How to Boost your Melatonin Levels Naturally
There is a lot of talk these days about melatonin and there is a lot of use, or rather should I say misuse of it to treat sleep issues. There are certain groups of people and conditions in which melatonin is absolutely beneficial, but as for the rest…
Many people are taking melatonin as a sleeping pill, which is not its intended use, and most people are taking too much of it and at the wrong time. Even worse, because the production of melatonin is unregulated in the North American market, what you see listed in its package ingredients isn’t always what you get.
What is melatonin?
First and foremost, melatonin is a hormone that your body produces naturally. It helps regulate your body’s circadian rhythm and synchronizes the sleep-wake cycle with night and day, sending a message to your body to prepare for rest at night time. The production of melatonin triggered by darkness (and suppressed by light). It facilitates a transition to sleep and promotes consistent, quality rest by working in tandem with other biological processes in your body that are required to happen in order for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
But let me be clear. Melatonin is NOT a sleep initiator. It is a sleep and body clock regulator.
How melatonin relates to sleep cycles
What universally guides our sleep/wake cycle is sleep pressure and our circadian rhythm. You can think of your circadian rhythm as a master clock ticking away inside your brain on a 24 hour loop, controlling your body’s cells and the timing of them, and influencing when many biological processes happen, such as digestion, appetite, body temperature, heart rate, alertness, hormone regulation and more. Most importantly, it regulates your sleep/wake cycle – so when you feel sleepy and when you feel awake. Our body likes having a routine and if we do things like eat, sleep, move and get the right amount of light at around the same time each day, it helps regulate and strengthen our circadian rhythm.
In order to fall asleep, your body needs to be in the right physiological state. That means your heart rate should be slower, your breathing should be deeper, your core body temperature should be lowered, your stress hormones, such as cortisol need to be lowered, and the rest and digest part of your nervous system should be activated. In order to initiate this complex biological process, melatonin needs to be released in the hours before bedtime and the levels should continue to stay high until the late hours of the night to keep you asleep.
Getting to sleep is not an on/off switch – it is a transitional activity.
One of the most impactful things that starts this activity is the presence of darkness, which triggers the production of melatonin. So, in the evening hours, when darkness descends, melatonin gets released into your body which sends a signal to our bodies and minds to relax and prepare for sleep. In the morning, with the presence of light, melatonin levels drop, sending a message to our brain and body to wake up, and the physiological processes that took place the night before that help put us to sleep, are reversed. It’s worth noting that melatonin typically has an inverse relationship to cortisol – at night, when melatonin levels are high, cortisol should be lowered and, in the morning, cortisol levels should be at their highest and melatonin at its lowest.
Hundreds of years ago when the only light source was the sun, we rose and slept according to the presence and absence of natural light, and our melatonin levels were balanced. However, with the introduction of the lightbulb, along with other artificial sources of light (especially ones that emit blue light, such as TVs, phones and LED lights), we now have the potential to be exposed to bright light at all hours of the day, which can dysregulate our circadian rhythm and thus cause sleep challenges. For example, if you’re scrolling on your phone in bed before turning off the lights, that blue light signal has the potential to send a confusing message to your brain saying “Hey! Don’t go to sleep yet! There’s light, it must be daytime, so you don’t need to produce melatonin!” Furthermore, cortisol, which is supposed to be at its lowest levels at bedtime, can get activated by the light (and probably more so by your brain depending on the exciting content you’re looking at!) and that may result in difficulty falling asleep.
Uses for melatonin
For certain groups of people who are either deficient in melatonin or have dysregulated circadian rhythms that need to be realigned, melatonin can be very helpful. That might include:
Shift workers
People with circadian rhythm disorders (such as delayed sleep phase disorder or non-24 sleep wake disorder)
Those who travel frequently across multiple time zones (jet lag)
Melatonin has also been shown to be effective with some groups of children with ASD and ADHD and it is showing promise as a natural treatment for a range of conditions, including fibromyalgia, menopause, and irritable bowel syndrome. It also may help to guard against cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases, and it is currently being investigated as a therapy for some cancers.
