A little-known secret to getting a good night’s sleep is keeping the pH of your body alkaline rather than acidic. Processed foods and constant stress can make us “acidic.”

Here’s some help…

To bring on an easy, relaxing sleep, try a saltwater foot soak. Before bed, soak your feet for 20 minutes in hot water and sea salt, which is the best source of minerals to alkalinize and relax the body.

What to do: For an average size foot bath (two to three quarts of hot water), add about one-half cup of sea salt to the water. If you’re soaking your feet in a regular bathroom tub (filled high enough to cover your feet just above the ankles), use about one to two cups of salt. Try to find Dead Sea salt (look online or in health-food stores), which has a high concentration of magnesium (along with other minerals) that relaxes the nervous system. Ahhhh! Blissful sleep is moments away.

Note: The water temperature for your foot soak should be as hot as your feet can bear—but not too hot to burn or make you uncomfortable! To keep the water hot for 20 minutes, add more hot water during the soak.

Caution: If you have diabetes, check with your doctor before doing this. Neuropathy, a complication of diabetes that can cause loss of feeling in the feet, could prevent you from noticing that the water is too hot.

Thanks to Lindsey Duncan, ND, a naturopathic doctor and nutritionist in Austin, Texas, for help with this tip.

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