Healing My Thyroid Part 6: Sleep

peggyhazelwood (46)in #health • 6 years ago

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Sleep

In the book Medical Medium Thyroid Healing by Anthony William he talks about Spirit, who guides him to diagnose people's illnesses and what they can do to get better. (That link is my Amazon affiliate link.)

In addition to foods to eat, he talks about sleep and the issues people have with it who have a weakened immune system. Some of his ideas are unconventional, but what do I know? I'm trying some of them to see if they help fix my hypothyroidism.

Sleep and Its Importance

William talks about how important getting adequate sleep is. This makes sense and is something I wholeheartedly believe and embrace.

He talks about how the Epstein-Barr virus (often an underlying cause of thyroid issues) causes disruptions in sleep. The little signals get messed up (my words, not his) causing our bodies to not know when it's time to sleep. This leads to insomnia.

The liver is evidently involved in all of this and eating right and sleeping enough to heal. But seriously, as I read this information in the book, it makes sense. I just don't have the scientific background to explain it well.

Getting Enough Sleep

William talks about the steps to take to begin sleeping better and getting good sleep.

First, we must accept that sleep is our right. Even if we've been "bad sleepers" we can begin to sleep well and enough.

Second, he says that with each breath we are given two seconds of sleep to use when we want. This is a "sleep wellspring." The nights of insomnia we have don't "rob" us of sleep, but those hours of sleep are in our wellspring to use later. Any time we want.

Third, we must give ourselves permission to use the wellspring of sleep that we have. Sleep isn't a luxury. We should sleep as much as we need and not feel guilty about it.

And finally William provides an extensive list of common sleep issues. It's probably better to read it yourself, but in summary a few ideas include sleeping 8 hours but waking up tired can be an issue as well as never falling into a good, restful sleep. He says to acknowledge the problem then move forward.

The "Unforgiving Four"

William states in his book that there are four main issues surrounding poor sleep:

radiation from computers, TVs, phones, tablets
toxic heavy metals from our food, water, and air
viruses, including Epstein-Barr, shingles, HHV-6, and more
DDT, a pesticide in many foods that causes inflammation

Other sleep-related problems include digestive problems, emotional issues, sleep apnea, anxiety, adrenal fatigue, and PTSD.

MSG can also play a role in poor sleep but can be remedied with detoxification.

Sleep and Healing this Problem

William recommends detoxification for dealing with poor sleep. Detoxing can help sleep problems by ridding the body of MSG, heavy metals, and other substances that don't belong in our bodies.

The foods recommended for detoxing in Thyroid Healing include drinking lemon water to detox the liver.

For adrenal fatigue, he says to graze, that is, eat every couple of hours so your adrenal glands don't work as hard.

For digestive issues, he says eating lots of organic foods/plants that grow above ground (raw and unwashed or lightly washed). The biotics help with digestion. Sprouts are also good sources of nutrients for digestion.

Foods to Eat for Good Sleep

Foods he recommends for issues like sleep apnea and to get good, restful sleep in general follow:

Fruits: mangoes, bananas, cherries, pomegranates, wild blueberries
Vegetables: asparagus, spinach, celery, lettuce, garlic, cilantro, sweet potatoes
Herbs: licorice root

Healing Even Though Not Asleep

William says to lie down even though you can't sleep and your body will heal. The range is from 10 pm and 2 am when your body does most of is healing.

So, I find all of this fascinating and certainly a new look on sleep and how to get quality sleep. Will you incorporate any of these practices in your routine to get better sleep?