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Melatonin
Everything you need to know about the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin!We've always been told maintaining a healthy sleep cycle is of utmost importance to your day-to-day health. But have we ever been told why ?Anyone familiar with chronobiology (the science of natural physiological rhythms) knows that the hormone melatonin is the foundation hormone for the circadian rhythm research. In fact, melatonin and sleep research is one of the most fundamental and best-known rhythms in the human body. Disturbance of the melatonin cycle due to any reason interferes with the sleep/wake cycle, which ultimately leads to a number of other neurobehavioral and psychological problems.Due to the widespread misuse of light at night, modern societies no longer hold a clear distinction between day and night. This increase in light pollution at night interferes with the ability of the pineal gland to produce and disperse melatonin properly. As a result, either no or a severely dampened melatonin rhythm exists in individuals exposed to artificial light during the normal dark hours, which includes most people living in cities and in all individuals who work at night. This suppression of a distinct melatonin rhythm and all other biological cycles represents a serious perturbation of the biological clock of many organs, contributing to pathophysiology.Dr. Fauteck also addresses the impact of proper supplemental melatonin and various studies and research done on the topic. Melatonin has beenwidely used to correct problems of sleep disorders, and while this book looks into that research further and breaks down the impact of melatonin and sleep, it also addresses research that addresses melatonin use for its ability to regulate the circadian clock in general and impact other areas of health such oxidative stress, neuropsychiatric disorders, headaches, chronic pain, digestion, diabetes, fertility, pregnancy, cancer, and many age-related diseases.In this book, Dr. Fauteck summarizes critical information related to the necessity of maintaining regular biological rhythms and describes the pathological consequences of circadian rhythm disturbances. He provides a clear description of how melatonin is produced and secreted, how the prevailing artificially imposed light/dark cycle can disturb its rhythm, and how this translates into other potential pathologies.
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Published April 3, 2017
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June 23, 2025
He starts by a weak attempt at debunking wild claims made for Melatonin....viz: Melatonin experienced its hype in the 1990s, especially in the USA. Because it was lauded as a miracle drug, many Americans fell for the marketing ploys in books such as The Melatonin Miracle:.....However, in “Melatonin: Breakthrough Discoveries That Can Help You” the studies and tests all rejected the miraculous promises of the Melatonin Miracle publication.
Then immediately commences to make fairly extravagant claims:.....But research interest in melatonin has grown enormously. A total of 21,893 reviews are currently published on PubMed (as of January 2017) that deal with the effects of melatonin.
I guess my main concern is that he quotes a lot of single studies to make claims and I have grave doubts about the veracity of single studies. However, it's certainly interesting....a bit repetitive....and I’ve extracted some key passages that caught my attention, as follows:
"I. Fundamentals of Melatonin Research
Hormones, organs, our whole body follow a certain rhythm, which is subsequently subjected to the time of day........Science has long known that sex hormones are not at their peak before going to sleep, but rather in the morning.....For medical diagnostics, it is also important to observe the laws of chronobiology: a blood analysis taken in the evening shows more blood corpuscles than in the morning.......Research has shown that heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature fluctuate rhythmically during the day. For example, your body temperature is higher in the morning than in the evening.
People who do shift work every day, suffer much more frequently from diabetes, hypertension, and cancer........Every light pulse is passed from the retina of the eye to the internal clock, the SCN—suprachiasmatic nucleus—which is a switching center of our brain.
melatonin is formed mainly at night in complete darkness.
Other places in the body where melatonin is produced during the day are the digestive tract, blood platelets, retina, testes or ovaries, spinal cord, lymphocytes, and skin. The melatonin that is also produced in daylight has especially local effects, for example, in its effect as an antioxidant.
Melatonin is produced in and released from the pineal gland, especially in the dark. Light, however, suppresses this production......During the day, very little melatonin is produced, Studies have shown that red light significantly and positively affects nightly melatonin production and can even help people with a sleep disorder........Every regular biological process automatically creates its own biological rhythm. In turn, almost all rhythms are interrelated.......Circadian rhythm is a biological rhythm with a periodic duration of approximately twenty-four hours.......Light is the strongest external clock of the circadian system.........If a rhythm has a duration of fewer than twenty-four hours, one speaks of an ultradian rhythm; more than twenty-four hours is an infradian rhythm.
Rhythms and mental health was established (Blum et al. 2014). Our sensation of hunger follows an ultradian rhythm of about four hours, which seems to be regulated primarily by dopamine,
The circannual rhythm has a duration of roughly one year.
