About melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that is produced naturally in the pineal gland from the amino acid tryptophan. This is done in a step-wise process in which tryptophan is converted into 5-hydroxy tryptophan (5-HTP) which is converted to serotonin and then to melatonin. It happens after some time in the dark. Between the 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. is the body's melatonin production peaks. However, there is an immediate conversion of melatonin to serotonin in the brain, if the eye gets a certain amount of light - for example, if you turn on the light at night to go to the bathroom. It takes some time after the light has been turned off before the brain's melatonin level is returned to normal.

Melatonin regulates the body's circadian rhythm, which is why supplementation can time-shift "the brain's internal clock."

Melatonin induces drowsiness

Fatigue is your body’s way of expressing that it needs to rest. Technically, you can experience fatigue any time of the day, but the normal thing is to feel tired late in the evening. This is no coincidence. When night falls, your body secretes a hormone called melatonin. Produced in the brain in a small pea-sized gland called the “pineal gland”, melatonin induces a sense of drowsiness that makes you feel like settling down for the night. This pattern repeats itself on a daily basis.

Controlled by darkness

Scientists have found that the body’s melatonin release is regulated by light, or rather darkness. Nightfall signals the body to step up its melatonin production, which is what makes us sleepy.
If you work during the night, you get exposed to artificial light at a time, where your body expects it to be dark. That blocks your brain’s release of melatonin and disturbs your sleep pattern.

Natural sleeping pill

Melatonin is not a sleeping drug. However, by taking the substance in tablet form you compensate for the melatonin deficiency that is caused by extraordinary exposure to artificial light. In a sense, you trick your body into believing that it is night time, although it is not – and that way you can induce fatigue any time you want. Melatonin is indeed the most natural sleeping aid available.

Excellent for fighting jet-lag

Nightshift-workers are not the only individuals who experience sleeping problems. It also affects those people who cross time-zones in connection with transatlantic travelling. Better known as jetlag, this abrupt turning upside down of your circadian rhythm causes you to feel tired at the wrong time. Since your body hasn’t had the time to adjust to the local time difference, you follow your regular sleep pattern, making you want to go to sleep in the middle of the day.

A melatonin supplement effectively prevents jetlag by increasing your melatonin levels at the desired time. In other words, you can go to sleep when you wish to, regardless of the time difference.

A protective antioxidant

Melatonin is more than a sleep-regulator. It is also a powerful antioxidant that effectively quenches potentially harmful free radicals, a group of highly aggressive molecules that destroy healthy cells. Scientists believe that melatonin, besides inducing drowsiness, serves as the body’s ”repair agent” by undoing the damage caused by excessive free radical formation during the daytime.

May lower blood pressure

Melatonin may even play a role in the regulation of blood pressure. In a scientific study of 16 men with hypertension, Dutch researchers showed that melatonin (2.5 mg) taken routinely one hour before bedtime significantly reduced nocturnal blood pressure. Systolic (upper) blood pressure went down by 6 mm Hg, while diastolic (lower) blood pressure went down by 4 mm Hg. Also, the patients’ sleep improved substantially. Although the investigators warrant further studies of the correlation between melatonin status and blood pressure before making actual recommendations for individuals with hypertension, it is not too early to state that the biological clock is involved in autonomic cardiovascular regulation.

Stimulates your immune system

Melatonin gives a natural boost to your immune system by upping the body’s production of NK cells (natural killer cells). NK cells are specialised in attacking two of your body’s most sneaky invaders – cancer cells and virus-infected cells. As these particular intruders camouflage themselves as healthy cells, it is very difficult for the body to detect them, but NK cells are excellent at doing the job.
In a study published in 1994, a group of healthy young men took two milligrams of melatonin each night for a period of two months. Their NK cells were measured before and after the study. At the end of the treatment period, the study participants were producing an average of 240 percent more NK cells – more than doubling their arsenal against cancer and viruses.