Plant Medicine Hacks for Better Sleep

Different plants, different voices, and different ways of having conversations.

It's time to get personal with plant medicine. Welcome to Getting Personal with Plant Medicine. I'm your host, Diana. And I am both the and your co-host, J.R. Okay, yeah, that's right you are. That's right. So today we're going to talk about plant medicines that help us sleep yeah and they could help you sleep too maybe yeah so you know i think we're going to start with an oldie but a goodie something that you hear about quite often on this show especially from me.

Kava kava let's go off let's start off let's go off on kava let's go off on it And I, well, I personally drink cava like almost throughout the day, not almost throughout the day. I do drink it throughout the day. I find that it particularly is really beneficial for me at night. Something that I really have issues with is restless legs when I go to lay down and just this.

Just feeling uncomfortable, like in my body kind of a situation, which makes it hard to kind of find a comfortable spot to be in while I'm trying to fall asleep. Cava, you know, it not only has, you know, a lot of really great anti-anxiety benefits to it, helps kind of calm the mind. It also helps relax the body, kind of gives the sensation of like sliding into a hot tub a little bit. I would say, you know, not to cut you off, I'm not a regular kava drinker, as you know.

But the first time I drank it, that night I slept like a baby. And that pretty much never happened. Well, it didn't until I started incorporating other things. Don't want to null and void our entire episode. But yeah, that was the thing I noticed the most, is that it helped me sleep. It's amazing for sleep. But one thing that you have to keep in mind, because it is a diuretic.

Is you do want to drink it before you're actually going to bed because if you drink it and then go right to bed you're gonna be waking up to pee at least with me i'm old so like maybe these youngins maybe these youngins that can you know not have to worry about stuff like that but bladder issues yeah but but it does make you want to you know urinate it makes you want to it makes It's like, oh, man, I cannot wait to urinate. Hashtag can't wait to urinate. No.

Starting that. We're starting it. So I would actually recommend like an hour beforehand drinking some cava, you know, some proper cava, relaxing with it. Kind of let it ease your body, get that relaxation sensation going. Kind of help it relax your mind a little bit. Kind of quiet and erasing thoughts you might have. See, you're doing a little dance. I like all of this. You like all of this. And then go for your restful, nice sleep. And I think it will do wonders.

It also helps lower your blood pressure, which can also kind of lead to that angsty feeling inside your body. A lot of times that can be caused by an increase in blood pressure. So, you know, drinking some kava kind of helps alleviate that a little bit, kind of adds to that relaxing quality. I'm glad you mentioned blood pressure because what I'll be talking about a little bit also does help with blood pressure. Fantastic. I love a good reduction on blood pressure. I mean, who doesn't?

I guess if you have really low blood pressure already. Yeah. Which I used to have, but I don't anymore. So, you know.

Anyway, we're going to move on to a cannabinoid. Ooh. Now, for those of you that don't know, a cannabinoid, I don't know, I just said a cannabinoid, is a part of the cannabis plant, but not all of the cannabinoids will get you high. I don't even like to say get you high because I feel like that's kind of simplifying it, but, you know. Yeah, have psychotropic properties.

Psychotropic, that's what we're looking for. Not psychoactive, because all of the cannabinoids are psychoactive, technically speaking. However, if you are someone who does not like THC, THC. THC, you're way to the polls. If you don't enjoy THC or your body does not mesh well with THC, there are a lot of other cannabinoids to consider that will have THC. Different effects to your body that aren't psychotropic. So one of those is CBN.

Now, you might have heard about CBN because it's popping up everywhere. I mean, it's even in pet products. I'm seeing it. Yeah, they're starting to give it to animals now. It has great neurological benefits. So they say. And when I say they, I mean the research is still very limited, okay? So we're going to put that out there. We're not saying that this is... We're not scientists. Yeah, we're not scientists or Keebler-Elf. I'm stealing that from a TikToker.

I'm not... I won't do that again. Okay, anyway. I apologize. If you're listening, I apologize. Thanks, man. All right, anyway. So CBN is something that often will be paired with CBD. That's most of the products that I have come across. And it is a sedative. Now, JR, tell us how someone can get CBN from their cannabis. Oh, my pleasure. So CBN is actually derived from THC through basically time, heat and degradation.