Do you have a greater need for sleep or greater appetite for noodles, potatoes, and other starchy foods in the winter months? Then you can thank your circannual rhythm.....All the rhythms that our body produces itself are called endogenous rhythms, including, for example, the heart or respiratory rate, or the rhythmic hormone release.......Cool temperatures in the morning make us wake up, no matter how deep the sleep.....Regardless of food intake, the pancreas pours out insulin three times a day: morning, noon, and evening. But the most important pulse generator in our body—melatonin—can synchronize all rhythms.
Our body’s rhythms are based on a “main clock” and many “secondary clocks.” The main clock, the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus), sits in the brain.
The SCN provides the circadian rhythm and transmits it via the nervous system and the hormones to the other organs.....Besides melatonin, the hormone cortisol (produced in the adrenal gland) plays a key role in our circadian rhythm....reaching its peak at 8: 30 a.m.
Because melatonin makes us sleep in the night, cortisol gets us up in the morning......The elderly, the melatonin level is significantly lower, and the nightly release takes place for significantly fewer hours than in children, adolescents, or younger adults.....More than 80 percent of all elderly people have a melatonin deficiency!
Adults seem to have two phases of sleep in sleep-medical research. On the one hand, the first four hours are the so-called vital sleeping phase. All additional hours of sleep are what are referred to as optional sleep in adults
A study investigated the effect of so-called blue light on mobile phones or computers. While it does not show any negative effects on our body during the day, it seems to be very negative to our rhythm during the night, as it inhibits the formation of melatonin and affects our sleep.
Initial investigations show that light with other wavelengths (e.g., red light) influenced the melatonin production less strongly (Bonmati-Carrion et al. 2014).......... A permanent source of light damages sleep and thus the health of your child.......Serotonin, the body’s happy hormone, is formed from the amino acid tryptophan and is further transformed into melatonin during the night.......Serotonin is also released during physical activity, in addition to many other hormones that have a positive effect on your health......Serotonin acts as a messenger for some of our most important body functions, such as the regeneration of the liver and pancreas, or blood coagulation, as well as our gastrointestinal activity......A serotonin deficiency is very often responsible for sleep disorders, depression, impotence, fatigue, and even breathing problems......Melatonin is no longer produced in the body to a sufficient degree. Since serotonin is the main precursor for melatonin production in the evening, it is also possible to explain why serotonin deficiency can lead to insomnia.
The melatonin receptors in the human body fulfill different functions depending on their location. For example, melatonin acts directly on our metabolism through its specific receptors in the gastrointestinal tract. In the brain, it controls cognitive performance and sleep behavior. In the cardiovascular system, it lowers heart rate and blood pressure (Söderquist et al. 2015).
The protective qualities and positive effects of melatonin extend to all of our cells, regardless of whether the melatonin was formed on the spot, originated from the pineal gland, or was ingested as a supplement. For example, melatonin has the ability to reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy, while also increasing the effectiveness of such treatment......Melatonin leads a double life and is also an extremely important and effective free radical scavenger. Melatonin has a high antioxidant effect and also intensifies the activity of the body’s own antioxidative capacity (Reiter and Robinson 1995).......As an antioxidant, melatonin acts against the destructive potential of free radicals and protects us from cataracts, stomach ulcers, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, and AIDS, among others......More than 10,000 free radicals are generated daily in every cell, primarily from endogenous sources in natural processes..
The antioxidant potential of your body decreases with increasing age,
The brain, by the way, is most susceptible to free radicals. The damage they cause is irreparable and dramatic; just think about diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or multiple sclerosis!.....It has been shown that melatonin is more potent in controlling free radicals than vitamin C and vitamin E (Reiter et al. 2014a)!
Melatonin is not only able to release electrons, but also to share them. It has a special gift that makes it such an effective antioxidant.
Remember that cell division also follows a circadian rhythm. Researchers have now found that cancer drugs have an even greater effect when administered just at the moment the cells divide (Ortiz-).......If the day and night rhythms during the week differ too much from those on the weekend, the body must permanently adapt itself to the new rhythm—with
serious health consequences Again, these are the classical diseases of our time that increasingly occur, such as excess weight, diabetes, heart and cardiovascular disease, and cancer. A direct connection between the development of these diseases and disturbed melatonin rhythm can no longer be ignored.
Be aware that your body works like a clock.....Try to make as few changes as possible to your body rhythm.
Studies have shown that melatonin improves the quality of life in old age and can prevent or mitigate diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s, arthritis, Parkinson’s, and gastric ulcers) by interfering with the production of free radicals..It also provides protection against cancer cells, viruses, and bacteria that affect our aging process. Influenza viruses especially often have very serious and life-threatening consequences for the elderly.
