In a person's life, 1/3 of the time is spent sleeping. Sleep is such an important thing, but many people can't enjoy it well. According to survey data, more than 300 million adults in my country have sleep disorders. According to the "China Sleep Research Report 2023", the insomnia rate among young people in my country is as high as 82.3%, and the middle-aged group is as high as 84.3%. Nowadays, insomnia is gradually becoming younger, and "sleeping well" has become a luxury for many young and middle-aged people. Many people don't sleep well, and taking melatonin and sleeping pills either has no effect or becomes dependent. Today I recommend 1 natural "sedative fruit" and 1 bowl of "sleep soup" to everyone.
Insomnia and poor sleep will not only affect daily life, but long-term sleep disorders will also change the body's self-regulation ability. Adults who don't sleep well are prone to aging, haggard faces, loose skin, hair loss, trance, memory loss, and irritability; children who don't sleep well will affect their growth and development and learning efficiency.
If you have insomnia and poor sleep, you should pay attention to it. So what does it mean to sleep well? You can refer to the following criteria:
It takes a short time to fall asleep. You can fall asleep within 30 minutes after lying down.
You sleep deeply and soundly. It is not easy to wake up during sleep, and there are no startling dreams or nightmares.
You fall asleep quickly after waking up. You can fall asleep again within 20 minutes after waking up in the middle of the night.
You wake up early and have a good mental state. After getting up, you feel light, clear-headed, sharp-minded during the day, efficient in doing things, and not easily sleepy.
If one of the items is not met, it can be considered that you did not sleep well.
The Huangdi Neijing records: "The blood and qi are weak, the muscles are not smooth, and the way of nourishing and defending is astringent, so we cannot be refined during the day and cannot sleep at night."
In daily life, there are many reasons why we can't sleep well, such as qi and blood deficiency, emotional disorders, spleen and stomach disharmony, etc., which are closely related to the imbalance of the five internal organs, especially the heart and liver. Traditional medicine believes that the heart is the master of the spirit and the liver stores the soul. People's sleep is closely related to the heart and liver.
The heart stores the spirit and the blood nourishes the heart. If the heart is not nourished, and the yin deficiency generates internal heat, it will lead to restlessness, insomnia, palpitations and unrest. The liver stores blood, and the blood stores the soul. When people lie down, the blood returns to the liver. If the liver blood is insufficient, the soul will not stay in the house, which will also lead to insomnia, dreaminess, and easy awakening. Only when the mind is nourished and the liver soul is hidden can people fall asleep peacefully. Today, we use 1 nut and 1 bowl of soup to help us regain the "lost" sleep.
Since ancient times, Chinese jujube seeds have been a hot ingredient for doctors of all generations to regulate sleep problems. Chinese jujube seeds are praised by modern people as "Oriental Sleeping Fruit". They are flat in nature, sweet and sour in taste, and belong to the liver meridian, gallbladder meridian, and heart meridian. They have the effects of nourishing the heart and liver, calming the mind, and astringing sweat. It is sour and can enter the liver. It mainly calms the mind and helps sleep by astringing liver qi and nourishing the yin blood of the heart and liver.
There are records in many medical books about the use of Chinese jujube seeds to regulate sleep problems. For example:
The Shennong Herbal Classic states: "Tonic liver, strengthen tendons and bones, and help yin qi, all of which are the functions of sour jujube seeds."
The Famous Doctors' Records says: "(Sour jujube seeds) are mainly used to treat restlessness and insomnia... sweating, thirst, tonifying the middle, tonifying liver qi, strengthening tendons and bones, and helping yin qi."
The Golden Chamber says: "If the liver qi is not prosperous, the soul cannot be hidden, and if the soul cannot be hidden, it cannot sleep. Sour jujube seeds nourish the liver and restrain qi, so they should be used as the main ingredient."
Sour jujube seeds enter the liver meridian. The liver stores the soul, and entering the liver to replenish liver blood has the effect of astringency, so it can restrain liver qi and calm the soul stored in the liver.
Sour jujube seeds enter the heart meridian. It can nourish the heart yin and restrain the mind. When the heart yin is sufficient and the mind is guarded, people can sleep soundly and are not easily awakened.
The medical saint Zhang Zhongjing has a prescription for insomnia in the Golden Chamber - sour jujube seed soup.
