Gynostemma Tea for Heart Health And Insomnia

I was recently introduced to Gynostemma tea by a Chinese herbalist for insomnia, since drinking this tea my sleep pattern has improved remarkably. Gynostemma is known as a “magical grass.” It has been found to have a wide range of health-benefits and is used throughout Asia for heart health, cardiovascular problems, insomnia, stress reliever, detoxification and antioxidant properties. It is derived from the plant Gynostemma Pentaphyllum, which has been used traditionally in China and Japan for centuries. It grows wild in the mountainous regions of South Central China, an area renowned for the longevity of its inhabitants as well as their low rates of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Sleep Worries

For those of us who worry about how much sleep we may or not be getting, we may ask ourselves just how many hours sleep are required to function optimally? For each of us the answer is different. According to statistics most adults require anywhere between seven to nine hours sleep a night in order to function well during the day. However, there are those who claim that they feel exhausted and worn out even after a nine-hour sleep. Then there are those lucky people who lead happy healthy full lives on three to five hours sleep a night. I personally believe a lot of our sleep problems are derived from the way we live and our personal perception of how we view sleep. There is evidence also suggesting that the amount of sleep we have each night being related to our longevity.

Some of us worry about not getting enough sleep and there are those who worry about sleeping too much. I know one thing for sure, anything we do that is out of alignment with what our bodies need or don’t need we can deduce by how we feel after a nights sleep. There is no living human that does not like sleeping. Sleep is extremely good for the immune system and for the state of the body in general. The problem is too much sleep can make us sluggish and too little can produce the same result.

How much sleep we need each night?

Generally babies up to three months will sleep most of the time between feeds, this will decrease as they become more aware of their surrounding, six to twelve year old children will usually require ten and half hours to eleven hours a day/night. Teenagers around nine to ten hours a night. Adults around seven to eight hours a night.

Risks associated with sleep deprivation

If we lack good quality sleep we may be at higher risk of becoming ill, studies have shown that sleep deprivation can take a serious toll on our overall health and that a sleep debt of merely 3 or 4 hours in a week may have a direct bearing on the following:

• Obesity
• Coronary heart disease
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Immune function
• Cognitive performance
• Longevity

Gynostemma tea for Insomnia

There will be some of you who are looking for a natural way of dealing with insomnia, you may have tried all the traditional herbs such as valarian, chamomile and a number of other herbal products from your natural therapy shop, as I have also, none of these products worked for me. More recently I found gynostemma tea which actually works, I drink three cups a day and at long last I have more good nights than bad and the beauty of this tea is that it has many other health benefits.

Gynostemma Tea (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum)

Some of the health benefits of Gynostemma Tea:

• Invigorates but does not cause hyperactivity – nor is it a stimulant
• An antioxidant and has anti-aging properties
• Promotes a sense of peace and calm, it has sedative effects, relaxing spasms and may improve the quality of sleep
• Helps improved the functioning of the digestive syste
• Has anti-inflammatory properties, although it is not a medicine it helps to reduce inflammation
• Helps regulate the Immune system
• A respiratory tonic
• Helps to lower high blood sugar levels
• Helps to reduce cholesterol and high blood fat
• Helps regulating cardiovascular function including decreasing high blood pressure
• Anti-diabetic effect

Gynostemma has been shown in animal studies to have liver and cardiovascular-protecting benefits and to support normal healthy functioning in these organs.

Long term consumption of Gynostemma tea tends to have a highly protective quality because it strengthens the adaptive capacity of the person at every level of their life. The ultimate greatness of Gynostemma lies in its broad spectrum adaptogenic (stress modulating) quality. Adaptogenic herbs improve the efficiency of the neurological, metabolic, respiratory and endocrine systems.

Related posts:

1. Causes of Insomnia
2. Having Sleepless nights or Chronic Insomnia
3. Sleep Deprivation and insomnia