MELATONIN

Because a good night’s sleep is important for so many things including protecting your physical and mental health, reducing stress and ensuring proper brain function. Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced in the brain by the pineal gland. The release is stimulated by darkness and suppressed by light indicating that it has a role in your circadian rhythm or internal clock. 

Certain demographics or those who are blind, do shift work or who travel often, may have altered melatonin cycles, thereby affecting their quality of sleep. Same goes for individuals who have a lack of exposure to light during the day or are exposed to bright lights in the evening (another good reason to “un-plug” at a reasonable hour before bed). That said, melatonin needs may vary seasonally, needing lower doses in the summer when the days are longer and higher doses in the winter when the days are shorter. 

For insomnia, Melatonin is usually used short term and has been found to be safe and effective for up to 2 years in some patients, though 6 months is usually long enough to show benefits. Interestingly, the research behind Melatonin use indicates only a moderate reduction in the time it takes to fall asleep (12 minutes), however subjectively, patients report feeling more rested thanks to better sleep quality. 

There’s also some evidence to suggest that melatonin may be helpful in reducing migraine frequency, intensity and duration and has actually been shown to be better and more tolerable than traditional prescription medications that are often used.

Of interest, melatonin is also a very powerful antioxidant with several other therapeutic applications in much larger doses but use in these cases is outside the scope of what we aim to do here.