Why Magnesium is Not Enough in Sleep Creams

Before making our Sleep products I thought very hard about all the reasons that people don't sleep well and how that impacts on their daily lives. I thought about anxiety, hormonal change, stress about work, stress about children, worries about parents, concerns about money, the grim state of international politics, pain and discomfort. And I realised with total clarity that Magnesium is not enough!

Virtually every trans-dermal sleep product on the market depends solely on the effects of Magnesium - some with tallow, some with more or less butters, some basic creams. all offered a simple solution. Add Magnesium to an oil rich base and you will sleep. The message was clear, the pain point identified and the solution easy to communicate. It is, without a shadow of a doubt a best selling product for some companies.

The issue for me, when I set my mind to sleep products, is that Magnesium, whilst it is a brilliant addition to a formulation, and I include it as a key component of our Sleep Cream, doesn't cover enough of the causes of sleeplessness. It is certainly part of the picture and Magnesium is definitely lacking in many people's diets but it's not the whole picture.

Magnesium is one of the casualties of commercial non-organic farming, it is one of the indigenous micronutrients in soil that has been catastrophically depleted. Farmers concentrate on yield as their primary goal, so they check that there is sufficient phosphorus in the soil as the seeds sprout and enough potassium to make sure that the plants will grow rapidly and then enough nitrogen to ensure that fruits are formed. 

As industrial farming depends on adding these minerals to the soil, plus other fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides the soil itself becomes massively depleted in other micronutrients such as Magnesium - it loses its balance and often becomes acidified. Additionally, the ability of plants to take up Magnesium through their roots depends on adequate water to make the Magnesium soluble and therefore available. In increasingly dry, arid summers, this also affects the Magnesium available to the plants. 

So Magnesium in a sleep product is important to address the lack of it in even the leafiest green vegetable, but to really help create deep, restorative sleep there are other ingredients that specifically support the action of the brain chemistry. In Western Herbalism Hops are often chosen because, amongst other things, the humulone and lupulone when broken down by the body add to the function of the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) neurotransmitters in the brain. The action of GABA is to produce a calming affect on the mind, it controls nerve cell hyperactivity often linked to anxiety, stress and fear. Adding in GABA enhancing ingredients really helps to create the best conditions for restful, restorative sleep.

I also added in Chamomile which is a nervine herb, it contains apigenin which is another compound that acts on the GABA neurotransmitters. Interestingly I used Chamomile as a herb in the water part of the cream and as an essential oil because they have different properties. In Chamomile essential oil there is chamazulene which is why the EO is blue. it's wonderfully anti-inflammatory so it helps calm any inflammation in the body. Chamazulene is only produced when the flower is distilled so macerating it in oil or making a tisane of it doesn't produce the same effects.

Then I thought about essential oils that calm the mind, reduce anxiety, soothe worries and allow for deep relaxation and from there, restful sleep. Lavender is often the first option in sleep but there are other oils that work just as well or indeed better for anxiety and a restless mind.

Sweet Marjoram is brilliant for sleep, working especially well where the mind feels 'wired', it promotes deep restful sleep. Vanilla, which we extract ourselves from the seeds, has been shown to increase levels of serotonin which improves mood and helps to relieves anxiety. Bergamot contains limonene, linalool, and linalyl acetate that contribute to calming the mind, whilst  alpha-pinene is believed to reduce stress and cortisol levels. Chamomile soothes the body and mind. Vetiver however, with its onomatopoeiac latin name of Vetiveria Zizanoides is a real star and has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine for soothing both the mind and body. This oil combination not only smells divine but it's a really powerfully effective blend to promote good sleep.

The final part of the treatment within our Sleep Cream are the Homeopathic remedies, I chose Passionflower and Valerian and Melatonin for quiet sleep, Avena sativa to soothe, Zinc to help with restless legs and Mag Phos for feelings of exhaustion.

I think what we have achieved in making this rich cream is something very special. It tackles sleep issues from every angle so that you can get to sleep, stay asleep and wake feeling refreshed.