So if you wanted to make your own CBN product, all you would have to do is get some of your THC flour and basically hold on to it for a while. You know, get a nice indica strain, place this somewhere that kind of generates a decent amount of heat, somewhere like the top of your refrigerator, something like that. You can put it in a windowsill, but make sure it's in an opaque casing.

You don't want to just like be blasting the sun directly onto the flower and kind of keep it there for a couple of weeks. And it would actually transfer that THC into CBN, which is actually funny because you always see, oh, I made a squeaky. I made a squeaky noise with my chair You see a lot of these TV shows Where like.

They'll find they'll go into like their childhood sock drawer and be like oh my god here's this from 20 years ago when we were in high school 20 30 years ago and they smoke and they're like blasted high and that would not happen no uh they would just smoke it and just fall asleep right because at that point it would just be cbn so i've had that happen with weed that it wasn't even stored that long you know it's just if it's not stored properly because

heat and degradation is actually what causes it the time is just a property of of our existence so so you know basically it's the the heat and the degradation that causes the thc to turn into cbn so you're always able to make it basically yourself just with you know i would take like a nice indica strain maybe one that you're not like super fond of and then just kind of let it chill on top of refrigerator for a while, take it out, and then you're able to help yourself get some sleep.

Yes, and CBN is also a pain reliever, so it's great in that regard. Research indicates that CBN has analgesic or pain-relieving capabilities in the body. CBN appears to influence the activity of neurons that are sensitive to capsaicin. Capsaicin, you might know, is found in chili peppers, and it's an ingredient added to many topical pear leapers. And I've had topical CBN before, and that was really nice. So right now I'm just using a tincture. It's a CBD, CBN tincture.

Oh, I do. I'm using it as well. Yeah. And I also have gummies, Sunset Lake CBD. shout out shout out they make a great CBN CBD line, They're not the only ones, though. I'm not sponsoring this episode. Shop around. Don't just go and buy them because that's what we're using at the moment. Right. I mean, they are a good company to support, though. I will add that. And anyway, so that's CBN. And like I said, it's everywhere now. So I'm sure you've seen it.

But if not, go look for it. Yeah, because you can actually get it hemp-derived without your medical cards. Right, mm-hmm. Bonus. Bonus right there for if you're living in a state that doesn't have a recreational or even medical program. Right. Yeah. All right, so what next? What next? What next is actually, it's kind of sounding like my original one, but it's not. It's Kana instead of K-A-N-N-A. One thing I really like about it, so speaking of CBN, that brings us into THC.

One thing about THC, while it is very beneficial for sleeping, it actually suppresses the ability to dream. Per chance to dream. Per chance to dream. You do not have. Nope, you do not live per chance to dream when you're consuming THC.

And also, let me add, I'm not a dreamer, usually. I'm not the only one. Imagine all the people. I mean, yeah, I don't have anything against it. You don't have anything? Good. You're not anti-dream. That's a plus. But let me tell you, when I do use the Kana at night, oh boy. Yeah. Vivid, vivid dreams. Yes. Hashtag spoiler alert. That's literally what I was about to say. Is that Kana actually opens up that space to have incredibly vivid dreams.

One of the reasons I actually stopped consuming THC as much is because of that removal of dreaming. I love dreaming. It's my jams. Unlike my anti-dream partner, I am pro-dream, and I absolutely love doing it. So not having those dreams was something that consistently bothered me. Consuming Kana, you have the most vivid dreams that you really just hold on to.

You experience it's it's it's almost like lucid dreaming i love it but it also has good properties leading up to bed it does have like that relaxation that anti-anxiety gives a little bit of a euphoric sense which would have been nice when i first took it i thought it was a daytime thing because i was reading that people took it before they exercised and then i took it and tried to exercise and almost fell asleep on the treadmill so don't take it right prior to exercising.

But it's absolutely amazing for relaxing the body, relaxing the mind, and really opening up that imaginative space while you're dreaming to really having very vivid dreams. Well, I'm going to add to that. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that Kana extract demonstrated, Well, I don't know how to pronounce that word. I should have probably tried before I started reading it.

