Did you know? One third of your life is spent sleeping. This time is not wasted. Sleep allows the body to repair itself: the immune system strengthens, emotions integrate, and the mind processes the previous day’s experiences. No matter how many natural remedies or supplements you take, or how strict your diet becomes, if your sleep is subpar then your healing will be stalled. The importance of quality sleep cannot be understated. In natural and holistic medicine, and in my 20 years of clinical experience at Neighborhood Natural Medicine in New York City, I can confidently say that the lack of proper sleep is one of the most common root causes of halted healing.
New York City life is not easy. We have long commutes, late nights out, noise, lights, and the competitive culture of many New York City industries. For many of my busy patients, the first thing to be sacrificed is their sleep hygiene. Sleep is the cornerstone upon which the fortress of physiological resilience is built. Without it, the nervous system cannot regulate itself, hormones remain unbalanced and stressed, inflammation goes unchecked, and the emotional roller coaster ensues.
How Much Sleep Is Enough?
The amount of required sleep is not the same for everyone. There are many variables at play: genetics, age, stress, and our environment all influence our sleep needs. However, on average, adults need between seven and nine hours of good quality sleep nightly. In my clinical experience, the typical New York City patient, due to the stress and strain of city life, almost always does better when they can get into the higher end of this range. This is important at least during the initial phase of the healing cycle. As health improves, the body can tolerate stress with greater ease and strength.
When sleep drops below seven hours over an extended period of time, stress hormones are affected. Cortisol, the main stress hormone, becomes elevated. What is cortisol? Cortisol has many functions, and one of them is actually to control inflammation. Cortisol is not all bad. But, in excess, cortisol keeps the body in a low-grade state of fight-or-flight, suppressing immunity, slowing tissue repair, and contributing to chronic inflammation. The problem is compounded in this city, where eight hours of rest feels luxurious. Bright, late-night subway rides, looming work deadlines, and social indulgences eat into our sleep time. Yet if you trade sleep for more work or entertainment on a regular basis, you are borrowing your future self’s ability to enjoy good health and everything that it brings.
What does good sleep look like?
An hourly minimum is not a sufficient metric. True sleep has certain qualities as well as quantities:
Waking refreshed: The very best measure of sleep is how you feel upon waking. Do you struggle to get up? Do you hit snooze several times? Do you have to set several alarms to rouse yourself from sleep? We want to investigate certain qualities such as groggyness and readiness to wake. Ideally, you can wake up without an alarm clock. If you are sluggish during the day and relying on caffeine to get by, this might be ‘normal’ but it is not optimal or healthy. It is a sign that your sleep is not restorative or functional.
Minimal interruptions. Rising more than once at night, particularly to urinate, is not a normal part of aging. It often reflects imbalances in blood sugar, hormone regulation, or stress physiology. Left uncorrected, this pattern fragments sleep and undermines recovery.
30 minutes or less for rest: If it routinely takes you longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep, your body is stuck in ‘fight or flight,’ potentially due to elevated cortisol level. Do you find you simply just cannot turn off your mind? Are you reliving the day or planning for tomorrow? Are you tired but wired? This is where acupuncture, herbs, and other tools such as breathwork and meditation can play an important role in shifting the body.
Staying asleep. Deep, unbroken sleep is when the body accesses the most restorative phases. When my patients describe themselves as “light sleepers,” what they are often describing is waking up, or half waking up, during the night. This means that even if you are hitting the 7-9 hour mark, you are not getting as many sleep cycles as a healthy sleeper would. Through a combination of naturopathic medicine, holistic modalities, natural remedies, and lifestyle correction, this cycle can be broken.
The Unique Challenge of Sleep in New York City
New York is truly “the city that never sleeps.” But, may it not apply to you! We can fix this….
Noise: Noise pollution such as necessary sirens, unnecessary horns, and noisy neighbors interrupts your sleep cycle. Having a healthy sleep cycle is of paramount importance, we want the body to reach deep states of rest of a specific and natural cadence. Let’s prepare our environment for success: blackout curtains, white or brown noise machines, and high-quality earplugs are practical solutions.
Light: Light pollution from street lamps and traffic lights suppresses melatonin, the hormone that triggers sleep. Bedrooms must be dark in order to prevent a dampening of the sleep cycle. Screens should be turned off at least an hour before bed. Even a minute or two of light exposure can affect your melatonin levels - plan ahead and set your phone alarm an hour before you fall asleep. Better yet - get an alarm clock, and leave your cell phone outside of your bedroom.
