Anthony Williams' tips for treatment of sleep problems and why bad dreams are good

After we identified sleep problems and described their causes in the previous article “Anthony William on Insomnia and Sleep Problems in Thyroid Diseases,” we now have to decide what actions to take. How do we turn the knowledge of what is behind insomnia into answers on how to maintain deep and fruitful sleep? Food, of course, is of fundamental importance. The foods from the book “The Most Useful Foods” can change everything in terms of sleep. That is why in this article we will look at a list of the best of them to include in your life ( along with the nutritional supplements that enhance them ). But first, let’s pay attention to the specifics of treating these sleep problems.

If you are suffering from a viral infection, heavy metal toxicity , MSG toxicity, or other toxic overload, then you should make detoxification your first priority. Increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and wild foods in your diet will automatically put your body into a detoxification process. If your sleep problems are serious and you want to take your cleansing to the next level, then you will find support in Anthony William’s 90-Day Thyroid Rehab ( read more about this in the two-part article: “The Medium’s 90-Day Thyroid Therapy” ). If the virus you are fighting is EBV , we have already shared information in so many articles about how to tame the virus – which will translate into better sleep.

For specific conditions, such as a congested liver , adrenal fatigue, and digestive issues, the best approach is to look at the foods in the article “Powerful Healing Foods for the Thyroid” and in Anthony William’s book “The Most Beneficial Foods” that target these conditions. For example, for a congested liver , lemon water in the morning is a powerful technique that helps the organ rid itself of accumulated substances. When you do this regularly, the liver has less work to do at night, which means it’s less likely to go into spasm and wake you up. Additionally, the liver becomes sluggish in the first place due to factors such as excessive viral load, excess fat in the diet, and heavy metal overload – all of which lead to an inability to absorb and convert nutrients – so reducing fat in the diet, flushing the liver with lemon water in the morning, and nourishing the liver with fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and wild foods will help it recover.

Frequent meals ( i.e., every hour and a half to two hours ) are key to adrenal fatigue. You don’t want to limit yourself to just two or three meals a day, because your adrenal glands eventually have to pump adrenaline into your body when your blood sugar drops. When they’re stressed like this, your adrenals are more likely to be over- or underactive at night. You’ll also want to limit foods high in adrenaline in your diet to give yourself the best chance of keeping your glands in balance so you can get a good night’s sleep. If you want more help with adrenal fatigue, Anthony William has a whole chapter dedicated to this condition in his revised and expanded edition of The Medium Healer .

For digestive issues, check out Anthony William’s book “The Most Beneficial Foods” and make surface biotics a priority. These microscopic, life-giving organisms cover the above-ground surfaces ( leaves and skin ) of raw, unwashed ( or lightly rinsed ) organic produce. The probiotic film of surface biotics can be of great importance for digestion and replace some of the soil depletion that we discussed in the article "Anthony William Reveals the Truth About Zinc" . Unlike factory-produced probiotics and soil organisms, surface biotics are able to survive the digestive process and reach the ileum - the last section of the small intestine, where vitamin B12 is formed, which is crucial for the functioning of your body. This does not mean that you have to start eating only raw foods. It is enough to supplement your current diet with fresh, raw, organic products. Choose a variety and use your instincts about what products you eat without washing them. If you have a wax-coated industrially grown apple from the grocery store, it is better to clean it before eating it. It is not a good source of surface biotics anyway, because the wax and pesticides used in the growing process have already disrupted the natural film of beneficial microorganisms. On the other hand, if you have a piece of chemical-free, pollutant-free produce that you want to eat and that has visible dirt on it, it is usually a good idea to rinse it lightly with clean water - the surface biotic film should remain intact (after all, microorganisms survive rain). Sprouts that you grow on your kitchen counter are an easy, surface biotic-rich source that you can add to your salads or add to smoothies. In the best case scenario, turn to your own organic garden ( if you have one ) or a local organic farmer that you trust. You will find more resources for healing the digestive system in the revised and expanded edition of the book "The Healer Medium" .

If you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, all of the foods we'll list in a moment help reduce mucus, inflammation, and histamine production. And with neurological sleep apnea, these foods also support neurotransmitters with their higher levels of easily digestible and assimilable amino acids.

