Having trouble falling asleep? Just grab a bowl of cherries! Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body's internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers  recommend eating them an hour before bedtime.

The Importance of A Power Nap

Written by Elizabeth Scott, M.S.  

While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, even in those who get enough sleep (but particularly in those who don't), many people experience a natural increase in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a 'power nap', means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health. Here's what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you!

The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep--more than 9 hours--can actuallybe harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than 9 hours per day don't live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)

Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a 'sleep deficit', which impairs the following:

• Reaction time
• Judgment
• Vision
• Information processing
• Short-term memory
• Performance
• Motivation
• Vigilance
• Patience

Fatigued people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout and more stress.

Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people's bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up...

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Sleep More and Eat Less.

(Reuters Health) - People who are trying to stay trim may want to make sure they get plenty of sleep.

In a study, researchers found that normal-weight young men ate a Big Mac's-worth of extra calories when they'd gotten four hours of sleep the night before compared to when they slept for eight hours.

Given the findings, and the fact that people have been sleeping less and getting fatter over the past few decades, "sleep restriction could be one of the environmental factors that contribute to the obesity epidemic," they write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A number of studies have linked shorter sleep duration with higher body mass index (BMI) -- a measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge whether someone is overweight or obese. But no experimental studies to date have actually looked at what happens to a normal-weight person's eating patterns when he or she sleeps less...

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• 2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari sauce 
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1/2  tablespoon agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 3 cups shredded napa (Chinese) cabbage
• 3 cups gourmet salad greens
• 1 cup diagonally cut snow peas
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 3/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds yellowfin tuna steaks (about 1 inch thick)