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What Dreams May Come: The Melatonin Story

Why it’s time to wake up and take a closer look at melatonin

Mellow-tonin could be adopted as an apt brand name for melatonin simply because this hormone supplement is often recommended to people who have trouble sleeping. No argument there, but you should also know that melatonin has many other interesting benefits.

Let’s start with a definition of melatonin. For starters, melatonin is secreted primarily by the pineal gland, a light-perceiving sense organ. The pineal gland is located at the base of the brain and is so-named because it’s shaped like a pine cone (which begs the question “Which came first, the kidney or the kidney bean?”). Melatonin can travel into the bloodstream and into the fluid surrounding the brain (cerebrospinal fluid), so you might say the brain can literally “swim” in melatonin. Among the functions of melatonin is controlling sleep patterns and also circadian rhythms, which is your 24-hour biological clock.

There is ongoing controversy about the effectiveness of melatonin, but some of this controversy may have political roots. After all, it’s in the best financial interest of drug companies that produce sleep drugs to downplay the effectiveness of melatonin because it is in competition with their own products. Mark Schauss, MBA, DB, who has spent the last 27 years in medical research, commented on one study published in the peer-reviewed journal Sleep that suggested that those who have no sleep problems do not receive any added benefits from using a melatonin supplement. Says Schauss, “My question to you is why are they doing a study like this on a group that doesn’t need help? Do we try out chemotherapy on people who don’t have cancer and tell the world that chemo doesn’t help them?”

Some of the most common problems I see with my clients – and hear about from attendees of my BioSignature seminars – concern sleep disorders. So, I’ve taken a special interest in how melatonin works, why people are often deficient in it, and finding the best quality melatonin supplement.

Dream Weaver
Melatonin production is greatest in the absence of light, which is why it is often called “the hormone of darkness.” Because many individuals are active during late night hours, it follows that their melatonin levels will be lower than those who sleep regular hours. And this has led to some interesting theories about the importance of melatonin, particularly regarding the risk of developing certain types of cancer.

One study, for example, found that women who work the night shift, and thus are asleep during the daylight hours, have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. By itself that may not seem significant, but there’s another study that suggests blind women are at less risk of breast cancer because they have more exposure to darkness and thus produce more melatonin. Further, it appears that using melatonin enhances chemotherapy treatments for cancer, perhaps by minimizing the toxicity of such procedures.

Obviously, melatonin’s potential in preventing and treating cancer as well as helping with sleep problems count as major benefits. But there are many other reasons we need to take a closer look at using a melatonin supplement.

Headaches. There is promising research that suggests melatonin may reduce the intensity, frequency and duration of migraine headaches. That’s good news. Researchers also have found that melatonin may help decrease the frequency of cluster headaches, which are excruciating headaches that are considered even more painful than migraines. The cause of cluster headaches is unknown, but they affect approximately 0.1 percent of the population, with more men being affected than women.

Jet Lag. Because melatonin helps stabilize circadian rhythms, there have been numerous studies on how it affects jet lag. One study of airline personnel found that melatonin may help counter the effects of jet lag, but the data suggested that it’s critical to properly time the use of melatonin. Interestingly, this study found that it was more effective to take melatonin only upon landing and continue taking it for several days after arrival than it was to take it several days prior to the flight and several days after arrival. On a personal note, my busy seminar schedule would not allow me to be an effective presenter if I did not have access to supplements such as melatonin to modulate my circadian rhythms.

Smoking Intervention. There are studies showing that taking melatonin can help people kick the smoking habit. This is a major benefit because of the known health risks associated with smoking and with secondhand smoke; about 50 carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals are produced when tobacco is burned.

Quitting smoking is generally very difficult because nicotine is an addictive drug. Depending upon which study you read, the success rate for stop smoking programs is only about ten percent after one year. The key time period appears to be six months – if someone can stop smoking for six months, their chances of long-term success are significantly greater. Also, a combination of techniques, such as nicotine patches and behavioral modification, works better than a single technique. In this regard, melatonin supplementation does appear to be helpful in smoking-cessation programs.

Immune Response. Melatonin packs a one-two punch for the immune system not only by fighting free radicals but also by stimulating the body’s antioxidant system.

Brain Health. Melatonin supplementation can help protect the brain from free-radical damage by increasing the brain’s levels of antioxidant enzymes. It’s interesting to note that those individuals with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s dementia and autism spectrum disorders have been found to be low in these protective enzymes.

Gallbladder Health. Melatonin helps the gallbladder convert cholesterol to bile, which is important because excess cholesterol can result in the development of painful gallstones (which are hard, pebble-shaped materials that can cause extreme pain as they are eliminated from the system). Further if gallstones do develop, melatonin can help the gallstones pass from the gallbladder.

This list of benefits from melatonin doesn’t end there, and much exciting research is being conducted on this great hormone. And as for the question of what is the most effective way to take melatonin, I have a great answer for that.

The Balance of Melatonin Power
The Poliquin Performance melatonin formula is called TR Melatonin Px, and it has an ideal vegetarian formulation as well as a superior delivery system. On the first point we added vitamin B6, which enhances the biosynthesis of melatonin, and on the second point we used a biphasic delivery system.

A biphasic delivery system enables a product to be released into the body in two phases. In the case of TR Melatonin Px, 1 mg of melatonin is contained in the coating solution and is released immediately upon digestion. The remaining 9 mg, contained in the core of the tablet, is released over a six-hour period at two different rates.

The general recommendation for TR Melatonin Px is to take one tablet 20 minutes before bedtime. In my BioSignature seminars we discuss more specific dosing suggestions, such as timing it to prevent jet lag, and we also provide references for those in attendance who would like to research the subject further.

Melatonin is not a prescription drug but is recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration as an orphan drug. An orphan drug refers to a product that has a limited use, such as being used to treat an uncommon disease (likewise referred to as an orphan disease). Also, among the groups that melatonin is not recommended for are people under the age of 12 (one reason being that this group often produces high levels of melatonin), women who are pregnant, women on estrogen replacement therapy and those on antidepressants such as Prozac – of course, these special populations need to consult the appropriate health care professional to determine if melatonin supplementation is appropriate. But as for the general population, consider that one study administered daily 5 mg doses of melatonin for two years to its subjects without seeing any adverse effects.

Bottom line: Melatonin is a valuable tool in the area of functional medicine because in addition to its effectiveness as a sleep aid it has many other valuable properties relating to health. For these reasons, TR Melatonin Px may be a perfect supplement for you!