One thing is known: a healthy sleep improves long-term memory and helps to solve complicated tasks better. Numerous studies (for example, Giskeødegård et al. 2015; Davies et al. 2014) are constantly investigating the relationship between insufficient sleep and the occurrence of metabolic disorders, such as fatigue and diabetes.
A study with 122 depressed patients showed astounding effects when patients were exposed to bright light for only half an hour a day (Lam et al. 2016)—a result that provides hope for many people that is cost-effective and without side effects. This therapy primarily influences the circadian rhythm and thus melatonin production.
And recently, an investigation has shown that depression can be predicted by the melatonin levels contained in saliva (Sundberg et al. 2016). You can see the very strong correlation among depression, melatonin, and altered sleep.,,,,,,The scientists concluded that if elderly people are exposed to daylight every day, sleep phases can be lengthened and circadian rhythms corrected. Other positive effects are that anxiety and insomnia are significantly reduced (Karami et al. 2016).
Studies have shown that electromagnetic fields can cause cancer, lead to miscarriages, trigger depression, and so forth......[Actually, I think this research has been soundly critiqued and the claims may not be correct]. What about the alarm clock next to the bed? Or the mobile phone on the night table? Experts advise keeping a distance of at least one
arm’s length.
Even the smallest amount, especially of blue light, is sufficient to block the activity of the pineal gland. Light can not only suppress production, but it can also shift the time at which the pineal gland is active, which results in the release of reduced melatonin at the wrong time. Paracetamol, when administered in the evening, has been shown to inhibit melatonin formation to the same extent as ibuprofen and aspirin. If, on the other hand, these products are taken early during the day, they have almost no effect on the production of nocturnal melatonin.
Many studies have shown that most people sleep considerably worse after coffee consumption, even if they are not aware of this......In the elderly, tryptophan taken up through food can no longer be converted into melatonin during the night and is therefore more likely to have stimulating effects......You cannot cover the daily requirement of melatonin with just your diet, because, for example, you would have to eat 200 kg of tomatoes to make your melatonin level rise measurably!
Tips for a Melatonin-Friendly Lifestyle Spend more time in sunlight or very bright artificial light. Sleep long enough that you are rested in the morning. Avoid bright lights at night. Do not expose yourself to electromagnetic fields. Do not smoke or drink alcohol.
Do not take any medication that affects melatonin levels. Take breaks often. Avoid frequent air travel over many time zones. Avoid shift work.
II. Melatonin in Practice
Melatonin deficiency has a special effect on our brains, negatively affecting our nightly repair mechanisms. For example, the storage of information to our long-term memory, which takes place predominantly at night, is no longer supported. A serious consequence is that we become more susceptible to early onset dementia.
Chronotherapeutic Approach: Melatonin as a Timer In the case of chronotherapy, where patients want to adjust their internal clock, melatonin amounts of 0.5 mg to 1 mg are sufficient as fast-release dosage forms
Pharmacological Therapy:.....In the case of supporting therapies, such as those for a stroke or myocardial infarction, higher dosages are required.......Quantities of up to 50 mg and more were used successfully
A healthy and ideal sleep time is about seven to eight hours......Sleep disorder refers to a state when a person gets fewer than six hours sleep per night over a period of at least six months.......About 35 percent of the total population suffers from sleep disorders.
Chronotherapy: Depending on the nature of the rhythm disturbance, the exact time of ingestion of melatonin should be chosen. The rule of thumb is that a dose between 6 p.m. and midnight shifts the rhythm forward. An intake after 2 a.m. shifts the rhythm backward (that is, to the previous day)...... An ideal time would be between 10 and 11 p.m. of the new time zone to treat jet lag, or approximately one hour before the new rest phase for shift workers.
Recently, a study found that caffeine, especially when consumed at night, has a particularly dramatic effect on our circadian rhythm. A single cup of coffee or tea can delay the release of melatonin, and thus sleep, by up to an hour.
Even cancer patients who often suffer from insomnia can be helped with a melatonin regimen, per the results of an Indian study.
What is common to most neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, is a day-night rhythm that seems to be completely out of step. Patients suffer from severe fatigue during the day and sleep problems at night.
While Parkinson’s disease progresses, melatonin production decreases in the brain (Breen et al. 2016)......People with Parkinson’s who take melatonin show fewer and weaker symptoms than those who do not. Today, we know that melatonin is not only a sleep-inducing hormone, but also a neuroprotective one. Melatonin can reduce, sometimes even prevent, the loss of the nerve cells....Studies with children confirmed that the administration of melatonin reduced the severity and frequency of epileptic seizures....Schizophrenia is another neuropsychiatric disorder found to be associated with disturbed circadian rhythms and decreasing melatonin levels. It is therefore assumed that melatonin could help in the treatment of the disease.....Depression also manifests itself physically, for example, sleepiness during the daytime, sleeplessness during the nighttime, muscle pain, gastrointestinal discomfort, and headaches.