It has an effect on rats. It has an effect on rats. suggesting the potential to reduce anxiety-related behaviors. And in another study in 2019, they found that it can have an effect on human brain function and reduces the amygdala reactivity to fearful faces, indicating its potential to modulate emotional processing and reduce anxiety. And it has a really interesting background, which I thought was really cool. I don't know how to pronounce the scientific... Another one you're not knowing.

Skeletium tortusum is a low-growing succulent with small finger-like leaves and delicate flowers. It thrives in the arid regions of South Africa, particularly in the western and eastern Cape provinces. But this is the part I thought was really cool. The harsh environmental conditions in which Kana grows may contribute to its potent medicinal properties, as plants often develop unique compounds to survive in challenging habitats.

They say, you know, people that go through the hardest of times can be the most helpful for you during yours. Do they say that? I don't know. What? I don't know. Are you just making up sayings now? Yeah. I mean, that's how sayings are created. Someone has to make them up somewhere. So anyway. The universe didn't create, you know, don't talk to me until I'm finished my coffee. You know, that was man-made. Was it? That's what I'm saying. Okay. Anyway.

So as you said before, as you mentioned earlier, it can be used for energy, for focus. People do use it during the day. Not me. Not this guy. No, me either, because I tried it, and while he was about to fall asleep, it actually, taking it during the day made me... A little too wired. I wish I got wired. Like walking on that treadmill, like listening to the heaviest music I could find just to keep myself awake. I'm like, oh my God, what's going on? What's going on with my body?

I just want to lay down. Well, that doesn't sound good. No. But at nighttime, it's good. It's amazing. Yeah. I'm not exercising at night. I'm not on a treadmill. It does give your body a very relaxed feeling when taking it at night. I mean, there are different, I don't want to say strains because I don't know if that's the correct term. Yeah. But there are different versions of it, I guess. Yeah. The right. I don't know. We'll circle back to that. I just find it has a very euphoric,

appreciative quality as well. You know, you just you really enjoy your time. You know, you're not like high, quote unquote. You're just kind of like, you know what? I'm enjoying this time. And I believe it is something that stays with you. Like, you don't have to take it every day. Yeah, I've actually noticed that I don't take it every night. A lot like kava. You know, kava has that reverse tolerance. The longer you drink it,

the less you need. I don't think kana has that same property necessarily. But I have found that, you know, I'm not needing to take it every single night. You know, I took it like every night for like the first week, maybe two weeks. And now I take it maybe once every three nights and it still allows me that benefit.

So let's talk about how you take it because right here it says that traditionally Kano was chewed, smoked, or used to snuff. Used as a snuff, not used to snuff. Used as a snuff to alleviate stress, elevate mood, and promote relaxation. Now I said that as a snuff. They do still, I mean, some people still use it that way. I don't. No. But I personally use a vaporizer to. Smoking isn't really the right term, I feel, because you just take a couple of really little inhales, like very gentle.

Yeah, you only need a little bit. You're not like puffing on it. Yeah, I take the extract. That's just 25 milligrams. And you mix it. Mix it in some water and drink it down, and that's perfect for me. We've had it as a tincture as well. Yeah, I've had it as a tincture. Yeah, so, I mean, there are different applications for that. And same thing with kava. We should circle back to that really quick because, again, that is something that we're starting to see on shelves in different retail spaces.

So, you know, they have, you know, seltzers now. They have kava tea that you can make if you don't feel like doing the whole. See, I prefer like the natural methods, natural nobacaba, you know, where you're soaking the root in water, you know, you're... Gently massaging, you know, in the filter, you know, you're straining it, you're really pulling those kava lactones out, really putting your energy into it. I think that you get the most beneficial version of it.

You do need to make sure when you are just buying something off the shelf that you're getting something that doesn't, that's not just the root because consuming the root itself can actually lead to liver toxicity. You know, that's why it's important to really strain the kava and not just stir it up in some water and drink it. You know, you really strain it through so that you're removing the root from the kava leptone liquid and just drinking the liquid itself.

And also make sure that there aren't other things mixed in with it like kratom because I was just going to, as a follow-up mention, a lot of these drinks that are on the shelves now do have things like kratom. Lion's mane, reishi, and separately, I love those things, but mixed together, I do not like that.

