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Post by lilytoes on Oct 4, 2012 11:30:17 GMT -5
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jaye
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Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Oct 4, 2012 12:26:44 GMT -5
SUPER Interesting! I'm gonna have to do a little reading on Melatonin. I couldn't find a dosage in those links anywhere. If you find some information on how much to take, post back.
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jaye
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Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Oct 4, 2012 13:17:44 GMT -5
So I started looking up Melatonin. Turns out it's a hormone so we need to be careful with supplemetation. Some side effects can be lowered libido and possibly weight gain.
It sounds like there are some things we can do to keep our natural Melatonin production healthy - avoid blue light sources (screens) in the evening and sleep in total darkness.
From Wikipedia... "Circadian rhythmIn humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, a small endocrine gland[25] located in the center of the brain but outside the blood–brain barrier. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature, but it is the central nervous system (specifically the suprachiasmatic nuclei, or SCN)[25] that controls the daily cycle in most components of the paracrine and endocrine systems[26][27] rather than the melatonin signal (as was once postulated).
[edit] Light dependenceProduction of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light to the retina and permitted by darkness. Its onset each evening is called the dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO).
It is principally blue light, around 460 to 480 nm, that suppresses melatonin,[32] increasingly with increased light intensity and length of exposure. Until recent history, humans in temperate climates were exposed to few hours of (blue) daylight in the winter; their fires gave predominantly yellow light. Wearing glasses that block blue light in the hours before bedtime may avoid melatonin loss. Kayumov et al. showed that light containing only wavelengths greater than 530 nm does not suppress melatonin in bright-light conditions.[33] Use of blue-blocking goggles the last hours before bedtime has also been advised for people who need to adjust to an earlier bedtime, as melatonin promotes sleepiness.[34]
When used several hours before sleep according to the phase response curve for melatonin in humans, small amounts of melatonin shift the circadian clock earlier, thus promoting earlier sleep onset and morning awakening.[35]"
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Post by courtney on Oct 4, 2012 13:26:29 GMT -5
So I started looking up Melatonin. Turns out it's a hormone so we need to be careful with supplemetation. I am so glad I read this. I have used melatonin on and off over the past few years and thought nothing of it. Your research prompted me to research further and it is indeed an antiestrogenic hormone. I would love to find more information on the subject, but most seems to be related to endometrial cancer. This definitely makes me check and double-check all supplements that I am taking.
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jaye
Full Member
Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Oct 4, 2012 13:57:29 GMT -5
So I started looking up Melatonin. Turns out it's a hormone so we need to be careful with supplemetation. I am so glad I read this. I have used melatonin on and off over the past few years and thought nothing of it. Your research prompted me to research further and it is indeed an antiestrogenic hormone. I would love to find more information on the subject, but most seems to be related to endometrial cancer. This definitely makes me check and double-check all supplements that I am taking. Yes! I'm really careful, now, since a bad experience I had with Maca.
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Post by Karen on Oct 4, 2012 17:42:56 GMT -5
I tried melatonin to help me sleep a few years ago when I was going through the worst of my pain. It helped me fall asleep somewhat, but in order for me to avoid zombie-mode the next day, I could only take a small amount. It is indeed a hormone that our own body produces and helps induce sleep.
And your article was correct about blue lights in particular suppressing it. There's a lot of research on light therapy and how it affects our daily rhythm. Interestingly enough, we can encourage natural melatonin as well by not only eliminating blue light, but being around a more red light, which can trick our minds into mimicking the sunset. We had a lighting supplier come into work and do a presentation on this - super fascinating stuff.
If you're going to try melatonin, be sure to take it at night and take the absolute smallest dose you can and slowly increase. If I recall, I got some that were 5 (mg? mcg?) but didn't always take a full pill - sometime I only took half. Or, just encourage your body's own production by sleeping in a dark room, avoiding computer/tv screens for 1/2 to an hour before bed, and avoid anything else that has a blue light in it (like some alarm clocks).
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Post by KSA on Oct 19, 2012 9:44:40 GMT -5
My sleep supplement has melatonin in it I find this supplement to be the best for those sleepless nights. The red light trick is something I did not know about but what a great idea. Thanks girls
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