People suffering from depression almost always have a functional disorder of their serotonin level. .....There are studies that show melatonin can improve at least some symptoms of depression, especially those related to sleep.
A timed release of melatonin is a supplement designed to release the hormone exactly in the amount that mimics a healthy natural melatonin level. It is released stepwise so that the melatonin level increases rapidly after the supplement has been taken and then remains at a high level for several hours. The values then fall off again quickly in the morning to allow a wake up.
Numerous studies have shown that migraines can be successfully treated by melatonin.
79 percent of the migraine attacks among study participants were preceded by a sleepless night......A group of poor sleepers suffered significantly more frequently from migraines than the comparison groups, which is an important finding for the pharmacological prevention of migraines.
Melatonin has been shown to be effective in the regulation of blood pressure.......It is also one of the most effective antioxidants in our body.
Scientists suspect that melatonin serves as universal protection of the stomach lining......Various studies have shown that melatonin has beneficial effects on irritable bowel syndrome by, among other things, reducing abdominal and rectal pain and improving the associated sleep disturbances. The antioxidative effect of melatonin also seems to play a role here.......Various studies have shown that melatonin is an important regulator of both inflammation and motility in the gastrointestinal tract, suggesting that complementary melatonin might have a positive effect on large intestinal inflammation
All these studies suggest that there is a relationship between low melatonin levels and the development of diabetes.
Melatonin has a direct influence on tumor growth and, in parallel, has an antioxidant effect.
Recent studies suggest that melatonin inhibits the growth of the tumor, while alleviating the negative side effects of some cancer therapies2016).
Cancer. Like breast cancer, prostate cancer appears to be associated with too little sleep.
A study concluded that this was mainly true for men who had late stage prostate cancer.
In a further animal experiment, melatonin increased the survival of mice with prostate cancer by 33 percent—regardless of whether the melatonin was administered at the beginning or during the advanced stage of the tumor.
So what's my overall take on the book? I have reservations about his use of single studies and the breadth of claims being made (it does sound like he’s claiming that Melatonin is a miracle drug....a bit like “snake oil”) but on the whole, interesting and I certainly learned some new things. Four stars from me.
Then immediately commences to make fairly extravagant claims:.....But research interest in melatonin has grown enormously. A total of 21,893 reviews are currently published on PubMed (as of January 2017) that deal with the effects of melatonin.
I guess my main concern is that he quotes a lot of single studies to make claims and I have grave doubts about the veracity of single studies. However, it's certainly interesting....a bit repetitive....and I’ve extracted some key passages that caught my attention, as follows:
"I. Fundamentals of Melatonin Research
Hormones, organs, our whole body follow a certain rhythm, which is subsequently subjected to the time of day........Science has long known that sex hormones are not at their peak before going to sleep, but rather in the morning.....For medical diagnostics, it is also important to observe the laws of chronobiology: a blood analysis taken in the evening shows more blood corpuscles than in the morning.......Research has shown that heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature fluctuate rhythmically during the day. For example, your body temperature is higher in the morning than in the evening.
People who do shift work every day, suffer much more frequently from diabetes, hypertension, and cancer........Every light pulse is passed from the retina of the eye to the internal clock, the SCN—suprachiasmatic nucleus—which is a switching center of our brain.
melatonin is formed mainly at night in complete darkness.
Other places in the body where melatonin is produced during the day are the digestive tract, blood platelets, retina, testes or ovaries, spinal cord, lymphocytes, and skin. The melatonin that is also produced in daylight has especially local effects, for example, in its effect as an antioxidant.
Melatonin is produced in and released from the pineal gland, especially in the dark. Light, however, suppresses this production......During the day, very little melatonin is produced, Studies have shown that red light significantly and positively affects nightly melatonin production and can even help people with a sleep disorder........Every regular biological process automatically creates its own biological rhythm. In turn, almost all rhythms are interrelated.......Circadian rhythm is a biological rhythm with a periodic duration of approximately twenty-four hours.......Light is the strongest external clock of the circadian system.........If a rhythm has a duration of fewer than twenty-four hours, one speaks of an ultradian rhythm; more than twenty-four hours is an infradian rhythm.
Rhythms and mental health was established (Blum et al. 2014). Our sensation of hunger follows an ultradian rhythm of about four hours, which seems to be regulated primarily by dopamine,
The circannual rhythm has a duration of roughly one year.