In the case of anxiety, the best first step you can take is to add some truly calming foods to your daily routine. Herbal tea with raw honey , baked sweet potato with avocado—these life-changing foods can offer you some emotional relief while you work on what’s causing your anxiety. If nightmares are behind your sleep problems, check out the last part of the article for an explanation of why bad dreams are actually a good sign.

If the cause of your anxiety is harder to pinpoint, know that it’s not your fault. Too many people with anxiety are forced to feel like a nuisance who should just put up with it and look on the bright side. The truth is, anxiety is very real, and its causes range from viral infections to trauma to electrolyte deficiencies. In addition to the foods on this list, focus on these foods that are listed as helpful for anxiety relief in the book “The Most Helpful Foods.”

For neurological sleep issues in general, the foods here apply for the same reasons we just listed—they cleanse toxins, address nutrient deficiencies, and calm the brain and body. They also provide antioxidants and the critical glucose and mineral salts needed for the efficient production of neurotransmitter chemicals and to fuel the brain in the best possible way so you can finally fall asleep.

Foods for sleep problems

The following foods are good for all the conditions we’ve mentioned so far in the article and enhance the effects of sleep-promoting supplements. In addition to the list below, try to incorporate berries , dates , lemons , limes , potatoes , radishes , turmeric , ginger , coconut water , sprouts , lemon balm , cat’s claw , raw honey , artichokes , avocados , and grapes into your daily diet.

You’ll notice that many of these foods overlap with those in the article “Powerful Thyroid Healing Foods.” That’s the magic of these life-changing foods—they’re multifunctional and adapt to your individual needs at any given moment. It also means you don’t have to worry about not being able to eat the foods on this list during the day for fear that they’ll make you sleepy. No matter what time of day you eat these foods, they’ll adapt to what’s right for you at that moment.

• Mango: Very high in bioavailable magnesium. Eat one before bed to help you fall asleep. When you take L-glutamine supplements, mango increases its absorption, which reduces the toxicity of MSG by neutralizing it.
• Bananas: High in tryptophan and fructose to calm neurotransmitters. When combined with 5-HT , bananas activate the supplement, allowing for higher bioavailability and faster absorption.
• Cherries: A great source of melatonin , a food-based hormone that supports neurotransmitters and glial cells. When you eat cherries while taking supplemental melatonin , the cherries increase the potency of the supplement, making it more readily absorbed by the brain and body and enhancing its healing effects during sleep.
• Asparagus: In addition to helping reduce mucus production and soothe inflammation, asparagus has a calming, sedative effect as it clears out hostile elements like free radicals and positively charged chemicals that disrupt homeostasis (balance) in the body’s systems. When combined with GABA and Magnesium L-Threonate, asparagus engages the supplements in a way that makes them more effective.
• Spinach: High in calcium, it is an alkaline food that is helpful in reducing acidosis. Spinach also contains mineral salts that nourish neurotransmitters and increase the absorption of the dietary supplement glycine, which helps enhance the effectiveness of neurotransmitters.
• Celery : High in mineral salts that (1) carry electrical impulses through the brain and (2) are the building blocks for neurotransmitters. Celery can actually enhance the ability of supplemental GABA , glycine, and magnesium L-threonate to be absorbed by the brain and help neurotransmitters work to support sleep.
• Lettuce: The "milk" in the heart of lettuce leaves soothes the nerves and has an overall calming, sedative effect. Combined with passionflower, lettuce enhances the calming neurological effect of this herbal supplement.
• Pomegranate: These little gems are linked to unwanted acids in the body, including the buildup of lactic acid, which can lead to leg and other muscle cramps during sleep. Pomegranates are also particularly anti-mucosal and anti-inflammatory. When consumed with magnesium glycinate , pomegranates enhance the muscle-relaxing effects of the supplement to a higher level.
• Licorice Root : This herb helps to quickly support and rejuvenate the adrenal glands. Licorice root ignites the chemical compounds of the supplement magnesium glycinate , which calms the adrenal glands so that the licorice can bring them back to vitality more quickly.
• Wild blueberries : They are great for drawing MSG and heavy metals out of the brain and then flushing them out of your body. Wild blueberries are the best adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant-rich food you can eat. They enhance any nutrient, supplement, amino acid, or other – so that your body can use them to their best advantage.
• Garlic: An extremely beneficial anti-inflammatory for the mucous membranes and bronchi. When taken over a long period of time, garlic can ease breathing and promote restful sleep. Additionally, when you take magnesium glycinate , the trace amounts of bioavailable magnesium in garlic engage the supplement so you can experience even better breathing and more restful sleep.
• Coriander: binds to toxic heavy metals and monosodium glutamate (MSG) and flushes them out of your body. When you take supplemental L-glutamine with coriander, it speeds up the removal of MSG and becomes a cofactor in heavy metal detoxification.
• Sweet potatoes: provide a critical form of glucose that stimulates the production of neurotransmitters such as glycine, dopamine, GABA , and serotonin, which aid in the ability to fall asleep. When you take supplemental melatonin at the same time as eating sweet potatoes, the nutrients in sweet potatoes bind to melatonin and help it travel more easily to the brain. Sweet potatoes and supplemental melatonin also have powerful antioxidant properties, helping to stop the oxidation of toxic heavy metals in the brain.

