Sweet and tart cherries improved both sleep quality and quantity, some studies show. With effects rivaling melatonin and valerian, tart cherry extended total sleep time by a whopping 84-minutes, a result that is better than most sleeping pills, one small study showed. All that and superb health benefits! Continue reading
Without tryptophan there would be no melatonin, the backbone of the biology of sleep. But tryptophan’s role in sleep might be more about how it is affected by things like diet, light exposure and gut health than it is about the tryptophan itself. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Find out how to defeat the vicious cycle by resetting the biological clock with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia and how to short-circuit stress and inflammation with biofeedback, hypnosis and talk therapy. Continue reading
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