The Truth About Taking Melatonin

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness. It helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and sleep. As light fades at night, melatonin levels rise and you begin to feel tired - craving sleep. However, exposure to light at night (common with modern electronic devices) can block melatonin production causing insomnia.

Should you take melatonin?

There are only a few instances where taking additional melatonin via over the counter supplements is recommended (prescription-only in the UK):

• To prepare for/deal with jet lag – taking melatonin at certain times to help your body adjust to new time zones post or prior to travelling is a great way to reduce the impact of jet lag and prevent time change tiredness.
• Elderly people – As you grow older, your pineal gland becomes more calcified, which means less melatonin is released. Additionally, your eye lens is yellowed, which means your eyes are less able to determine lightness from darkness, further inhibiting melatonin production.
• Clinically low melatonin levels – Through testing of your nighttime melatonin level, a doctor may determine you are low in melatonin and prescribe the right treatment plan for you.

How to Use Melatonin Properly

Timing is key when taking additional melatonin. Don’t take melatonin right before bed because it takes time for it to become effective. Generally 1 to 3 milligrams is recommended two hours before bedtime - higher dosages won’t have any additional positive effects, only the potential for negative ones.

When taking melatonin for jet lag, you generally take it after you arrive at your destination. Although some literature suggests it can be beneficial to start the first dose on the day of travel, particularly if you’re travelling to a time zone where the local time is ahead of your time. Take the melatonin at the local time you will be going to bed at.

If you’re travelling westward, melatonin may be less useful for trying to adapt to an earlier clock time. Some suggest taking a dose at the local bedtime on the day of arrival and for an additional four days when travelling across five time zones or more. If you awaken before 4 a.m. local time, it may be beneficial to take an additional half dose of melatonin. This is because melatonin can delay the waking portion of your circadian rhythms and help shift your sleep pattern.

Remember, light naturally suppresses melatonin levels in your body, so also plan to dim or darken the lights in your room, and avoid using devices such as your smartphone or laptop.

What are the side effects of melatonin?

Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use, but keep in mind that the possible long-term side effects of melatonin use are unclear. In various short-term studies on the safety of melatonin supplements, only mild side effects were reported in adults, surgical patients, and critically ill patients. Some of the mild side effects that were reported in the studies included:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Sleepiness

Natural Melatonin Booster

There are plenty of sleep aid foods that boost melatonin levels. The natural melatonin ‘new kid on the block’ is Montmorency cherry (also referred to as tart cherries, sour cherries and sleep cherries), which can be taken in supplement or juice form . Montmorency cherry contains a significant amount of melatonin and studies have shown that adults get to sleep faster and stay asleep up to 84 minutes longer.