The Sacred Window for Sleep

You probably won't solve your sleep problem overnight. It will take time for your body to detox, heal, and repair itself, so in the meantime, remind yourself of the laws of sleep: that your source of restful sleep will be waiting for you no matter what, and that you deserve to take the time to get a good night's sleep. You can also help yourself cope with the sleepless nights that lie ahead by focusing on one simple truth about how sleep works. This is important to know even if you've never had sleep problems, because it's the key to the best sleep.

First, it’s important to understand that you are healing even when you’re not sleeping. Some sources will tell you that your body only truly heals during deep sleep. Don’t despair. If you lie down with your eyes closed between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., even though you’re awake, your body is still healing. In fact, even though you’re conscious, part of your brain is asleep. The part of your brain that’s awake may be nagging you with messages that you’re falling behind from lack of sleep. You may still be tired when it’s time to get up. Rest assured, though, that the part of your brain that’s sleeping is allowing your body to recover. Let any anxiety slip away by letting your mind relax with the thought that you’re still reaping some of the benefits of sleep.

The period from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM is a sacred window. This is the time at night when your body does most of its healing work. If you are able to sleep during this period, your body is recovering at an accelerated rate. Even if you can only sleep for 10 minutes, those 10 minutes will be healing. The recovery that your body does during this time will give you the strength to continue on your path to healing.

The ideal amount of sleep you need per night is different for everyone. Some people can handle five or six hours, while others can handle eight or nine. There's no one golden number that works for everyone, but a minimum of four and a half hours will help you feel better. What matters to all of us is when we go to sleep. If you go to sleep at 10 p.m. and wake up at 5 a.m., you're likely to feel more rested than if you go to sleep at 1 a.m. and get eight or nine hours of sleep. It all depends on your sleep window.

Keep in mind that napping is a useful tool and shouldn’t be dismissed as a childish habit. We all have days when we need a little sleep during the day, whether it’s because we’ve been working the night shift, dealing with a deadline, or simply didn’t get enough sleep the night before. For the most beneficial healing, try to lie down with your eyes closed sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This range is the daytime equivalent of the nighttime sacred healing window. If you use it to your advantage, you’ll feel a positive difference.

Spiritual support for good sleep

The Angel of Sleep is always there for you if you need it. Whenever you are seeking guidance or comfort, call out his name and ask for his help. He will help you on your way to a better night's sleep, whether it is hindered by a health problem or emotional turmoil. On those nights when an unresolved issue is preventing you from sleeping, speak to the Angel of Sleep . Tell him that you are struggling with a problem that you cannot overcome right now because it will interfere with your rest. He will help you put out the emotional fire so that you can have peace of mind and help you access the source of your sleep. More effective than any sleeping pill, the Angel of Sleep will watch over you as you journey to dreamland.

Why bad dreams are good

Dreams are the greatest mystery. They cannot be weighed or measured. What do dreams tell us, we ask ourselves since childhood. What do they mean?

