Sleep

Need to sleep? Study pinpoints optimal melatonin dosage and timing

Need to sleep? Study pinpoints optimal melatonin dosage and timing
Taking melatonin at the right time, in the right dose, could get you a solid night's sleep, says a new study
Taking melatonin at the right time, in the right dose, could get you a solid night's sleep, says a new study
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Taking melatonin at the right time, in the right dose, could get you a solid night's sleep, says a new study
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Taking melatonin at the right time, in the right dose, could get you a solid night's sleep, says a new study

Melatonin is already a popular supplement for those who struggle to get a solid night's sleep. But the dosage of the supplement and the best time to take it has remained largely a trial-and-error endeavor. A new study puts that uncertainty to bed.

Melatonin is a hormone made by our bodies' pineal gland that helps regulate our circadian rhythms, the natural patterns our bodies experience in a 24-hour cycle. It begins to build up in our systems shortly after the sun sets, peaks near dawn, and declines during the daylight hours. For that reason, it's sometimes called the "vampire hormone."

As melatonin floods our brain, it creates a sense of relaxation as it works on receptors that begin to prepare us for a good night's sleep. But we only produce miniscule amounts of the hormone, which has led people to boost our bodies' supplies with over-the-counter supplements to help combat difficulty sleeping. Such difficulties can often be caused by exposure to the light coming from our digital devices, which has been shown to interrupt our natural melatonin cycles.

But what is the best time to take a melatonin supplement for a good rest? And how much should you even take?

In an effort to answer these questions, a group of researchers from Italy, Sweden, and the UK collaborated to review the existing scientific literature on the efficacy of melatonin supplementation.

"Our study is the first systematic attempt to identify the optimal dose and time of administration of exo-MEL to enhance its sleep-promoting effect," write the researchers in a paper published in the Journal of Pineal Research. "Moreover, our results are based on randomized placebo-controlled trials (i.e., the most accurate experimental design in medical research), granting a highly controlled value to the conclusion."

As part of this analysis, the researchers looked at a total of 1,689 observations from studies conducted between 1987 and 2020. They concluded that taking 4 mg of melatonin three hours before bedtime maximized the sleep-inducing effects of the hormone. This, they say, is different from current clinical recommendations of taking 2 mg 30 minutes before a desired sleep time.

While hard-and-fast studies of melatonin's overall efficacy are few, there does seem to be significant anecdotal evidence in scientific literature pointing to melatonin supplementation working well for some individuals and not much better than a placebo for others. And at least one study showed that melatonin supplementation significantly improved overall sleep quality. Being that most experts say that short-term use of melatonin is safe, if you are having trouble getting your shuteye, trying a 4-mg dose three hours before you want to sleep certainly seems worth a try in light of the new study.

Source: Journal of Pineal Research

5 comments
5 comments
Trylon
This contradicts the MIT study from a long time ago that said the optimal dose was only 300mcg (0.3mg), less than 1/13th of the dose recommended here.
Alan
I used to use melatonin and took a 3mg tablet about 10 minutes prior to bed. However, I found that melatonin made me more tired the following day. I felt much better when I stopped depending on it and learned to fall asleep w/o it.
Dr. Thundergod
Most people that have trouble going to sleep often has a less than advantageous understanding of how the process actually works. Melatonin is naturally formed from tryptophan secretion in the pineal gland. It starts off with a signal from the optical nerve that there is less light, as in "here comes the night, go to sleep". When you stare into your cellphone screen or a TV, that optical nerve signal can´t be produced. The same goes for energy levels. If the energy is too high when it´s time to go to bed it´ll be near impossible to fall asleep. So going to the gym in the evening and then "relaxing" afterwards with social media or watching an episode of the favorite show is counterproductive. Do your exercise during the day and turn off all screens at least one hour or more before bedtime and turn off all bright light sources (this includes blocking out light from nearby streets and buildings. We have caveman bodies and caveman brains. It´s really that simple! Once people wrap their heads around this fact, that we are hominins first, hairless beach monkeys that have not evolved or adapted to modern day life at all - it´s quite easy to modify life so that the body and brain functions properly. The more cavelike your habitat is and habits are, the better your caveman body and brain will function. Touching grass, hearing water flow, feeling the breeze against your skin, seeing and touching plants and fur are important things. Often when we deprive ourselves of this we get depressed and seek cheap dopamine hits, either by watching videos or engaging in social media. The remedy to rectify this destructive behavior is simple: Don´t. Do what you´re supposed and evolved to do instead. Adapt to your natural state instead of the opposite.
Alan
@Dr. Thundergod wrote "Most people that have trouble going to sleep often has a less than advantageous understanding of how the process actually works. Melatonin is naturally formed from tryptophan secretion in the pineal gland. It starts off with a signal from the optical nerve that there is less light, as in "here comes the night, go to sleep""
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I believe this is suspect "science", at best.

I am on my desktop computer every night until I go to bed. Often, I am watching TV at the same time I am on the computer. I don' t drink, smoke or do any sort of drugs. I have no problems falling right to sleep.

I think the real problem preventing sleep for most people is too much caffeine and too much life stress. Reduce those and falling to sleep will be easier.
John
How about now staying asleep, few discuss this. I have little trouble falling asleep (sometime noty as soon as others) but I wake up early, wide awake - not for restroom, obvious stress or issues. It's happened for years in various forms. I stopped working out in evening a while ago, tried melatonin, tried hot tubs, hot showers (both seem improvement but impractical and not always successful). Many times with little sleep I'm mostly functional the next day, others I'm a zombie. I never drank caffeine afternoon and gave it up entirely about a YEAR AGO, with no improvement. I get off screens prior to bed and removed them from my room. I recently tried those sleep gummies (mostly useless) and doc wants me to try trazidone but I'm reluctant. I need good sleep.