Work: Many New York City industries glorify hustle and overwork, which leads many feeling that it is almost lazy to sleep when there is more work to be done. This is, of course, entirely false. There is always more work to be done. In natural and alternative medicine, we understand that the deepest healing occurs during rest. No amount of activity can substitute for the recovery that occurs in sleep.
Strategies for Restorative Sleep
Nutrition
Yes, that’s right - nutrition. Food directly affects rest. What and when you eat has a direct and irrefutable impact on sleep quality. Caffeine in the afternoon, alcohol before bed, or sugar in the evening disrupt the nervous system, leads to blood sugar instability, and impacts your body’s natural sleep cycle. To support healthy detoxification and hormone production, emphasize magnesium-rich foods such as leafy greens, nuts, and seeds. Avoid heavy meals late at night, which burden digestion. Try to finish eating by 6-7 PM. If you are hungry late at night, we suggest an egg yolk or two, or try 1-2 tablespoons of nut butter. (Beware: peanuts are not nuts!) Herbal teas like chamomile, passionflower, or lemon balm are time-tested allies in calming the system.
Herbal Medicine
Chinese and Western herbal medicine provide time-tested and effective tools for restoring healthy sleep cycles. Valerian root has long been used for insomnia, we suggest trying it in a tea form to avoid grogginess. Chamomile helps reduce cortisol in those who are highly stressed. Try putting 1-3 bags in a small amount of water and letting it sit for 20-45 minutes. While it may lose efficacy if used daily, it is a great sleep tool to add to your toolkit for difficult days. Additionally, these things can be used as a strategy on days where you may have accidentally over-consumed caffeine. I do also want to emphasize here that for patients in our clinic, we do not prescribe herbs in isolation. We create an individualized approach tailored to the patient’s constitution, stress load, and lifestyle. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. That being said, a band-aid solution can still ease your sleep woes if you are unable to see us for an appointment, and these herbal strategies can get you 30 percent closer to a good night’s rest on days when you just need a little help. Sometimes life intervenes, and we need extra support. Lastly, be sure to stop drinking 2 or more hours before asleep. A small amount of water immediately before bed will do not harm.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a powerful sleep aid. By calming the nervous system, regulating hormones, and aiding in endorphin release, it gently eases the body into deeper states of rest. I have used acupuncture in many cases of longstanding insomnia, and it never ceases to amaze me how we can pull the body out of a state of chronic dysfunction.
Mind-Body Practices
Even a simple five minutes of slow and gentle breathing, light stretching, or simple meditation before sleep can put the nervous system into a relaxed state. In my 20 years of experience, patients who adopt an evening “sleep routine” see lasting and deep results. The mind has momentum which, for some, must be consciously slowed down before it can be completely halted.
Why Sleep Is Paramount
There is no cheat code. There is no ‘magic pill’ to erase your need for sleep.
Sleep is medicine itself. Without it:
The immune system cannot maintain itself properly, making infections and viral illness last longer.
Inflammation reigns unchecked, worsening both simple pain and complex autoimmune conditions.
Emotional regulation falters. Anxiety and depression increase.
Metabolism becomes dysregulated, raising the risk of diabetes.
Every healing plan in holistic medicine must include sleep as one of the central pillars. Whether the issue is gut dysbiosis, hormonal disruption, chronic pain, or emotional instability, no treatment will reach it’s fullest efficacy without quality sleep.
When to Seek Help
If you have already employed the basic lifestyle adjustments such as a consistent sleep time, limiting caffeine, and reducing screen use, it is time to speak with a professional. At Neighborhood Natural Medicine we look beyond the symptoms. We examine stress physiology, hormone balance, digestion, nutrition, and the patient’s emotional state. We ask why the body is unable to rest and we address the root cause. Healing requires an understanding of how interconnected the systems of the body truly are.
Conclusion: Sleep as Medicine
Sleep is not idle, wasted time. It is the very foundation of health and the best way to protect any investment of time or energy you put into your health, beauty, and mental state.
Natural medicine, holistic medicine, alternative medicine, and integrative medicine all agree: sleep is medicine. If you are struggling with sleep, do not write it off as “normal” or inevitable. Find individualized care.
When sleep is restored, the body can do what it is designed to do: heal itself.