Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced in the body that plays a crucial role in the circadian rhythm and our ability to fall asleep. Here’s what you should know about the hormone melatonin and whether or not taking melatonin supplements can help you get a better night’s rest. Melatonin is a hormone that naturally occurs in the body.
Light and darkness act as cues that tell the brain to produce melatonin. A tiny gland in the brain called the pineal gland produces melatonin at high levels every evening in response to darkness, helping the body get ready for sleep. Melatonin levels drop significantly in the early morning hours, and the pineal gland is relatively inactive during the day, until darkness comes and the cycle repeats.
Important: Melatonin has been identified as the key hormone regulating the sleep-wake cycle, says Paolo Sassone-Corsi Ph. D. , Director, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism at University of California, Irvine.
A person’s natural circadian rhythm, along with light and darkness, are the main factors that affect natural melatonin production. Production of the sleep hormone can be affected if the person experiences a disruption to their circadian rhythm, such as travelling to different time zones or working non-traditional hours. A 2017 study found that compared to traditional daytime workers, those on the night shift produced 33.
8% less melatonin. The amount of artificial light you look at, particularly blue light emitted from electronics, is also tied to the amount of melatonin you produce. A 2017 study concluded blue light before bedtime is linked to suppression of melatonin production and reduced quality of sleep.
To increase your body’s production of melatonin naturally, you should do the following: According to Avidan, melatonin supplements promote sleep by raising your melatonin levels as the hormone enters your bloodstream, blocking the “alerting effect” of the circadian clock. Melatonin supplements are a more natural way to promote sleep, as opposed to taking hypnotics such as Ambien or benzodiazepines like Klonopin. Prescription sleeping pills work completely differently by binding to receptors in the brain that promote sedation.
In general, research surrounding the effectiveness of melatonin for sleep has been promising. A 2013 meta-analysis determined that among 19 studies and 1683 subjects, participants taking melatonin rather than a placebo fell asleep about seven minutes faster and slept for about 8 minutes longer. More recently, a 2017 review also concluded that melatonin supplements can help people fall asleep faster as well as improve quality of sleep.
Note: While plenty of research has been conducted on melatonin, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the effectiveness, dosing, and safety of melatonin. According to Avidan, there’s no universal dose of melatonin that will be effective for everybody — and not everybody will feel the effect of melatonin. If melatonin doesn’t help you fall asleep, it’s possible you need a higher dose, or, that your sleep troubles are caused by something else.
A low dose of melatonin is considered 0. 5 milligrams to one milligram, which Avidan says can be enough to adjust somebody’s circadian pattern in the case of situations like jet lag or daylight savings. If someone is really struggling to fall asleep, they might need to move up to a three milligram dose, which can be considered the “hypnotic dose.
” Certain conditions may call for even higher doses. “High doses between five to 15 milligrams are available for people who have a certain parasomnia – an abnormal behavioral activity that occurs during sleep, for example, sleepwalking,” Avidan says. However, a dose of five milligrams or more should not be taken without approval from your doctor.
As far as when you should be taking it, be sure to take a melatonin supplement about two hours before your desired bedtime. Since melatonin affects circadian rhythms, it is important to avoid taking it too late at night. For example, taking melatonin at 3am after tossing and turning could throw off your sleep schedule and affect your rest for the remainder of the week.
Though it is possible to take too much melatonin , it won’t result in a harmful overdose as with some other drugs. “It is impossible to overdose on melatonin since toxic levels of melatonin [that put life at risk] have never been registered,” says Lorenzo Franceschetti M. D.
, a researcher at the University of Milan, who has conducted extensive studies on melatonin. Unpleasant side effects can occur when taking high doses of melatonin. Possible common side effects of melatonin include: However, both Avidan and Sassone-Corsi say we don’t have enough concrete evidence to say what dose is unsafe, or what particular groups of people melatonin may be unsafe for.
For example, we don’t have sufficient evidence surrounding taking melatonin during pregnancy to say if it’s safe or not. “We don’t know enough yet. I will not say that it’s dangerous, but I would use some caution,” Sassone-Corsi says.
Note: It is possible for melatonin to interact with prescription drugs, so if you take any medications, be sure to check with your doctor to make sure the supplement is safe for you. Something else to keep in mind is the fact that the FDA doesn’t regulate melatonin, since it’s a supplement and not a drug. This means that the supplements you’re taking might not be the dosage you think.
According to Avidan, a lot of doses are inconsistent with what the bottle says. According to Avidan, the people who would benefit the most from taking melatonin are: As more research is conducted surrounding melatonin, scientists are finding more uses for melatonin – and they aren’t just surrounding sleep. “Regarding health conditions, melatonin can be called a ‘Swiss army knife’ since it can impact every cell of the human body,” Franceschetti says.
However, it is important to note that these uses are very experimental and, especially as a treatment for dementia or as an anti-inflammatory agent, melatonin has not been used in clinical practice. In a 2017 study that he co-authored, Franceschetti and his team concluded melatonin can act as an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, protecting cells from damage and death. Free radicals (atoms or molecules that are highly reactive) can cause cellular death and lead to various health conditions, and antioxidants can prevent it – and that’s where melatonin comes in.
“Because of the ability to neutralize radicals, melatonin can defer age-related dysfunction of several organs, such as the heart, for example,” Franceschetti says. Some other possible uses for melatonin are: Melatonin is a key hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, consult your doctor before you start taking melatonin supplements, as you can develop an individualized plan for dosage and safety.
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From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/health/treatments/melatonin
