Lactucin, the hypnotic component of lettuce, is being tested in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of lettuce seeds.
“There is a perception that time spent sleeping is a waste of time,” but it is widely known that insufficient sleep is linked to many acute and chronic conditions and increases the risk of death and disease.
As I discuss in my video Natural Food Remedy for Insomniaforcing people to sleep only six hours a night for one week can change the expression of more than 700 genes. The worst side effect can be endothelial dysfunction. The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that line the inside of blood vessels and is responsible for allowing our arteries to relax and open properly. Randomizing people to get five hours instead of seven hours of sleep for a week causes a significant impairment in artery function from that two-hour night difference.
How bad is a week of only getting five hours a night? Sleep deprivation is no joke. “The extent of disability… is similar to that reported in people who smoke, or have diabetes, or have coronary artery disease.” Not surprisingly, people who sleep less than seven hours a night may have a 12% to 35% increased risk of premature death compared to those who get the full seven hours. Yet a large portion of the population—28% of adults in the United States, for example—may earn less than that. “An adequate amount of restful sleep each night is the undeniable foundation of good health.” So, what can we do about it?
Those with sleep apnea, a common effect of obesity that disrupts sleep, benefit from the use of CPAP machines while losing weight to hopefully treat the underlying cause. But what if apnea is not your problem? What if you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? In my book How not to eatthere’s a whole section on improving sleep, where I go over the Four Laws of Sleep and the Four Laws of Sleep Hygiene, as you can see below and at 2:04 in mine. video. What if you follow those guidelines though still I can not sleep? Are there any natural dietary remedies?
I’ve talked before about using kiwifruit and tart cherries to fight insomnia. Are there any vegetables would that help? Lactuca sativa a plant that has traditionally been used to treat insomnia. What is this leafy vegetable with a strange sound? Lettuce! Apparently, lettuce extracts have been used for hypnosis and hypnosis since the Roman Empire. Lettuce actually has an addictive substance in it called lactucinwhich makes the lettuce taste a bit bland. But you don’t know if it really works until you test it.
And it works … for frogs. It also works on mice. The sleep of both rats and mice is improved by romaine lettuce. The researchers used romaine as it has a higher lactucin content compared to other lettuces.
But does it work for humans? About 10 years ago, a study was published in which people with insomnia were randomized to receive lettuce seed oil, which is the oil extracted from lettuce seeds. Within a week, about 70% of those in the lettuce seed oil group said their insomnia was “much better or much improved,” compared to only 20% in the placebo control group. Abacwaningi baphethe ngokuthi amafutha embewu ye-ulethisi atholakale ewusizo, usizo lokulala oluphephile ezigulini ezikhulile ezinobunzima bokulala. They chose to study adults because insomnia affects about 20 to 40 percent of older adults at least a few nights a month.
Do you think that is a lot? Sleep disorders can affect up to 8 out of 10 women during pregnancy. Yes, there are many different sleeping pills, but they may endanger the fetus or the mother. For example, doctors often prescribe Ambien to pregnant women who have trouble sleeping, but Ambien use is associated with many negative pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight babies, premature births, and cesarean section. And valium use during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects including birth defects. There has to be a better way. How about trying lettuce?
The lettuce seed oil study had a number of limitations. For example, it was only single-blind, meaning the researchers knew who was using the lettuce supplements and who was using the placebo, which could have introduced some bias. But actually the researchers say, Give us a break. Big pharma has billions to spend on research. No one wants to fund lettuce studies.
However, the researchers finally conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, but this time on whole foods, not just lettuce seed extract. But how does one come up with placebo lettuce? How is it possible to hide who gets the lettuce and who doesn’t? However, the head of lettuce cannot fit into the capsule, but the whole lettuce seeds it can be. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study on lettuce seeds for pregnancy-related insomnia, 100 pregnant women with insomnia were randomized to receive pills containing a quarter of a teaspoon of ground lettuce seeds or a placebo for two weeks. Those on the lettuce seeds saw a significant improvement in the sleep quality index score compared to the placebo with no reported side effects.
Doctor’s Note
The insomnia videos I mentioned Kiwifruit for Insomnia again Tart Cherries for Insomnia.
For the Four Laws of Sleep and the Four Laws of Sleep Hygiene, visit your local library or independent bookstore and pick up How not to eat. (All the money I get from my books is donated to charities.)
