Melatonin is produced by the tiny pineal gland that is located in the middle of the brain. Your body clock tells the pineal gland to produce melatonin when it gets dark in the evening. You start getting sleepy and your body temperature drops. This is part of the body process called circadian rhythm.
Unfortunately, our body produces the highest levels of melatonin during puberty, and as we age our body produces less and less melatonin. By the time we are seniors, our body produces very little of the hormone.
Besides helping get a good night’s sleep, melatonin is one of the more powerful antioxidants and has an advantage over other antioxidants because it can pass through the blood-brain barrier and directly help protect the brain and its functioning. This is critical because other antioxidants are limited because they can’t pass through the blood-brain barrier.
This amazing hormone also has many positive benefits in dealing with neurodegenerative diseases and improving immune systems. Research has shown how beneficial melatonin is in protecting the brain from the ravages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. While there are no cures for these horrible diseases, melatonin has been shown to have great benefits in delaying these diseases, as well as helping people cope with the diseases by reducing the symptoms.
Recent studies have shown that people with Alzheimer’s have extremely low levels of melatonin. These levels are much lower that the typical low levels of melatonin found in older people. These results show that melatonin levels could be one of the earliest indicators of Alzheimer’s.
The research results show that it is important to start supplementing with melatonin sooner rather than later. According to research, adults need to start taking melatonin supplements before their levels of this hormone become dangerously low.
Other health advantages of melatonin include reducing your risk of stroke by neutralizing free radicals in your body before they can do much damage. Your immune system will also remain stronger because of the reduction of free radicals and the fact that you will be sleeping sounder. The importance of getting enough quality sleep has been proven to greatly improve your immune system.
So now we know we need to be taking a melatonin supplement, but how much? Dosage can vary from 1-3 milligrams and you will probably have to do some experimenting. If you wake up feeling groggy and drugged, you will have to reduce your dosage. Keep experimenting until you find a right dose.
Make sure you get your melatonin from a well-known company so you don’t have to worry about taking an inferior product. You can also find timed-released supplements that work better for some people because most of the regular supplements will release most of the melatonin at once and after five or six hours, you end up waking up.
Don’t wait any longer. It is time to start taking this amazing hormone and antioxidant.