Do you have a greater need for sleep or greater appetite for noodles, potatoes, and other starchy foods in the winter months? Then you can thank your circannual rhythm.....All the rhythms that our body produces itself are called endogenous rhythms, including, for example, the heart or respiratory rate, or the rhythmic hormone release.......Cool temperatures in the morning make us wake up, no matter how deep the sleep.....Regardless of food intake, the pancreas pours out insulin three times a day: morning, noon, and evening. But the most important pulse generator in our body—melatonin—can synchronize all rhythms.
Our body’s rhythms are based on a “main clock” and many “secondary clocks.” The main clock, the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus), sits in the brain.
The SCN provides the circadian rhythm and transmits it via the nervous system and the hormones to the other organs.....Besides melatonin, the hormone cortisol (produced in the adrenal gland) plays a key role in our circadian rhythm....reaching its peak at 8: 30 a.m.
Because melatonin makes us sleep in the night, cortisol gets us up in the morning......The elderly, the melatonin level is significantly lower, and the nightly release takes place for significantly fewer hours than in children, adolescents, or younger adults.....More than 80 percent of all elderly people have a melatonin deficiency!
Adults seem to have two phases of sleep in sleep-medical research. On the one hand, the first four hours are the so-called vital sleeping phase. All additional hours of sleep are what are referred to as optional sleep in adults
A study investigated the effect of so-called blue light on mobile phones or computers. While it does not show any negative effects on our body during the day, it seems to be very negative to our rhythm during the night, as it inhibits the formation of melatonin and affects our sleep.
Initial investigations show that light with other wavelengths (e.g., red light) influenced the melatonin production less strongly (Bonmati-Carrion et al. 2014).......... A permanent source of light damages sleep and thus the health of your child.......Serotonin, the body’s happy hormone, is formed from the amino acid tryptophan and is further transformed into melatonin during the night.......Serotonin is also released during physical activity, in addition to many other hormones that have a positive effect on your health......Serotonin acts as a messenger for some of our most important body functions, such as the regeneration of the liver and pancreas, or blood coagulation, as well as our gastrointestinal activity......A serotonin deficiency is very often responsible for sleep disorders, depression, impotence, fatigue, and even breathing problems......Melatonin is no longer produced in the body to a sufficient degree. Since serotonin is the main precursor for melatonin production in the evening, it is also possible to explain why serotonin deficiency can lead to insomnia.
The melatonin receptors in the human body fulfill different functions depending on their location. For example, melatonin acts directly on our metabolism through its specific receptors in the gastrointestinal tract. In the brain, it controls cognitive performance and sleep behavior. In the cardiovascular system, it lowers heart rate and blood pressure (Söderquist et al. 2015).
The protective qualities and positive effects of melatonin extend to all of our cells, regardless of whether the melatonin was formed on the spot, originated from the pineal gland, or was ingested as a supplement. For example, melatonin has the ability to reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy, while also increasing the effectiveness of such treatment......Melatonin leads a double life and is also an extremely important and effective free radical scavenger. Melatonin has a high antioxidant effect and also intensifies the activity of the body’s own antioxidative capacity (Reiter and Robinson 1995).......As an antioxidant, melatonin acts against the destructive potential of free radicals and protects us from cataracts, stomach ulcers, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, and AIDS, among others......More than 10,000 free radicals are generated daily in every cell, primarily from endogenous sources in natural processes..
The antioxidant potential of your body decreases with increasing age,
The brain, by the way, is most susceptible to free radicals. The damage they cause is irreparable and dramatic; just think about diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or multiple sclerosis!.....It has been shown that melatonin is more potent in controlling free radicals than vitamin C and vitamin E (Reiter et al. 2014a)!
Melatonin is not only able to release electrons, but also to share them. It has a special gift that makes it such an effective antioxidant.
Remember that cell division also follows a circadian rhythm. Researchers have now found that cancer drugs have an even greater effect when administered just at the moment the cells divide (Ortiz-).......If the day and night rhythms during the week differ too much from those on the weekend, the body must permanently adapt itself to the new rhythm—with
serious health consequences Again, these are the classical diseases of our time that increasingly occur, such as excess weight, diabetes, heart and cardiovascular disease, and cancer. A direct connection between the development of these diseases and disturbed melatonin rhythm can no longer be ignored.
Be aware that your body works like a clock.....Try to make as few changes as possible to your body rhythm.
Studies have shown that melatonin improves the quality of life in old age and can prevent or mitigate diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s, arthritis, Parkinson’s, and gastric ulcers) by interfering with the production of free radicals..It also provides protection against cancer cells, viruses, and bacteria that affect our aging process. Influenza viruses especially often have very serious and life-threatening consequences for the elderly.
