Let's talk about Melatonin

I'm going to share with you what I know about melatonin as a nootropic.  What it is, why we use it and the science behind the recommended dosage and side effects.

Melatonin is a hormone produced in your pineal gland and is often referred to as the sleep hormone. As your body's central clock, melatonin tells your body, brain and organs when to be activated and when to rest.

Melatonin and the neurotransmitter Serotonin are both derived from the amino acid Tryptophan which you get from foods like turkey, chicken, tuna, oats, bananas and chocolate.  Or, from a tryptophan supplement, which will increase melatonin, or a supplement with Sammy to produce melatonin.  You can also take a melatonin supplement and bypass this entire process.  Besides acting as your body's biological clock, melatonin is also a potent free radical and antioxidant. As a wide-spectrum antioxidant, the beauty of melatonin is its’ ability to cross into the blood across the blood-brain barrier.  Now, adding melatonin to your inotropic stack gives you a head start in protecting you against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.  It can also aid in decreasing your chance of stroke and helps reverse the brain damage caused by stroke or brain injury.  The bonus is a good night's sleep and feeling refreshed the next day with your brain firing on all cylinders.

First, melatonin promotes quality sleep.  Your pineal gland acts as your body's central clock by secreting melatonin. This action tells your brain and other organs when it's time to be active and when it's time to rest. Melatonin helps regulate other hormones and maintains your body's circadian rhythm.  

Your pineal gland responds to darkness by producing melatonin.  Blood levels of melatonin are low during the day with peak levels occurring from 2 to 4 a.m. One study at Duke University Hospital surveyed clinical trials from 1948 to 2009. In the study, researchers found that children with ADHD using melatonin doses of 3 to 6 milligrams showed improvement in sleep patterns and a significantly better quality of sleep. Another extensive survey of clinical trials was conducted by the US Department of Health and Human Services on melatonin use for sleep disorders.  The overall conclusion of the research showed melatonin effectively improved the quality of sleep and how fast a person went to sleep. This study included those who did not suffer from insomnia, those who did and others who had faulty circadian rhythm patterns due to shift work. In jet lag, melatonin helps to prevent neurodegenerative disease and improves longevity by increasing the longevity gene called sirt1 or search one. This gene plays an important role in maintaining metabolism and neuroplasticity.

Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant protecting your brain from free radicals and oxidative damage. It stimulates gene expression and ecstasy in intracellular antioxidant systems and melatonin helps relieve the free radical damage that occurs after traumatic brain injury or stroke.

  

Research has found that melatonin levels and Alzheimer disease are closely linked. High levels of melatonin are maintained throughout your youth and in middle-age.  But as you age, they decrease. Melatonin levels drop and you're at a greater risk for brain damage both now and in the future.  Your chance of having a stroke greatly increases as melatonin levels decline. Melatonin is both a neurotransmitter and a hormone. This neural hormone is produced in your pineal gland from the neurotransmitter serotonin. Melatonin is the mechanism produced by your pineal gland to function as your body's biological clock and is in charge of your circadian rhythm which tells your system when to be active and when to rest. As an entropic supplement in a sleep aid, melatonin exerts its effects by acting as a phasor II setter rather than as a hypnotic type drug. Supplementing with inexpensive melatonin helps restore your body's natural antioxidant production guarding against age-related changes in your brain. Melatonin protects cholinergic neurons from amyloid and tau protein buildups related to Alzheimer's disease and melatonin offers potent antioxidant protection for your brain. Supplementing with melatonin helps protect your brain against neurodegenerative disease reduces stroke risk. It also helps guard against brain trauma.

I use melatonin every night to help me sleep. I take it about ninety minutes before bedtime and sleep comes on within five minutes of hitting the pillow and I sleep throughout the night. But, melatonin as a sleep aid has mixed reviews among neuro hackers. Melatonen is a hormone that your body naturally produces from serotonin and too much melatonin is not good. Some find that supplementation with melatonin works well and others find that it disrupts sleep patterns. If you are perfectly healthy and do not deal with insomnia on a regular basis, then you don't need to supplement with melatonin. Everyone's body is unique. Some find that a half a milligram of melatonin works well and others require four or five milligrams.  Experimentation is key with this hormone. Some have found that melatonin helps regulate disrupted circadian rhythms caused by jetlag or night shift work. There has been quite a bit of research by nootropics experts on melatonin. I'm not going to go through each one of the clinical studies so, please go to nootropicsexpert.com  and search for melatonin. There you will find information on melatonin and how it lowers cholesterol, helps reduce insomnia and how melatonin relieves mild cognitive impairment.

There is not a recommended dosage for melatonin supplementation. Everybody has a different response to its effects. Lower doses, like half a

milligram, work well for some who are especially sensitive and higher doses can cause anxiety and irritability. The best approach is to start with a very low dose, like a half a milligram, and see how your body reacts. The right dose of melatonin should produce a restful night's sleep with no irritability or fatigue the next day.  For jetlag, try half a milligram to five milligrams of melatonin an hour before bedtime at your final destination.

  

When taken in a normal low recommended dose, some may experience nightmares or vivid dreams. When supplementing with melatonin, it may cause drowsiness if taken during the day. If you experience a sleep hangover the next day you took too much melatonin the night before. Other side-effects may include abdominal cramps, dizziness, headache, irritability, decreased libido, breast enlargement in men and reduced sperm count. Melatonin can interfere with fertility so if you're trying to get pregnant, do not use melatonin. If you are pregnant, it may worsen the symptoms of depression. So, if you're dealing with depression or are using antidepressant medication, you should avoid using melatonin. Remember that melatonin is a hormone. So, if you have hormone related issues you must be careful about using it. Melatonin may increase the risk of bleeding and should be avoided if you're taking anticoagulant medications. Or, if you're anticipating surgery, melatonin can interfere with steroids and immune-suppressants and cause them to lose their effectiveness.

   

Hope we provided some knowledge on Melatonin! 

Thanks for reading CBD Doctor