Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland. It is secreted when the eyes begin to perceive darkness so people have directly linked it with sleep...

BUT, melatonin is one of the drugs (actually, it's a food supplement) that the smart doctors NEVER recommend...

Let me tell you why:

Melatonin was discovered to whiten the skin of frogs. That triggered a negative signal and even more shocking proof appeared afterwards:

In small animals, melatonin can make the gonads atrophy rendering them unable to reproduce.

There IS evidence that melatonin interferes with sexual functions in human body as well, so it's probably pretty risky for and fertility and procreation...

In some mammals, melatonin also whitens the fur (maybe a sign of aging?) and/or promotes obesity... None of this seems like a good thing to me...

Also, in a recent test, melatonin was administered to people suffering from depression... The effects?

Depression got WORST and was accompanied by loss of sleep, loss of weight and a drop in oral temperature... Studies also shown that it increases cerebrospinal acids.

Melatonin causes headache and nightmares.

In animals, melatonin constricts brain blood vessels and affects the arteries of the heart (and pressure).

If you wonder why people think melatonin is such a great idea, you are not alone. So do I! It has been claimed that melatonin is low among people with insomnia. This is arguable...

Modern studies show that there appears to be little or no relationship at all...

It has also been claimed that melatonin is useful for treatment of insomnia. In most studies, the sleep benefit is very weak or completely absent.

Melatonin does not seem to induce sleep.

For example, in rats, melatonin is highest when the animals are most alert. For the person whose sleep problem is awakening during the night or awakening too early in the morning, there is evidence that melatonin would do more harm than good.

Melatonin does have some effects on the body clock. There are some studies which suggest that melatonin helps with jet lag or night shift problems but the testing is still insufficient...

Because melatonin is secreted when eyes being to perceive darkness, Daniel F. Kripke, M.D. likes to joke and say:

"In my opinion, about the only application where benefits of melatonin seem quite likely to outweigh risks is for the completely blind person who may have lost his or her eyeballs"

You guessed it. He doesn't recommend melatonin!


About the Author

Dan Ford has been actively involved with brain, body and sleep problems since 1999. Mr. Ford has written several articles on the subject and recently created the "Insomnia Secrets" package for teaching others how to get restful sleep fast and in the safest manner possible..

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