One thing is known: a healthy sleep improves long-term memory and helps to solve complicated tasks better. Numerous studies (for example, Giskeødegård et al. 2015; Davies et al. 2014) are constantly investigating the relationship between insufficient sleep and the occurrence of metabolic disorders, such as fatigue and diabetes.
A study with 122 depressed patients showed astounding effects when patients were exposed to bright light for only half an hour a day (Lam et al. 2016)—a result that provides hope for many people that is cost-effective and without side effects. This therapy primarily influences the circadian rhythm and thus melatonin production.
And recently, an investigation has shown that depression can be predicted by the melatonin levels contained in saliva (Sundberg et al. 2016). You can see the very strong correlation among depression, melatonin, and altered sleep.,,,,,,The scientists concluded that if elderly people are exposed to daylight every day, sleep phases can be lengthened and circadian rhythms corrected. Other positive effects are that anxiety and insomnia are significantly reduced (Karami et al. 2016).
Studies have shown that electromagnetic fields can cause cancer, lead to miscarriages, trigger depression, and so forth......[Actually, I think this research has been soundly critiqued and the claims may not be correct]. What about the alarm clock next to the bed? Or the mobile phone on the night table? Experts advise keeping a distance of at least one
arm’s length.
Even the smallest amount, especially of blue light, is sufficient to block the activity of the pineal gland. Light can not only suppress production, but it can also shift the time at which the pineal gland is active, which results in the release of reduced melatonin at the wrong time. Paracetamol, when administered in the evening, has been shown to inhibit melatonin formation to the same extent as ibuprofen and aspirin. If, on the other hand, these products are taken early during the day, they have almost no effect on the production of nocturnal melatonin.
Many studies have shown that most people sleep considerably worse after coffee consumption, even if they are not aware of this......In the elderly, tryptophan taken up through food can no longer be converted into melatonin during the night and is therefore more likely to have stimulating effects......You cannot cover the daily requirement of melatonin with just your diet, because, for example, you would have to eat 200 kg of tomatoes to make your melatonin level rise measurably!
Tips for a Melatonin-Friendly Lifestyle Spend more time in sunlight or very bright artificial light. Sleep long enough that you are rested in the morning. Avoid bright lights at night. Do not expose yourself to electromagnetic fields. Do not smoke or drink alcohol.
Do not take any medication that affects melatonin levels. Take breaks often. Avoid frequent air travel over many time zones. Avoid shift work.
II. Melatonin in Practice
Melatonin deficiency has a special effect on our brains, negatively affecting our nightly repair mechanisms. For example, the storage of information to our long-term memory, which takes place predominantly at night, is no longer supported. A serious consequence is that we become more susceptible to early onset dementia.
Chronotherapeutic Approach: Melatonin as a Timer In the case of chronotherapy, where patients want to adjust their internal clock, melatonin amounts of 0.5 mg to 1 mg are sufficient as fast-release dosage forms
Pharmacological Therapy:.....In the case of supporting therapies, such as those for a stroke or myocardial infarction, higher dosages are required.......Quantities of up to 50 mg and more were used successfully
A healthy and ideal sleep time is about seven to eight hours......Sleep disorder refers to a state when a person gets fewer than six hours sleep per night over a period of at least six months.......About 35 percent of the total population suffers from sleep disorders.
Chronotherapy: Depending on the nature of the rhythm disturbance, the exact time of ingestion of melatonin should be chosen. The rule of thumb is that a dose between 6 p.m. and midnight shifts the rhythm forward. An intake after 2 a.m. shifts the rhythm backward (that is, to the previous day)...... An ideal time would be between 10 and 11 p.m. of the new time zone to treat jet lag, or approximately one hour before the new rest phase for shift workers.
Recently, a study found that caffeine, especially when consumed at night, has a particularly dramatic effect on our circadian rhythm. A single cup of coffee or tea can delay the release of melatonin, and thus sleep, by up to an hour.
Even cancer patients who often suffer from insomnia can be helped with a melatonin regimen, per the results of an Indian study.
What is common to most neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, is a day-night rhythm that seems to be completely out of step. Patients suffer from severe fatigue during the day and sleep problems at night.
While Parkinson’s disease progresses, melatonin production decreases in the brain (Breen et al. 2016)......People with Parkinson’s who take melatonin show fewer and weaker symptoms than those who do not. Today, we know that melatonin is not only a sleep-inducing hormone, but also a neuroprotective one. Melatonin can reduce, sometimes even prevent, the loss of the nerve cells....Studies with children confirmed that the administration of melatonin reduced the severity and frequency of epileptic seizures....Schizophrenia is another neuropsychiatric disorder found to be associated with disturbed circadian rhythms and decreasing melatonin levels. It is therefore assumed that melatonin could help in the treatment of the disease.....Depression also manifests itself physically, for example, sleepiness during the daytime, sleeplessness during the nighttime, muscle pain, gastrointestinal discomfort, and headaches.
