Do Melatonin for sleep work and help you to get a Power nap?
Melatonin is a light-sensitive hormone produced by the brain’s pineal gland, which partially controls your body’s sleep-wake cycle.
Normally, darkness triggers the body to make more melatonin, which regulates the signal of the body to sleep.
Also, light decreases the production of melatonin which signals the body to be awake.
Additionally, it helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and with sleep.
Normally the body self-produces melatonin but researchers and the public have increasingly taken an interest in external sources.
You might find melatonin supplements, pills, and capsules available on the market.
Our body creates melatonin known as endogenous melatonin, on the other hand, external sources are considered Exogenous melatonin.
Now, you may be exploring that Is melatonin good for sleep? We’ll answer all your queries regarding this.
But before directly heading toward it let’s find out what melatonin is and how do melatonin for sleep work?
Does Melatonin Help in Better Sleep?
Well, according to research, Melatonin helps you to sleep by putting you in a state of quiet wakefulness. This eventually promotes sleep.
But if you’re unable to complete a healthy sleep cycle of 6-8 hours, you can opt for melatonin supplements. Now you must be wondering that
Is it safe to take supplements or external sources of melatonin to sleep?
Well Yes, melatonin supplements are helpful in aiding several conditions apart from the sleep cycle.
According to a study, melatonin supplements help in improving sleep if someone has disrupted circadian rhythms. These include jet lag or working night shifts.
Since melatonin controls sleep patterns it treats Short Term Sleep Problems like insomnia. Also in some cases, doctors also prescribe melatonin for insomnia.
Also, melatonin produced by the body plays a fundamental role in getting the quality of a nap in an individual.
So it is natural to consider whether melatonin supplements will help you to eliminate sleeping difficulties.
What is the Role of Melatonin in Good Sleep?
As we all know endogenous melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced, synthesized, and secreted primarily in the pineal gland.
Its production begins with tryptophan which is somehow linked with serotonin.
Some serotonin makes its way to the pineal gland and converts melatonin into a cyclic light-dependent process.
This conversion of serotonin to melatonin is controlled by the hypothalamus’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the body’s circadian rhythms controllers.
When our retina passes the information of low light or dark through the retinohypothalamic tract to the SCN.
Resultant, SCN sends signals back through the sympathetic nervous system to the superior cervical ganglia. This innervates the pineal gland.
Sympathetic stimulation in the pineal gland gradually upregulates the production of the arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) enzyme.
This functions to convert serotonin to N-acetyl-serotonin and limits melatonin formation.
Furthermore, according to a study, the bilateral surgical removal of SCN in rats stops AA-NAT activation.
This eliminates the rhythmic pattern of melatonin secretion and disrupts the sleep-wake cycle.
Here are the other melatonin benefits of good endogenous melatonin.
Biological Mechanism of Melatonin
Since the best-known purpose of melatonin is its role in the promotion of naps. It is released from the pineal gland to the third ventricle and from there into circulation. Here are some of the benefits melatonin offers :
- Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders: This Hormone can help improve these disorders in adults and children.
- Delayed Sleep Phase: It helps in maintaining the sleep-wake cycle in adults as well as in children.
- Insomnia: Research admits that melatonin might slightly reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. But the effect of the hormone on nap quality and total sleep isn’t clear.
- Jet Lag: Evidence says that having melatonin dosage can improve jet lag symptoms, like daytime sleepiness.
- Neurodegenerative disorders: As per the research melatonin combines both chronobiotic and cytoprotective properties. Henceforth, it can modify the phase and amplitude of biological rhythms. Also, reverses the low degree of inflammatory damage in neurodegenerative disorders.
According to the research melatonin in shift workers has inconclusive results due to variations in their sleep cycles.
Since we have seen how do melatonin for sleep work and what is its role in children and adults. Now stepping ahead to the final verdict of this blog to conclude the discussion.
Final Verdict
As we’ve discussed, melatonin is a hormone responsible for a healthy nap in an individual, and some people might face a deficiency of it. There are tons of supplements available on the market that claim to be the best.
But if you’ve any such deficiency it is recommended that you always go for the FDA-approved supplements.
Before directly indulging, it’s better to consult a doctor before consuming any pill. They may give you the correct melatonin for sleep dosage to treat such deficiencies.
Hope the above-mentioned information helps you in getting a better acknowledgment of melatonin and how can melatonin help you sleep better.
If you’ve further queries regarding this information feel free to drop down a comment below.
