.28. Eur Neurol. 1986;25 Suppl 2:75-81.29. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1979 Aug;167(8):497-9.30. Neurochem Res. 1998 May;23(5):667-73.31. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2000 Feb;64(2):287-93.

32. US Patent Application 20040171624; Japanese Patent Application 2001-253740.

33. Br J Med Psychol. 1982 Jun;55(Pt 2):159-66.34. J Gerontol. 1991 Jan;46(1):1-8.35. Biofeedback Self Regul. 1980 Mar;5(1):57-73.