We mostly ask ourselves about bad dreams. What's behind the nightmares, the anger dreams, the frustration dreams, the stress dreams, the sweat dreams, the night-waking dreams? How can we make them go away? Are they punishment? Can't we instead dream blissful dreams of tropical island vacations?

Once you understand what's behind those bad dreams, you won't want them to go away. "Bad" dreams are the soul's way of healing. When we're awake, we shouldn't be tearing down the walls of our emotional wounds. When we're hurt, the physical component in the brain puts up a barrier to prevent us from constantly processing and rehashing the pain so that we can be productive and move forward during our waking hours. These are not walls of denial, but walls of divine protection. While some conscious processing is healthy and necessary, it's not meant to haunt us.

The time to process this pain is in our sleep. When we are not conscious, the emotional walls come down so that the soul can do its cleaning and repairing work. This means that all kinds of difficult emotions are stirred up and worked through through our dreams. If this were not the case, disappointment, anger, fear, betrayal, guilt, and humiliation would build up and build up within us until they overwhelm the strength of the walls that hold them in place and take over our waking lives. Instead, our dreams release them. This nightly cleaning—assisted by the Angel of Sleep, the Angel of Dreams, and the Unknown Angels —helps us to face what is happening in our lives without being marked by it.

Sometimes dreams have a lasting effect. A dream can haunt you for an entire day or even longer—even years. These dreams can be confusing. We often dream of family and other loved ones in extremely emotional dreams. Even if our waking relationships are going well, the dream can bring up feelings of fear or anxiety. Or if we’ve had a relationship that ended badly or was left unfinished, the dream can bring up old memories, making us wonder what went wrong years ago to cause it all. We may wake up from the dream feeling like we did something wrong, that we weren’t heard or understood properly. As we struggle to make sense of it all, we can feel empty.

All of this is healthy. We’ve heard people say that a bad dream made them pick up the phone and call a family member or friend they hadn’t spoken to in years, which began a great healing process. Any feeling of emptiness is because toxic wounds and emotions have left us (or are beginning to leave us) in our sleep, reducing the stored pain. Even though we think otherwise, bad dreams rejuvenate us. They remind us that there are people, places, and things in our lives that may need some attention so we can move forward. Bad dreams don’t close doors, they open them. They create new beginnings. Even if you don’t realize what that new beginning is, it’s happening. Far down the road, you may have the perspective to see what opportunity the bad dream has led to in your life.

We wish each other "sweet dreams," but we should actually wish each other "healing dreams." In order to progress in the soul, repair the heart, and free ourselves from harmful emotions, you don't want every dream to be perfect, peaceful, and colorful. You don't want your dream life to be like a wonderland. It's better to have some difficulties in your dreams because you want good things to happen when you're awake. If our dream life were like a fairy tale, the only thing we'd want to do would be sleep.

There are many mean people around us. They always have been. These cold-blooded people can go through life without a single nightmare. This is an indication of how disconnected they are from processing negative experiences like pain and suffering. Because they don't deal with their pain while they sleep, they hold onto it in their waking lives and want to inflict it on others.

On the other side, you have the most compassionate, generous, and loving person who can't go a night without having a bad dream. Believe it or not, this is a healthier process. Because this person is so empathetic, they witness the struggles of others. They experience the full spectrum of human suffering, and so when they fall asleep at night, their brain has to protect them from being haunted by it in their waking life. They can dream of schoolyard bullies, natural disasters, and war zones, and all of this is to their advantage. Instead of waking up bitter that another fantastic dream is over and they now have to face the harsh world, they wake up relieved that they have put those bad dreams behind them and are ready to continue being so compassionate in their life.

Having good dreams doesn't make you a bad person. Of course not. It's all about balance. In addition to those memorable "bad" dreams, we are also prone to having beautiful dreams. Sometimes angels give us dreams filled with divine delight and hope. Sometimes our dreams are premonitions or messages or creative inspiration. Some nights we have bad dreams in which we process emotions but are spared and don't remember what happened in the morning. Other times we visit a deceased loved one in our dreams.

Welcome your bad dreams, they challenge you – they do you a great favor while your body repairs itself during sleep. They are not a punishment or a judgment. They help you become your best self.

The article uses materials from Anthony William's book "Healing the Thyroid Gland" . More articles on the topic are coming soon to our blog!

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