"If you have insomnia due to fatigue and restlessness, use Suanzaoren Decoction. Suanzaoren (2 liters), Licorice (1 liang), Anemarrhena (2 liang), Poria (2 liang), Ligusticum chuanxiong (2 liang)".
This prescription is undoubtedly the main force that can improve insomnia, and that is Suanzaoren. Suanzaoren is used as medicine to calm the nerves, nourish the blood, calm the mind, and help sleep.
Modern medicine has also studied Suanzaoren from a scientific perspective. From the perspective of ingredients, Suanzaoren extract contains saponins A and B, which can increase the expression level of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors in brain tissue. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that has an important regulatory effect on the human nervous system. It can improve sleep, relieve anxiety, promote brain development, and nourish brain nerves. Studies have also found that Suanzaoren saponins, an important component in Suanzaoren, have a sedative and hypnotic effect on mice.
You may ask, since sour jujube seeds are so good, can they be bought directly to make tea or boil water? I am afraid the effect will not be good. To make good use of sour jujube seeds and make them work better, it is recommended to refer to the following usage.
Use with ingredients that replenish qi and blood and nourish yin
People who have poor sleep are mostly accompanied by qi and blood deficiency. If the qi and blood are sufficient, the mind can be nourished, the liver and soul can be hidden, and people can fall asleep peacefully. If the qi and blood are insufficient, it is easy to suffer from insomnia, dreaminess, and easy awakening.
For people with qi and blood deficiency, if sour jujube seeds are used alone without replenishing the body's deficient qi and blood, it is like water without a source and a tree without roots, and it is difficult to fundamentally solve the problem of insomnia.
Therefore, using sour jujube seeds with ingredients that replenish qi and blood, or nourish yin and blood, can maximize its calming and sleep-inducing effects. For example, it can be used with Codonopsis pilosula, Adenophora radix, lily, longan meat, mulberry, angelica, poria, jujube, lotus seeds, licorice, etc.
Use half raw and half cooked together to increase applicability
Ziziphus jujuba seeds can be used raw or cooked. As an important medicine for regulating insomnia, Ziziphus jujuba seeds have a long history of preparation, and the main preparation method used to this day is stir-frying. Therefore, cooked use refers to stir-fried Ziziphus jujuba seeds. There are also differences in the efficacy of raw Ziziphus jujuba seeds and stir-fried Ziziphus jujuba seeds.
Raw Ziziphus jujuba seeds tend to clear the heat of the liver and gallbladder and calm the mind, which can regulate problems such as sleepiness, sleeping too much, and not waking up from sleep; stir-fried Ziziphus jujuba seeds tend to nourish the heart and liver yin blood and calm the mind, and are often used to regulate insomnia. Therefore, there is a saying that "Ziziphus jujuba seeds used raw can cure good sleep, and cooked can cure insomnia".
If you can't tell which situation you are in, Ziziphus jujuba seeds can be used half raw and half cooked together to achieve a synergistic effect, while increasing the applicability of sleep problems.
Crush and then decoct, the effective ingredients are easier to precipitate
Sour jujube kernel is a precious Chinese medicine, the price is not cheap, you should also pay attention to identification when buying, it is recommended to buy from regular channels, too cheap is often not trustworthy.
In addition, the shell of sour jujube kernel is hard, direct decoction, the effective ingredients are not easy to precipitate. It is recommended that you grind raw and cooked before decoction to ensure that the effective ingredients are fully extracted and make the best use of it.
Recommend a sour jujube kernel diet recipe to everyone - sleep sour jujube kernel drink. It is especially suitable for people who often use their eyes, brains, and stay up late; women in menopause; people with high stress, nervous anxiety, and unstable emotions. If you have sleep problems, you can drink it for 2-3 consecutive days, and you can drink it 1-2 times a week for daily health care. It can be drunk by children over 5 years old, and the amount of ingredients is halved for children aged 5-12 years old.
Ingredients: 6g raw jujube kernel, 6g fried jujube kernel, 9g lily, 9g longan meat, 6g angelica, 6g poria, 3g tangerine peel (1 serving)
Method:
Put raw jujube kernel and fried jujube kernel into a grinder and grind into powder for later use;
Put the powder into a non-woven bag and put it into a health pot with other ingredients;
Add 800 ml of water, boil for 30 minutes after the water boils, and drink it after it cools down.
Efficacy: replenish liver blood, calm the mind, and help sleep.