People suffering from depression almost always have a functional disorder of their serotonin level. .....There are studies that show melatonin can improve at least some symptoms of depression, especially those related to sleep.
A timed release of melatonin is a supplement designed to release the hormone exactly in the amount that mimics a healthy natural melatonin level. It is released stepwise so that the melatonin level increases rapidly after the supplement has been taken and then remains at a high level for several hours. The values then fall off again quickly in the morning to allow a wake up.
Numerous studies have shown that migraines can be successfully treated by melatonin.
79 percent of the migraine attacks among study participants were preceded by a sleepless night......A group of poor sleepers suffered significantly more frequently from migraines than the comparison groups, which is an important finding for the pharmacological prevention of migraines.
Melatonin has been shown to be effective in the regulation of blood pressure.......It is also one of the most effective antioxidants in our body.
Scientists suspect that melatonin serves as universal protection of the stomach lining......Various studies have shown that melatonin has beneficial effects on irritable bowel syndrome by, among other things, reducing abdominal and rectal pain and improving the associated sleep disturbances. The antioxidative effect of melatonin also seems to play a role here.......Various studies have shown that melatonin is an important regulator of both inflammation and motility in the gastrointestinal tract, suggesting that complementary melatonin might have a positive effect on large intestinal inflammation
All these studies suggest that there is a relationship between low melatonin levels and the development of diabetes.
Melatonin has a direct influence on tumor growth and, in parallel, has an antioxidant effect.
Recent studies suggest that melatonin inhibits the growth of the tumor, while alleviating the negative side effects of some cancer therapies2016).
Cancer. Like breast cancer, prostate cancer appears to be associated with too little sleep.
A study concluded that this was mainly true for men who had late stage prostate cancer.
In a further animal experiment, melatonin increased the survival of mice with prostate cancer by 33 percent—regardless of whether the melatonin was administered at the beginning or during the advanced stage of the tumor.
So what's my overall take on the book? I have reservations about his use of single studies and the breadth of claims being made (it does sound like he’s claiming that Melatonin is a miracle drug....a bit like “snake oil”) but on the whole, interesting and I certainly learned some new things. Four stars from me.
September 1, 2024
I found this book discounted on Amazon; this is my honest review.
-So we start with a few diagrams, one of which is The rhythm of life AKA biological circadian clock, which was quite interesting even if I had seen it before. Then Fauteck continues with a few other ones like algal blooms, which happens every seven year. Nothing to do with melatonin, but still interesting.
-There are a few tests which are fun to do too.
-My first and only LOL is when the author "accuses" melatonin of living a double life! LOL.
-I did learn that there are 3 different forms of release with melatonin. Unfortunately, our bottles (2 different ones) doesn't say which one it is.
-I took one star off because the author repeated over 20 times the words "so-called" while explaining something. It has negative connotations; the implication is that the item you are referring to is not actually the thing that it is called. "so-called photoreceptors" "so-called blue light", etc. Are you saying the word is wrong? The word is not trusty? Invented and used by only one person? What?
-The last several pages of the book are mildly boring, especially if you don't have those diseases. The common method to help with those is to take melatonin of course. The numerous researches are mostly 1. With; 2. Without/placebo 3. Something else. But it doesn't explain how to do it and if you can't find a doctor to support you, you're on your own and depending on which one (s) you have, it could be dangerous.
-Old stats. 2012-2013-2014. It was published in 2019 but surely better, up-to-date stats were available for 2017 or even 2018, no?
-Nothing proved in this book that melatonin was the best antioxidant out there. I always thought it was blueberries; prove me wrong. It did prove though that if you don't sleep well (quality), nothing will be right in your body.
-So we start with a few diagrams, one of which is The rhythm of life AKA biological circadian clock, which was quite interesting even if I had seen it before. Then Fauteck continues with a few other ones like algal blooms, which happens every seven year. Nothing to do with melatonin, but still interesting.
-There are a few tests which are fun to do too.
-My first and only LOL is when the author "accuses" melatonin of living a double life! LOL.
-I did learn that there are 3 different forms of release with melatonin. Unfortunately, our bottles (2 different ones) doesn't say which one it is.
-I took one star off because the author repeated over 20 times the words "so-called" while explaining something. It has negative connotations; the implication is that the item you are referring to is not actually the thing that it is called. "so-called photoreceptors" "so-called blue light", etc. Are you saying the word is wrong? The word is not trusty? Invented and used by only one person? What?
