Melatonin: Have a good night’s sleep, naturally

If you’re on the wrong side of 40 or older, you tend to be more conscious about your form. You improve your health regimen. Your self-imposed rules: Stick to health foods, flex muscles regularly, take vitamins religiously, and booze and cigarettes are a no-no.

At this age, there’s a natural hormone which many may already be deficient in.

According to Russel Reiter of the Center University of Texas Health-Science Center, the melatonin hormone, which is secreted cyclically from the pineal gland at the center of the brain, keeps us in sync with the rhythms of the day and the season.

One loses his melatonin hormone as one’s biological clock keeps ticking, thus, the need to replenish the supply.

One’s melatonin level is at its peak at age six. The first sharp decline is after puberty when one is about 16 years old. At age 45, adults secrete only half as much as children. When one becomes 80, melatonin production comes in trickles.

With the westernized lifestyle and the eating habits we have, the market has been flooded with food supplements, while the battle for survival is quite tough.

Surprisingly, melatonin, which has been available in the local market for seven years now, has gained raves in the United States for its efficiency both as a nutritional supplement and as a non-habit forming sleep-enhancing pill. It does not have the hangover of a regular sleeping pill. The local Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) had registered it as a food supplement.

Like most animals, humans produce melatonin abundantly throughout early life. But the levels in our blood wane slightly during or after puberty and spiral down gradually as we age, according to Dr. Walter Pierpaoli, an Italian immunologist.

In one of his experiments, he gave the melatonin hormone to rodents and restored their youthful levels. They outlived their life expectancies by nearly a third.

Pierpaoli and Dr. William Regeson, in their book The Melatonin Miracle, said, "Melatonin can stop the downward spiral that we have come to associate with aging."

The Philippine distributor of Melatonin-T, Trianon International, endorses it as "an aid to sleep problems, making one enjoy deep, restful sleep and waking up the next day feeling relaxed."

Trianon Melatonin-T is classified as an over-the-counter food supplement, and is available in Mercury Drug stores nationwide.

According to Reiter, Pierpaoli and Regeson, studies suggest that melatonin may also have anti-cancer and anti-aging components, an immune system booster, a cardiovascular function and virility enhancer.

With the buying habits of consumers who believe in its wonders, melatonin is poised to become one of the hottest pills of the decade, according to a US research.

According to these melatonin experts, melatonin capsules serve two fundamental roles in the body:

• Hormonal regulation – Melatonin influences reproduction, boosts the immune system, regulates the body clock, enhances sleep, favorably influences the cardiovascular system and may help protect against cancer.

• Antioxidant protection – It may help delay the onset of degenerative diseases such as cataracts, muscular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and arthritis. It boosts the immune system to reduce the risk of infections, cancer and heart diseases. It may even slow down the aging process itself.

Melatonin is an effective remedy for insomnia or sleep disturbance, a proven remedy for jet lag, an aid to shift workers by inducing sleep, a powerful antioxidant, and good for individuals under stress.

The following drugs may deplete the natural secretion of melatonin: aspirin, betablockers, sleeping pills and tranquilizers. Caffeine, tobacco and alcohol may also reduce the body’s melatonin supply. Thus, people taking these drugs and substances may need melatonin supplement.

Melatonin-T is available as 3 mg capsules and the recommended dose is one to two capsules one hour before bedtime.