Especially with what you're, because while reishi has a calming effect, and kratom can have a good effect to help you sleep with a red vein, if they're using a green or a white vein, that could actually have the opposite effect, because kava is actually, it's an enhancer. Whatever you're taking with kava, it enhances the properties of that But so if you're taking it with green kratom before, yeah, it would actually make it stronger.

And if it's mixed with a white kratom, which is just energy, forget about it. No good. I mean, look, we're saying that personally. It might work for you. I would not recommend it as your first time, though, taking a white a white strain of kratom, which is another thing that we would like to mention really quickly as something that helps us sleep.

Because I have chronic pain, and so my big issue with sleep, aside from anxiety and all the other things, is that, you know, I have what they call pain somnia. And if I don't have my pain under control, I can't sleep. That's what that means. So, red magda, I mean, really any of the red veins of, red veins or red strains, however you would like to say it. That's vein. It's vein. Yeah. Okay. I have to stop saying straight. Anyway. So with Kratom, you generally have red, green, white, yellow.

I've seen. I think that's pretty much it. White is for energy green is nice in the middle yeah it's in the middle i like green and i'm not sure about yellow i that's a new one to me so i'm not even going to speak to that but i've been using red magda for almost a decade now and it is the most powerful pain reliever I've ever used. It works better than anything I've ever used over the counter or a prescription.

Now, granted, when I was on prescription painkillers, they never gave me the really high doses of things. But regardless, I feel like it's a lot more manageable. And while I do feel it in my body after a while, if I don't take it, my body will start to, you know, the pain will signal in my body. I don't feel the same way as I did when I took over-the-counter a pharmaceutical, where it was like every four to six hours or so, you know, like, oh, I got to take more.

You know, we've been down that road before. We won't go deep into that conversation. But suffice to say, if I did not have Kratom in my toolbox, I would not sleep as well. So let's talk about another thing that I use.

Let's talk about another plant. Tulsi. So I use Tulsi Sleep Tea. Now, I don't use it all the time. It's mostly when I haven't been sleeping for whatever schedule change, what have you, something that's thrown me off. But Tulsi, also known as Holy Basil, is known for its therapeutic power when it comes to maintaining homeostasis and fighting the effects of stress. So I also use a Tulsi green tea during the day sometimes.

So this is another plant that can be used at different times of the day, depending on what you're... I mean, anything can be used. Right. I think all of them on our list are like, you use this throughout the day, but it primarily helps us at night. So the Tulsi, it's holy basil, like I mentioned. It's not the same thing as regular basil. So just let's make that clear.

Holy basil has so many benefits i won't go down that list right now i think we're going to do a episode about that down the line because it's a fascinating plant but it has a rich history dating back 3 000 years to ancient china 3 000 years ago, It's long been considered an adaptogen and medicinal sacred herb in Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic. I'm never sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly.

Ayurvedic. Ayurvedic. Historically, it was used as a medicine and still is today due to its anti-stress effects that promote balance throughout the entire body, including in the immune, reproductive, central nervous and cardiovascular systems. Now, this is another one that can help with blood pressure. It is really good for adrenal fatigue, dysfunction, decreasing symptoms caused by hypothyroidism, unbalanced blood sugar, acne, and more.

Now, a little word of warning on this one it can make your blood sugar drop a little bit if you already if you already have low blood sugar but it's only temporary usually i mean oh so yeah so anyway that is one of the ones that i really like as a tea and i really like just tea period yeah i mean i went from being like i don't i don't care about tea at all and you know someone that you know generally towards the end of night you know diane is making the teas you know you know she drinks

teas you know in the morning as well and in the middle of the day but at night just that whole calming aspect of getting that nice hot tea hanging out lemon balm is another we're going to do some honorable mentions here because now that we're talking about tea lemon balm is also really great for that at night now it doesn't necessarily make me tired. But I'm also someone... It just calms me down. That calms me. Yeah, it relaxes me. You know, it's not going to put me to sleep.

But if I had like a really stressful day, it can kind of like alleviate that a little bit, especially drinking it, you know, while you're winding down throughout the night. I agree.

