Melatonin a powerful antioxidant

Race Through the Day by Taking Melatonin at Night

You are not going to be in top shape energetically if your immune system isn’t running on all cylinders, if you’re not managing stress, and if you’re not sleeping properly. Melatonin can help with all of the above.

You may know melatonin from its reputation for being the go-to supplement for travelers experiencing jet lag, but the benefits of melatonin go will beyond its positive effect on sleeping patterns. Melatonin is actually a hormone, made in the pineal gland (a gland about the size of a pea that’s buried deep in the brain and located right above the brain stem). And this vitally important hormone has many functions, among them helping to regulate immunity and stress response. It’s also a powerful antioxidant that easily gets into the cells and can help protect nuclear DNA. All told, not a bad resume!

Although melatonin isn’t a sleeping pill, and is far from a panacea for all the things that might be keeping you awake at night, there’s good evidence that it may help you sleep. Its main function in the body is to control circadian (those day-night) biological rhythms. Turn off the lights and you send a signal to the brain to turn on the melatonin production factory and get ready for sleep.

MELATONIN FOR SLEEP, SLEEP FOR ENERGY
Melatonin has some far-reaching effect on the body independent of its effect on sleeping rhythms and jet lag. One of the reasons that massive deregulation of our natural light-dark cycles by artificial means, such as computers and electricity, has wreaked havoc with our health has to do with the disruption of melatonin production. If you so much as turn the lights on in the middle of the night when you go to the bathroom, it’s a signal to your brain to turn off the melatonin spigot.

Your brain makes melatonin in a series of sequenced steps that begin with L-tryptophan, an amino acid found in protein foods, including eggs, poultry, beef, and even tofu. “Cofactors” (helpers) such as vitamin B6 turn L-tryptophan into something called 5-HTP (5-hydroxytrptophan) and then into the famous “feel goods” neurotransmitters, serotonin. Two more biochemical steps, and voila, serotonin turns into melatonin. A lack of any of these precursors or building blocks – such as L-tryptophan or B6 – can compromise your body’s melatonin production, as can excessive stress; high levels of adrenaline, caffeine, or alcohol; or lack of lack of complete darkness.

Why should you care? Because lack of melatomin can seriously compromise sleep quality, meaning bye-bye energy. A number of studies have shown that supplemental melatonin taken about 30 minutes before bedtime can help reduce the time it takes to fall asleep (called sleep latency by scientists). There’s good scientific evidence that it can help with insomnia in the elderly and may help with sleep quality in healthy people in general.

Raising blood levels of melatonin (through supplements) to those that approximate normal nighttime levels can help induce and sustain sleep in many people. And there’s excellent scientific evidence that it can help with jet lag (see my book The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth).

Under normal conditions, the body secretes melatonin for a few hours every night, an effect that can be duplicated best with time-release supplements. A regular supplement will work well also, especially if you take it half an hour before your fall asleep. Most studies have typically used small doses ranging from 0.3 to 3 mg, though higher doses have been recommended. I myself have previously recommended 6 mg as a good dose for insomnia, which may be absolutely for many people, but you can probably start with a smaller dose (say, 3 mg). A lot of studies show the low dose works fine.

Don’t make the mistake of taking melatonin during the day. It will send conflicting signals to your body – It’s light out, yet this darkness hormone is floating around the bloodstream! Something’s not right here! Supplemental melatonin works best when you take it at the time your body expects it – sleep time, when it’s dark outside (and inside). Because melatonin is part of the body’s internal signal system that prepares for slowing down, dropping body temperature, and hibernating for the night, it’s conceivable that taking melatonin during the day could have adverse effects, including grogginess, tiredness, or even depression.