What is melatonin?
If you were to call the human body the cheapest chemical factory on the planet you wouldn't be far wrong. We make hundreds of different chemicals and compounds every day, all without prescription or any pharmaceutical knowledge. One of these many substances is called melatonin. It is created in the center of the brain in the part called the pineal gland. This gland is about the size of a pea and during the day doesn't actually produce anything. However at night it starts to work overtime, making melatonin which is then pumped into the blood stream.
Now the next question on your lips is probably 'why?'. Well believe it or not the human body has its own internal 'body clock' called SCN or supra-chiasmatic nucleus (if you really have to know). This clock is effected by sunlight and darkness. Basically when the day begins and it gets light the SCN sends messages to the brain saying 'come on, time to shake a leg'. The brain then starts producing a chemical reaction to make us more active. When darkness falls the SCN again sends out messages, this time saying 'time to sleep'. The brain then tells the pineal gland to start its melatonin production. The melatonin, when pumped into our blood streams, makes us feel drowsy and start wanting to go to bed. So you can say that melatonin is our very own natural sedative. As we don't produce any melatonin during daylight hours there is none in our blood, which is a good thing as otherwise we would be falling asleep all the time. Research shows that children often produce more melatonin in order to sleep longer. This fits in nicely because when we sleep we also produce our growth hormones.
Now I bet you are thinking, 'wouldn't it be amazing if we could produce this melatonin artificially?' Well actually we can. Not only is it available to buy but it is the only hormone you can get without a prescription from the doctor. The reason you can buy it in shops is that it is contained in some foods. Unlike Prozac. Now another question you should be all asking yourselves is 'is it safe?'. Well the fact is that no one has ever reported any case of toxicity when using melatonin, even when taking huge doses. But opinion among the medical profession is divided on the advantages of it. Research has confirmed that using artificial melatonin too much or in too great a quantity can actually reset our internal body clock, leading to even more sleeplessness.
What scientists have learnt is that melatonin can be of benefit if taken at the correct time and it can also help people who work shifts or those suffering from jet lag and need to reset their internal body clocks. The fact of the matter is that while melatonin is indeed a useful and natural drug, research is still on-going and it could be years before we have all the answers, especially concerning long term effects of using melatonin.