-The last several pages of the book are mildly boring, especially if you don't have those diseases. The common method to help with those is to take melatonin of course. The numerous researches are mostly 1. With; 2. Without/placebo 3. Something else. But it doesn't explain how to do it and if you can't find a doctor to support you, you're on your own and depending on which one (s) you have, it could be dangerous.
-Old stats. 2012-2013-2014. It was published in 2019 but surely better, up-to-date stats were available for 2017 or even 2018, no?
-Nothing proved in this book that melatonin was the best antioxidant out there. I always thought it was blueberries; prove me wrong. It did prove though that if you don't sleep well (quality), nothing will be right in your body.
August 16, 2021
Melatonin is known as the "Swiss army knife" hormone for its multifarious roles in the human body. Its main role is regulating the sleep-wake cycle and harmonizing most of the other hormones in the body. Disturbing the sleep-wake cycle impacts almost all bodily processes and thus is a risk factor for a vast slew of disorders, both mental and physical, including but not limited to depression, diabetes I & II, cancer, and Alzheimer's. Waking and sleeping at the same time of day, everyday, by getting daily sun exposure, avoiding light at night, and supplementing when needed is probably the easiest and most impactful health intervention of all, period. Melatonin is completely non-toxic when supplemented even in very high doses and has 0 side effects besides daytime drowsiness. Because it's cheap, has 0 side effects, and has an outsize impact on disease prevention, regulating our sleep-wake rhythms via safe sun exposure, reducing exposure to artificial light at night, and melatonin supplementation should be a priority for all.
This book is very informative and detailed. All chapters are short and headed by an explanatory title, which makes browsing and referencing very easy. I have only 2 quibbles: the 2nd half does nothing but list diseases that melatonin can fix and provide brief explanations of how. This is a great reference tool but becomes repetitive and dull. 2nd quibble: it often references melatonin's well-studied antioxidant capacity (it's more powerful than vitamins C and E) but often does nothing but assert that, because it's an antioxidant, it'll reduce free radical damage. This is unconvincing and the same can be said of all other antioxidants, weakening the author's claims of melatonin's singular efficacy.
Takeaway: I will supplement .3mg every single night and will wake up at exactly the same time (give or take 30 minutes) every single day, including weekends.
This book is very informative and detailed. All chapters are short and headed by an explanatory title, which makes browsing and referencing very easy. I have only 2 quibbles: the 2nd half does nothing but list diseases that melatonin can fix and provide brief explanations of how. This is a great reference tool but becomes repetitive and dull. 2nd quibble: it often references melatonin's well-studied antioxidant capacity (it's more powerful than vitamins C and E) but often does nothing but assert that, because it's an antioxidant, it'll reduce free radical damage. This is unconvincing and the same can be said of all other antioxidants, weakening the author's claims of melatonin's singular efficacy.
Takeaway: I will supplement .3mg every single night and will wake up at exactly the same time (give or take 30 minutes) every single day, including weekends.
February 3, 2020
The Magic of Melatonin served to be more informational than I initially anticipated. I didn't know a lot of the benefits and research that had been done on melatonin until I learned it in depth from this title and the author.
August 5, 2020
Wow! I had no idea that melatonin was so good!!! This was such an interesting read and had such great information that I never knew about, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning the inner workings of the body and holistic approaches to health.
June 23, 2020
Very interesting read! Melatonin and regular sleep patterns affect our bodies in so many ways.
November 17, 2023
This book affirms everything I was reading about Melatonin whilst holidaying in Spain. I believe it is underrated in so many ways. A very informative read and just what Dr Fauteck orders!
February 22, 2026
This has some of my least favourite tropes in the pop science genre:
- reads like written by a zealous (one weird trick, 10 chapters of explaining how it cures everything)
- not enough hard data, studies cited with simplified conclusions
- not enough practical info. should we take melatonin supplement (sleep section says no sleeping aids)? what about the people who didn't see an improvement with melatonin use? vague allusions to "polluted supplement" like I am at home cutting my own melatonin with god knows what
- conflicting info about how to implement changes.
Overall, it's an overly lengthy sales brochure over miracle hormone melatonin. cool, knew it mattered. it's a bit like saying "don't stress, your depression will get better"
- reads like written by a zealous (one weird trick, 10 chapters of explaining how it cures everything)
- not enough hard data, studies cited with simplified conclusions
- not enough practical info. should we take melatonin supplement (sleep section says no sleeping aids)? what about the people who didn't see an improvement with melatonin use? vague allusions to "polluted supplement" like I am at home cutting my own melatonin with god knows what
- conflicting info about how to implement changes.
Overall, it's an overly lengthy sales brochure over miracle hormone melatonin. cool, knew it mattered. it's a bit like saying "don't stress, your depression will get better"
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