Welcome to the second of many entries all about how you can sleep better and feel more rested! Last time, we discussed sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and sleep opportunity. This entry will dive into something many people know about and likely take because they feel like it helps them sleep. This common supplement is called melatonin and I will discuss exactly how melatonin works, some misconceptions, and who benefits from it the most! Let’s start with what melatonin is.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in our body that regulates the timing of your sleep. Take careful note that it helps with the timing and not the generation of sleep. Melatonin is often called the hormone of darkness because what triggers its production is a lack of light, but it has nothing to do with sleep beyond that. Many people will take melatonin and feel like they sleep better and go to sleep faster but this is largely a placebo effect, according to UC Berkley sleep scientist Dr. Matthew Walker. Dr. Walker wrote a book called Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams and I highly recommend it to anyone who is either interested in sleep or is looking for information to sleep better!

Another issue that we run into when it comes to melatonin is its lack of regulation from the FDA. Why is this important? Are you going to die if you take too much melatonin? It’s important because the amount of melatonin varies from pill to pill. The bottle at your local Target may say 5mg but because it isn’t regulated, that actual amount varies from 40%-400%. This has a wide range of effects and makes it a finicky supplement. Long-term usage of melatonin will cause your pineal gland to stop making melatonin altogether, which will make sleeping even more difficult because now you’re reliant on outside sources for your melatonin. On average, the amount of extra sleep you obtain is a little over 3 minutes. This is an insignificant amount of sleep and not worth taking the supplement for.

“But Kevin, you don’t understand! I have kids and when I give them melatonin, they are out like a light!” While I don’t have kids of my own, I understand the much needed peace that comes when they’re in bed but if your kids are having difficulty sleeping, melatonin will not be a long-term solution. It will function more as a band-aid, and it will make them dependent on the supplement to sleep. There are better ways!



At the start of this, I stated there are people who benefit from melatonin beyond a placebo effect. There are 3 groups of people that fall in that category: shift workers, the elderly, and those experiencing jetlag. The reason these groups of people benefit from melatonin revolves around the SCN (superchiasmatic nucleus), which functions as your body’s internal clock, and each of these groups have circumstances that inhibit the SCN’s normal function. The SCN is highly influenced by light so shift worker’s experience decreased quality of sleep because they’re sleeping against their natural circadian rhythm, dictated by the SCN. Those who are jetlagged have bodies that think they’re in a different time zone so it can be difficult to fall asleep when needed. Lastly, as we age, our brains begin to deteriorate in many areas. For the elderly, we know that their sleep can be shallow, short, and inconsistent. What do all of these three groups have in common? Sleep timing is an issue! Since melatonin helps with the timing of sleep, it should make sense why these groups of people should be taking it to help with their sleep.

Fun fact for your next party: Beta amyloid is a sticky, toxic amino acid that builds in all of our brains. When we go to sleep, it is mostly washed away by the glymphatic system in our brains. When we don’t sleep as much as we need to for many years, beta amyloid stays in our brain. This amino acid is linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s!