Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that promotes sleepiness. The melatonin your brain produces helps regulate your circadian rhythm — the internal clock that tells your body when to sleep and when to be awake over a roughly 24-hour cycle.
Even though melatonin is naturally produced by your body, over-the-counter melatonin supplements (exogenous melatonin) are also available. They are packaged and marketed as sleep aids and can be made synthetically or from animal glands.
Understanding Your Body’s Melatonin Production
Before seeking out melatonin that was made in a lab or bottled in a factory, why not look for ways to boost the unbranded, bespoke version produced by your very own brain? It’s easier than you might think. And asking the right questions can help shed some light on how your natural melatonin works. Let’s start with the basics.
How and When Does Your Brain Produce Melatonin?
Melatonin is produced at night in the brain’s pineal gland in response to signals from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a special group of neurons in the hypothalamus. As the master clock of your circadian rhythm, the SCN is attuned — via the retina and optic nerve — to the cycle of changing light we experience every 24 hours. In the dark of night, the SCN prompts the pineal gland to secrete melatonin. The TL; DR here is — to produce melatonin, you have to be in the dark.
How Does Melatonin Make You Feel Sleepy at Night?
After dark, melatonin preps your body for sleep by lowering your body temperature, blood pressure, stress hormones, and alertness. This time of night, which usually falls 2-3 hours before you go to sleep, is known as dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). It marks the start of what the RISE app calls your Melatonin Window, the period when your brain produces its highest levels of melatonin that it will all night. Going to bed during this window will give you the best chance of falling asleep quickly and staying asleep through the night. The RISE app can tell you you’re ideal bedtime each day based on your Melatonin Window.
How Does Light Affect Melatonin Production and Sleep?
Just as darkness prompts the production of melatonin, exposure to light suppresses it. That works out perfectly in the morning, as exposure to sunlight can help you feel more awake as you start your day. But light exposure at night can be problematic, especially in the 90 minutes before bedtime. Using artificial lighting at night can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. Even small amounts of light exposure will inhibit or delay natural melatonin release and make it much more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night.
What Are the Different Forms of Melatonin Supplements?
Some melatonin dietary supplements are made from animal glands, and others are made synthetically. Usually consumed as tablets, capsules, or liquids, melatonin is also available in gummies, patches, creams, and sprays.
How Long Does Melatonin Take to Work?
Different forms of exogenous melatonin are absorbed in different rates. As a rough estimate, melatonin in pill form can begin to take effect within 30 minutes. But it may take as little as 20 minutes or as long as two hours to kick in.
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