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Nutrition for Making the Most of Natural Melatonin
The most potent way to get the sleep-promoting benefits of melatonin is to not to buy it off a store shelf. Natural melatonin is made in the body from food. All melatonin production is driven by key dietary nutrients, especially tryptophan found in foods like turkey, eggs and bananas. Continue reading
Some Side Effects & Adverse Effects of Melatonin
Incorrect use of melatonin can cause irregular sleep-wake cycles. Melatonin has been linked to increased risk of fractures. It can impair balance, increasing risk of falls. No difference was found in the incidence of long-term side effects between melatonin and inert placebo, studies showed. High doses might worsen depression. Continue reading
Risks Associated with Purity & Potency of Melatonin Supplements
Some studies have found lot-to-lot variability of 465%, with some supplements containing five to six times more melatonin than that listed on the label. Some supplements contained no melatonin and others were contaminated with the dangerous melatonin precursor, serotonin. Rarely, melatonin in supplements comes from the brains of animals. Continue reading
Melatonin: Some Drug interactions & Precautions
Here’s a list of some of the drugs and supplements with which melatonin may interact. It is not an exhaustive list. There are also precautions including not taking melatonin before driving. Continue reading
Short-term Melatonin Supplements Seem Safer than Pharmaceuticals
Unlike some of the pharmaceutical sleep meds, melatonin has no black-box warnings about serious side-effects such as sleep driving or an association with an increase in all-cause-mortality. And melatonin does not cause withdrawal symptoms like rebound insomnia, a common characteristic of the most frequently prescribed sleep drugs. Continue reading
Who Benefits Most from Melatonin Supplements?
Melatonin supplementation can provide meaningful benefits for individuals with lowered natural melatonin levels such as night workers and the elderly. It is also beneficial for treating delayed sleep phase—shifting the sleep clock of night owls. Continue reading
Natural Melatonin vs. Supplements: Which is Superior for Sleep?
Melatonin is a sleep-promoting hormone that is naturally produced and secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. The impact of naturally-occurring melatonin on our bodies is broad, profound, and not completely understood. Continue reading
Exercise Better than Drugs for Lifting Mood
The most common antidepressant drugs got bottom-of-the barrel results in a landmark systematic review comparing the drugs’ effect on depression with that of the talk-therapy CBT and a range of exercise modalities, according to data published by the prestigious British Medical Journal in February 2024. Continue reading
Foods that Stress and Depress—Foods that Promote Well-being
A 2017 randomized controlled trial of 67 depressed patients asked the question: “If I improve my diet, will my mental health improve?” Half of them received nutrition counseling, and for them the answer was yes. Not true for the other half, who got social support sessions instead of nutrition counseling. Continue reading
Gut-Brain Axis: Director of Mental Health?
There’s burgeoning evidence that the various bacterial species inhabiting our gut have an important influence on our psychological health. Based on their antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, these beneficial bacteria that inhabit our GI tract have been dubbed “psychobiotics”. Continue reading
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