Melatonin

 

Pineal gland – located above your ear and in line with your third eye. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles – it is the regulator of melatonin.



Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant to humans. 

 

It’s our free radical scavenger, so any inflammation that’s happened during the day melatonin clears out.

 

When we go into our deep sleep this is our growth and repair mode – so we need melatonin to go around and scavenge all these free radicals and clear out inflammation.


Information for Melatonin supplementation:

 

Mice studies have shown supplementing with melatonin thins the retina (might not happen in humans but they start these studies in mice then move to humans).

Melatonin is produced in the absence of blue and green light after sunset.

Our body can’t naturally produce the hormone melatonin under blue/green light (screens and LED lights produce this lighting). If we take a melatonin pill (synthetic hormone) standing under artificial light, in a bright environment, our body will not absorb this hormone.

 

Our body is not in a state where it can create that hormone naturally so then we are supplementing and putting that hormone into our body – that’s not going to end well when we’re standing in bright lights.

 

 


Suggested ways to use Melatonin Supplementation

 

Try taking melatonin supplements 2 to 3 hours before going to bed.  

However, be aware that melatonin can interfere with blood glucose regulation.

Blood glucose naturally goes up after a meal and takes an hour or longer to come back to its normal level. 

Taking melatonin after a meal slows down the decline in blood glucose to the normal level. 

Therefore, it is a bad idea to take melatonin right after eating: Wait for a least an hour or two after a meal so that the melatonin doesn’t interfere with your blood glucose level.

Take it when screens are dimmed, or not is use and salt lamps or candles are only lighting a room.


Reasons to supplement

 

Supplementation is good where people cannot produce melatonin naturally – they have a defect in their pineal gland and they cannot produce it.

Also when you need it for Jet lag – for time zone regulation.

 

How you can naturally work on improving your melatonin production:




It’s easy to produce if you have the bright light environment and your blocking the frequency blue and green light after sunset – you’re going to produce all the melatonin you like. (where blue blocking glasses when on screens, or try turning them off before sunset.)

NOTE:
Also when it comes to supplementing; you may not supplement enough or too much – if you overdose you become resistant (like insulin) this may happen with melatonin and then you overload into the body, then your body cannot produce the hormone naturally anymore.

 

IMPORTANT:

 

  • Hormones are touchy and don’t play around with supplements if you do not know the full picture.
  • Lifestyle is a huge game changer – we need to stop the quick fix – the pills.
  • Why take a pill and not take time to change your lifestyle? Basically it’ll counteract what the pill is trying to do, wasting your money on the supplement in the first place.

 

Remember: 

 

  • Melatonin levels drop under artificial light – so use salt lamps.
  • If skin is present under artificial light it’ll lesson melatonin and increase cortisol (or keep levels high) causing disrupted or poor sleep, and weight gain amongst many other health concerns.