The Role and Efficacy of Melatonin
When it comes to melatonin, many people may not know much about it, and even understand it literally as a skin care and whitening product, but the actual functions are quite different.
Melatonin is one of the hormones that each of our bodies secretes and produces. It plays a decisive role in the regulation of our body’s biological clock. If the secretion of melatonin is insufficient, it will cause a lot of physical discomfort. Today, we will give you a popular science on the efficacy and role of melatonin, and who is suitable for supplementing and taking melatonin.
Table of Melatonine
The Role and Efficacy of Melatonin
Improve sleep quality and adjust sleep time
Melatonin is the main hormone that regulates our nocturnal sleep. It regulates day and night sleep and allows us to form a regular sleep schedule. This is also the culprit of many insomnia symptoms. Many people suffering from insomnia are mostly deficient in this hormone and need to be supplemented by taking melatonin.
In addition, some people have reversed sleep time, groggy during the day, but full of energy at night, which can also be adjusted by taking melatonin.
Improve body immunity and enhance physical fitness
It has been clinically proven that melatonin can easily enter cells and protect our cells and tissues. To a certain extent, it can inhibit the growth of cancer cells and play an anti-tumor effect. In addition, melatonin can activate our body’s immune system, stimulate the vitality of the body, improve the body’s immunity, and effectively prevent symptoms such as memory loss, depression, and Alzheimer’s.
Whiten and lighten spots, make the skin smooth and elastic
We all know that “sleep is the best beauty agent”. Many people who are troubled by insomnia will have a feeling that the skin is rough and dull. Taking melatonin can activate the vitality of the body, improve the quality of our sleep, so that our skin cells can be repaired, and there is a certain whitening effect. Spot effect, make our whole person look radiant.
Factors Affecting Melatonin
Illumination
The secretion of melatonin is controlled by light, and the secretion level is higher in the dark environment.- Age
After the age of 35, the function of our glands decreases, and the secretion of melatonin gradually decreases, which is also a major reason for “insomnia when we are old”. - Jet lag can also affect melatonin secretion.

Who is Suitable for Taking Melatonin?
People with insomnia or long-term travel and jet lag
We know that the biggest function of melatonin is to improve sleep quality and regulate sleep time, so people with long-term insomnia must supplement melatonin in moderation. In addition, people who travel for a long time may be troubled by jet lag. Taking melatonin in moderation will help us overcome jet lag as soon as possible and improve sleep quality.
Middle-aged and elderly people and people with weak immunity
It has been clinically proven that the amount of melatonin produced by the body of middle-aged people after the age of 40 will gradually decrease, which is one of the reasons why the quality of sleep deteriorates with age. Therefore, people can supplement melatonin in moderation after the age of 40. In addition, melatonin has the effect of improving immunity, so it is suitable for people with weak immune system to take it in moderation.

Get Melatonin Quotation
The well-known functions of melatonin are mainly to improve sleep quality (dosage 0.1~0.3mg), shorten the time to wake up before going to bed and fall asleep, improve sleep quality, significantly reduce the number of awakenings during sleep, short light sleep stage, deep sleep stage Prolonged, the next morning arousal threshold decreased. There is a strong function of adjusting the time difference.
The biggest feature of melatonin should be that it is the strongest endogenous free radical scavenger ever discovered. The basic function of melatonin is to participate in the antioxidant system to prevent oxidative damage to cells. In this respect, its efficacy exceeds that of all known substances in the body. The latest research proves that MT is the commander-in-chief of endocrine, which controls the activities of various endocrine glands in the body. Thereby indirectly controlling the functions of our whole body. Its functions are:
prevent lesions
Since MT easily enters cells, it can serve the task of protecting the nuclear DNA. Damage to DNA can lead to cancer.
If you have enough Mel in your blood, you are less prone to cancer.
Melatonin absorbed by the brain is concentrated in the midbrain and hypothalamus, which enhances the activity of brain pyridoxal kinase, thereby promoting the decarboxylation of glutamic acid to form γ-aminobutyric acid, and the decarboxylation of serotonin to form Serotonin, the increased content of these two inhibitory neurotransmitters, has a regulating and sedative effect on the central nervous system.
In addition to AVT, the peptides produced by the pineal gland include thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LRH), which are the same as those produced by the hypothalamus. Gonadotropin (GnH) (FSH, LH) and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) were decreased after melatonin injection, while growth hormone (GH) was increased. Removal of the pineal gland causes pituitary hypertrophy, the secretion of GnH (FSH, LH) and ACTH in the pituitary increases, while the secretion of prolactin (PRL) and antidiuretic hormone (ADH) decreases.