Misuses of melatonin
For the majority of us however, melatonin is not the magic bullet that people purport it to be.
A current issue with melatonin is that it’s an unregulated substance, meaning that there aren’t very good controls on the production of it. There was a Canadian study published, where scientists went into a drug store, took all the products that were labelled as melatonin, took them to the lab and measured what was actually in them. They found that many of the products contained significantly more or less melatonin than was labelled on the package, PLUS there were other substances inside (serotonin being one of them) that were not listed on the bottle.
In the drug stores, melatonin is generally sold in 1, 3, 5, and 10mg dosage, but for those who are medically prescribed melatonin, the dosage is usually much less, like less than 1mg (however this varies per person and per condition). People are usually taking too high of a dosage and at the wrong time, specifically right before bed instead of a bit earlier in the night. And what can happen if you take too much melatonin and at too late of a time is that it may actually make you feel groggy in the morning, and could make you experience headaches or nausea. It’s also not advised to take the hormone if you’re pregnant or have high blood pressure and there are some concerns about adolescents taking it as it may interfere with other hormonal changes in their body at puberty.
For most of us, melatonin supplementation is usually not necessary, and often if it works, it’s due to a placebo effect or part of an evening ritual that people find psychologically rewarding.
Regulate your light instead
As I mentioned before, light plays a HUGE role in your sleep wake cycle. Exposure to light, both natural sunlight and artificial light (such as TVs, phones and LED lights), can affect and alter when we feel sleepy and alert, and the timing of that light signal is key.
Here’s what you can do to regulate your melatonin levels:
First thing in the morning or within 2 hours of waking, try and get 15-30 minutes of bright light. Ideally, that would be outdoors with no sunglasses as sunglasses will block some of that important light spectrum that we want during the day. But even being in front of a bright window or turning on bright lights in your home will help.
Get another boost of sunlight around lunchtime. Light keeps those melatonin levels low and boosts serotonin levels, keeping you energized and happy.
In the evening, as the sun goes down, limit your light exposure. If you can put lights on dimmers or use lamps or candles, that is ideal.
Put away your screens or other devices that give off blue light approximately one hour before bed. If you’re not able to do this, a compromise is to use blue-light blocking glasses or turn your screen onto night shift mode, which can eliminate some, but not all of the blue light from your device.
Set a consistent nightly wind down routine before bed that incorporates relaxation (for example breathing exercises, stretching, reading, mindfulness or meditation).
Keep a regular sleep and wake schedule. Even on weekends!
Boost your melatonin levels with food
Did you know we can also naturally raise our melatonin levels from the foods we eat? Several studies have found sleep benefits for people who drink tart cherry juice, which is rich in melatonin. Sometimes called sour cherries, these include cultivars like Richmond, Montmorency, and English morello. In one study, people who drank two one-cup servings of tart cherry juice per day were found to have more total sleep time and higher sleep efficiency.
Consider adding these foods that contain melatonin into your diet:
Milk
Nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios)
Fatty fish (eg salmon and tuna)
Eggs
Rice and oats
Gogi berries
Mushrooms
Bananas
Tomatoes (*but highly acidic so can be problematic for those with acid reflux)
Speak with your healthcare practitioner
If you are thinking of taking melatonin, you should always speak to your doctor first to ensure it’s an appropriate supplementation for you. You want to rule out any complications with medical conditions and/or medications you’re taking. Your doctor may also be able to advise you on the correct dosage, brand, and type (e.g. fast or slow release) you should be taking. Remember - it is a hormone, just like testosterone, serotonin, insulin, estrogen, so it should be used with care.
And while it may be useful for some, as a sleep coach I would always advise my clients to first try boosting melatonin levels naturally and shifting their own behaviours to promote healthy sleep habits. If you’re curious on how you can improve your sleep, reach out to me for a no obligation, complimentary discovery call.
