Food and Vitamins

These are good to try when weaning off medication (but be sure to talk to your doctor first!) 

1. Sleep-boosting food. There are A LOT of foods that really help with sleep! Oatmeal with walnuts is a great food to eat at anytime, but especially before bed. Everyone's body is different and we all  process food differently. I recommend looking up the best foods for natural melatonin, the sleep inducing hormone, and see what works best for you (kale, cherry juice, almonds, chamomile tea and raw honey work for me). 
2. Eating healthier in general. Salads, power foods, high fiber, more calcium, all of it helps (beans, nuts, quinoa).
3. Not going more than 500 calories below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Make sure you aren't under-eating (especially if you're working out a lot). I learned very early that my very low daily calorie intake didn't help my blood sugar levels, which can hinder serotonin production needed for sleep. 
4. Homeopathy. The jury is still out on whether this works, but I think it helped with my sleep anxiety in the beginning. I spoke to my mom’s friend who is a professional homeopathy practitioner and she gave me her recommendation based on my symptoms. But I only did for the time she told me to take it.  It could be a self fulfilling prophecy, but it worked (another way to just remember...mind over matter).  
5. Nutmeg at night. You can put a pinch in milk at night. It definitely works, but you shouldn't take too much either. I used it when I first started so it might be a good way to wean off of medication. 
6. Weekday Lunch Smoothie:  Recipe Below. 
7. Weekday Base meal for dinner:  I make this base with everything I eat to make sure I get a lot of proteins and things to help with my cellular health. And then every evening, I add some protein to this base (usually salmon or chicken).  Recipe below
8. Weekend Meals: I try to do more eggs/avocado/whole wheat bagels for either lunch or dinner.
9. Daily fresh greens:  Cucumbers, tomato, carrots, spinach, kale (not cooked).
10. 36-hour Fast, about once a month: Goal is to slowly increase to 40, 45, 48: This helps with autophagy and circadian rhythm.  I don't sleep well the night I fast, which is due to cortisol/hunger, but after doing this a few months I have learned my body and what to do prior to the fast to avoid it. But two big things, whatever sleep I get seems to be of better quality, and the next morning after I break my fast, the post-fast-break nap is THE BEST sleep in the world and then, the following night I get an even better night's sleep (the extension of THE BEST nap!).  Mind over matter, can't psych yourself out over one night's bad sleep and always look for other attributes.  Also, break fast with healthy food (I have two avocado sunny side up whole wheat bagels and eat it very slowly!)
11. Note:  I'm not a purest (which I can see this list may indicate). I have a food/health rule 90/10.  So 90% good and 10%, well we're human (and I absolutely pig out from time to time!).  I wouldn't make anyone feel bad for what they're eating (or not eating), especially knowing that not everyone has the financial or time privilege that I have. A lot of our health on a cellular level also has do with how we engage with the world, pain we take in, which can be the cause of a lot of chronic inflammation. And the one thing I've seen with people who are purest (besides being annoying), that there is a strain on their relationship and how they engage with the world.  And though it may seem like sleep is my number 1, the reason it's so important to me IS so I can be on a higher frequency with myself, people and the world.  So I'm a 90/10'er (for the purest to find some flaw :)