Photo credit: iStock
Aired November 12, 2019
Most of us can agree that turning your brain off and getting yourself to sleep is one of the hardest things to do. In fact, it's one of the biggest complaints the "Sleep Doctor," Dr. Michael Breus, gets.
And not getting enough sleep could actually be a pretty serious problem.
"We don't want sleep to have a major effect on things like your memory later on," the "Sleep Doctor" says. "There's this thing in your brain called the lymphatic system. Believe it or not, that's just a waste removal system. It pulls out any old information — old proteins that are in the way — to allow for better sleep."
"There's now data to suggest that if that doesn't occur, that can lead to Alzheimer's, so we really want to make sure you're getting good sleep," he continues.
For starters, Dr. Breus stresses that you should be dedicating one hour before bed to the following:
- Wrap up final tasks
- Personal hygiene ritual
- Relax
We know what you're thinking — the relaxing part is what you have trouble with. So, what can you do? "One of the things we want to do is have an all-natural thing that you could do to help you fall asleep fairly quickly and settle you down," Dr. Breus says.
For him, that means banana tea! ("To be fair, it's not really tea," the doc says, "it's just boiling a banana.")
Here's how to make banana tea:
- Cut a washed banana in half and place it (peel on) into a cup of boiling water. "The peel has three times the magnesium as the fruit itself," Dr. Breus says.
- After three to five minutes, the water will be "loaded" with magnesium, which helps calm you down.
RELATED: Healthy Banana Bread Recipe