So a couple of honorable mentions here. Cannabis. Yeah. That always helps me usually. Now, lately, not so much because I'm kind of taking a little bit of a break because the quality in this state is not the greatest. But when I have good quality flower that is a good indica strain, go ahead and tell me about the terpenes in a minute here because I know it's not about the indica.

I know. I mean, it isn't, it isn't. I mean, indica and sativa are primarily designated to about where it's grown and the shape of the plant and stuff like that. But generally speaking, indicas are more of a body relaxation, where sativas are more cerebral. A lot of times what you're really looking at concerning that indica, you're getting a lot of myrcene in it, which is going to give you that nice, heavy body high. Yeah. Well, I was not going to cut you off, but I am.

I was not going to do it, but I decided against that. But I have smoked pure sativa strains that have made me feel like I wanted to go to sleep and have actually helped me sleep. Yeah, I mean, that can happen depending on the terpenes. Because a lot of times even indicas will have limonene in it, which is a very active terpene, which is really great for stomach digestion. But it does have more of an active property. And a lot of times it's actually good for indicas.

It kind of keeps you from being so couch locked. a lot of times in Indica's you'll also have beta-caryophyllene, which gives you much more of that appreciative quality, that kind of giggly quality. You know, when you think of people like sitting around smoking and they're kind of laughing and having a good time, a lot of that, that's that beta-caryophyllene in there. That's kind of pulling that out.

But primarily when you're looking at that body relaxation, you're looking at the myrcene, which is also found in mangoes. And that's really kind of enhancing the effects of the THC. You can eat mangoes. You can eat mangoes, because really a lot of it is the amount of THC as well.

Whether it's sativa or indica, if you basically just pull it down to just THC itself, like when you just extract the THC, a lot of times you're just going to get the heavier feeling, the heavier body feeling, and the mercine inside of the indica plant kind of enhances that to give you that kind of heavier feeling of the body. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I mean, obviously, it's a personal, you know, per person. Everybody has their own reactions.

Well, there's certain things like you don't want to take something that's really high in pinene prior to going to sleep because while it can be a bronchodilator kind of help you sleep or breathe a little bit better, pinene has a very focused quality to it, which a lot of times, especially if it's paired with something like asamine, which is like the philosopher's terpene, it kind of adds to that daydreaming. quality.

If you take something that's really high in ostomy and pinene, your mind can drift to something that's not necessarily a good thought. And then the pinene will actually cause you to focus and lock in on that. So trying to fall asleep when you're just focused on something that really focused on anything, it's going to make it hard for you to kind of drift off into that sleep.

So you really, prior to bed, want to kind of steer clear away from something that's really rich in that pinene, which is often found in a lot of sativas. Interesting. I feel like the one I had that put me to sleep didn't have pinene in it. I doubt it did. Sometimes they're mislabeled, you know. And that's the thing.

Yeah, sometimes it is. And that's why you kind of want to go by terpenes because people on this, depending on your state, you know, there's people that would just name it whatever they want to.

Yeah, some states don't even list the terpenes we're lucky in maryland they tell they do list the terpene so if you live in a state that doesn't have the terpene content listed and people just making up their own names all willy-nilly you know lord knows what you're actually getting am i sure able to to get the seeds and and clone yourself and grow yourself, which we're on that road soon, let me tell you.

But I was just thinking like, you know, how personal it is because I'm just thinking back at this one time when I was smoking with a friend and she was like, let's go. And I'm like, I need to go sleep on your couch for like 30 minutes. But yeah, to me, cannabis is always a good addition. Yeah, that's your job. For a nighttime. Not so much you. Not so much me. Not so much you, not so much at all. But anyway, I think that Anything else you want to mention as an Honorable mention?

As an honorable mention? We went through teas, we went through cannabis, we went through cradum I will say one tea that's supposed To help you fall asleep, Chamomile does not It does it for our song either It makes us wide awake for some reason Yeah I like rooibus, Rooibus teas And my rooibus, My rooibus So anyway I think that's a good place to stop. Yeah. Sweet dreams. Until next time. Bye, everybody. Your Highness Media. Subscribe to our podcast. Why don't you subscribe to Your

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