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Melatonin: Sleep
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Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by the pineal gland. Information on the common uses, benefits, and side effects of melatonin, a dietary supplement. Melatonin products are usually synthetic versions of the hormone made naturally by the pineal gland. Melatonin users claim many health benefits, such as a sleep aid to help relieve insomnia, fighting jet lag, and helping other problems.
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Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland, a small gland in the brain, that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles. Very small amounts of melatonin are found in foods such as meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables. It is ... available as a dietary supplement, though it has no known nutritional value.
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Melatonin, the sleep hormone, appears in breast milk in proportion to the amount in the mother’s blood. Exposing the eyes to the blue component in light suppresses melatonin. A typical mother may only be in darkness a few hours and make very little melatonin. Wearing glasses that block the blue light or using blue-blocking light bulbs may allow her to make more melatonin that will help both the baby and her sleep better.
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Melatonin production normally peaks around the time of puberty and then decreases with age. The most rapid decline usually occurs after age 40. Melatonin production declines steadily with age. Since the rest provided by sleep may support regenerative processes, melatonin may ... indirectly retard ageing.
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Melatonin, among other things, is used by the brain to go from consciousness (awake) to unconsciousness (asleep). The deeper the sleep, the greater the replenishment of neurotransmitters in the brain. it is absolutely vital for optimum health that the brain gets "deep" sleep. This is one reason melatonin has scientifically been proven to benefit the brain during both the awake and sleep time.
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Melatonin, pumped out by the brain during sleep, is an antioxidant. These are compounds that clean up damaging free-radical compounds. People with a disrupted circadian rhythm produce less melatonin. That means that cell DNA may be more prone to cancer-causing mutations.
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