The Sleep Hormone: Melatonin! Can It Be Bad For You?

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life. Can you imagine life without sleep? I can’t! Melatonin is the hero of the show when it comes to sleep. Whether you sleep more, less or sufficient, melatonin does it all for you.

Did you know almost 70 million people have a poor sleep schedule resulting in a decreased quality of sleep? There are almost 30% of people who suffer from sleep related disorders. All of this has one thing in common and that is melatonin.

Having a good quality of sleep at least for 7-8 hours is very good for your mental and physical health. This can only be achieved by maintaining your melatonin production.

But what is melatonin and what does it do for you? Want to know how melatonin can make your life better?

What Is Melatonin?

Melatonin is known as the sleep hormone. It is secreted by your brain, upon the secretion your brain sends a signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. On receiving the signal your body begins to transition from wakefulness to sleepiness and you slowly fall asleep.

Melatonin is produced by our body naturally. Although our daily routine and actions can alter the amount of production of melatonin. The pituitary gland in our brain is responsible for the secretion of melatonin.

Also read: The Healing Benefits Of Lavender For Sleep And Relaxation

Melatonin does not work like a switch, it will only signal your body that it’s night time now and also relaxes your body. Basically it actually informs you that you should sleep now and even prepares your body for sleep.

Did you know Melatonin is also found in the eyes, gut and even in our bone marrow?

What Does Melatonin Do?

Melatonin is associated with your sleep and your circadian rhythm. What is a circadian rhythm you ask? Well, you can say it is our body clock. It’s an internal system of our body that naturally lets you know what you need.

• It tells us when our body needs sleep
• It tell us when we need to wake up
• It also tells us when our body is hungry
• Melatonin helps in regulating the body temperature
• It also helps in managing some hormones (especially their levels)
• Melatonin helps in relaxing the body by binding receptors
• It helps in reducing the nerve activities
• It reduces dopamine levels so that you can fall asleep easily
• It plays a role in managing the day and night cycle of the eyes

Doesn’t melatonin have its hands full? Imagine all these things getting messed up because of the absence of this sleep hormone!

The problem arises when your melatonin levels begin to decrease especially in the night. If you don’t have enough melatonin at night you will have trouble falling or staying asleep.

What Does Melatonin Do For You?

Melatonin does quite a few things for us. It is one of the most important hormones just because it is associated with sleep. You need to sleep well and enough to be sane and lead a healthy, productive life.

Here’s what all melatonin does for you:

1. Helps you fall asleep: If you have come this far, you might now know that melatonin plays a vital role in making us fall asleep. Melatonin secretion is more in the night and less in the day and that’s how we wake and sleep.
2. Keeps our eyes healthy: our eyes and brain are two things which work tirelessly all day so that we can function properly. Our eyes need rest and we can do that only by sleeping.
3. Helps with stomach ulcers & heartburns: did you know that melatonin has antioxidant properties? Well, it does. The antioxidants in melatonin help in reducing stomach ulcers and even heartburns.
4. Helps reduce tinnitus: tinnitus is a condition where your ear keeps ringing constantly. Guess who can help? Yes, you are right! Melatonin helps in reducing tinnitus by decreasing the ringing of ears.
5. Increases growth hormone: since the growth hormone is generally secreted while you are asleep, i think melatonin has a role to play. Logically if you sleep well and for a good amount of time then you’ll have a good amount of growth hormone released in your body!

Endnote

Melatonin is the sleep hormone that makes our lives easier and better if secreted in the perfect quantity. It not just helps us in managing our sleep cycle, it also helps us with our overall health. If you are finding it difficult to fall asleep, it’s possible that your melatonin levels are decreasing.

I suggest you should consult a profession for better help.

I hope by now you are clear with what melatonin is and what it does for us. Did you like reading this blog? Let us know in the comment section. Follow Calm Sage on all social media platforms for more information on mental health related issues.

Thanks for reading

Take care and stay safe!