Pineal hormone has an inhibitory effect on the reproductive system Chemicalbook. Clinically, pineal chief cell tumors can lead to delayed puberty, and pineal teratoma can be complicated by precocious puberty due to the exclusion of chief cells. Ambient light and sympathetic nerves can affect reproductive system function by controlling the synthesis
Some Questions about Melatonin
Melatonin, a hormone synthesized by the pineal gland from tryptophan, is best known for improving sleep. The secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland shows a strong physiological cycle law, which is related to the alternation of day and night, with less secretion during the day and more secretion at night.
The pineal gland reduces the number of awakenings during sleep by shortening the wake-up time before bedtime and the time to fall asleep; by shortening the light sleep stage and prolonging the deep sleep stage, it reduces the wake-up threshold the next morning.
One category is people who need jet lag and shifts. This population has difficulty falling asleep and waking up due to deviations in circadian rhythms and expected sleep and work hours. Sleep and wake times can be adjusted by supplementing exogenous melatonin. The other category is middle-aged and elderly people. With age, the pineal gland gradually shrinks until it becomes calcified, and the corresponding secretion of melatonin decreases, resulting in a weakening of the rhythm of the biological clock, resulting in decreased sleep and early awakening. By supplementing melatonin, it can promote sleep and deepen sleep.
Although melatonin is generally safe, there is insufficient research on its safety in children and pregnant women, so it is not recommended for certain special populations, such as children and pregnant women. In addition, it is not suitable for people with special diseases such as depression.
For people who simply need to improve their sleep, it is recommended to take melatonin about an hour before bedtime. For people who need jet lag, if you want to take melatonin to prevent jet lag, you should start taking melatonin a few days before departure, preferably about an hour before going to bed at the destination, to help the body adapt to the new time zone.
Melatonin’s MT1 and MT2 receptors are highly susceptible to “desensitization,” a marked decrease in activity following exposure to doses of the hormone above normal concentrations. When people buy health products that can contain melatonin, they need to clarify its single-dose specification. If you bought a tablet, you can take it apart. It is recommended to start with a small dose, 0.1mg-0.3mg melatonin can improve sleep, and 0.3mg-0.5mg melatonin can improve insomnia caused by circadian rhythm disorders. Long-term use of high doses of melatonin should be avoided unless advised by a physician to reduce the chance of developing melatonin resistance.
For people who are prone to insomnia, in addition to considering supplementing exogenous melatonin, it is also recommended to make full use of endogenous melatonin. On the one hand, the rhythm of melatonin secretion is often closely related to the cycle of light changes in the environment. Light source stimulation before bed can inhibit the secretion of melatonin. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid looking at mobile phones and tablets for a long time before going to bed. In addition, you also need to pay attention to the problem of indoor lighting, and if necessary, you can speed up falling asleep by pulling curtains, wearing eye masks, etc. On the other hand, it is recommended to go to bed and get up on time to form a more regular sleep schedule.
It’s not that you can’t sleep, melatonin is useful.
There are many reasons for insomnia. Only insomnia related to circadian rhythm (biological clock) imbalance can melatonin be effective. For healthy people who do not have melatonin deficiency and have difficulty falling asleep due to anxiety and other reasons, the actual effect of melatonin is very “weak”.
Therefore, melatonin is only useful for workers who work day and night shifts, people whose sleep time is shifted later, and people who need jet lag. Trying to use melatonin to prolong total sleep time also has little effect.
For now, it is safe to use for at least a few days or weeks. However, if taken for a long time, it may cause:
- Affect the body’s melatonin secretion;
- Increase the burden on liver and kidney;
- Affect fertility;
- Poor spirit, distracted attention, reduced reaction speed and sensitivity; (mechanical operations, dangerous operators must be careful)
- Melatonin can interact with certain medications (with blood clotting disorders, depression, epilepsy, people with organ transplants, people taking aspirin…).
In short, the ad is right, enough and effective sleep is good for your health. However, melatonin is not a universal sleep aid. It has a relatively clear adaptation to the population and also has drug resistance problems. Therefore, it is still necessary to be cautious when purchasing and taking health care products containing melatonin. If you encounter long-term insomnia, it is still recommended to go to the hospital, listen to the doctor’s advice, and receive comprehensive treatment including drug treatment, psychological counseling and lifestyle intervention if necessary. Finally, I wish you a sound sleep, a good spirit, and freedom from insomnia.
Reference
- Melatonin – WikiPedia
- Melatonine CAS 73-31-4 – Zhishang Chemical