Two Potential Ways To Increase Melatonin Production Without Side Effects Associated With Melatonin Supplementation and To Get Better Sleep!
Melatonin supplementation has shown a multitude of positive health effects for many health issues including COPD, Heart Disease, Covid-19, and Parkinson's Disease. Unfortunately, melatonin production declines with age, steadily reducing the potential health benefits associated with adequate melatonin levels throughout the body.
Okay, so then if we simply take melatonin in supplement form, shouldn't we be okay? Yes and no. Some people are simply not able to tolerate melatonin for various reasons while others, such as myself, can tolerate melatonin at very high dosing.
So how does someone who does not tolerate melatonin well, increase their melatonin levels? First, it should be noted that when melatonin is produced in the body in sufficient amounts to help maintain health, it does not cause the intolerance that some people experience from melatonin supplements and that is important.
Everyone tolerates melatonin produced in the body, so natural production in the body seems like a very good way to achieve adequate melatonin status.
Three important areas where melatonin is produced in the body are in the pineal gland located in the brain, the gut, and the mitochondria.
In order of level of production, the pineal gland produces the least, the gut is estimated to produce over 400 times the amount produced in the pineal gland and since all cells in the body, except red blood cells, contain mitochondria, the mitochondria are likely the highest producer of melatonin in the body.
Each cell in the body can contain varying amounts of mitochondria which can exceed 2000, but the numbers vary greatly depending on many factors such as the tissue examined, antioxidant status, time of day, etc., but this gives you an idea of how much melatonin production we are talking about when it comes to mitochondria. Mitochondria can also draw melatonin into the mitochondria if needed, but if it already has sufficiency, then that melatonin can be used elsewhere.
This clearly gives a clue about the importance of melatonin in mitochondria to almost instantaneously neutralize the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) radical that is produced as part of the normal mitochondria function and further elucidates the importance of melatonin to maintain health and life. I will discuss the gut aspect of melatonin later.
In 2019, professor Reiter, a world-renowned melatonin researcher for over 40 years with hundreds of studies listed on PubMed in conjunction with Scott Zimmerman did an extensive review of research which showed many interesting things. One of which is that exposure to the near-infrared (NIR) light range from the sun helped to improve mitochondria function and also increased mitochondria melatonin production.
These are two important things that infrared light therapy is thought to do also. Their review also showed that infrared light, which is not visible to the human eye, can penetrate the skull and can increase pineal melatonin production. It is only a hypothesis on their part, but their ideas are in line with what other researchers have shown in previous studies and similar to the thinking behind man-made NIR studies. They have taken some of this individual research and combined it to form a more complete idea of the relationship of melatonin, NIR, mitochondria, and human health.
https://www.melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19/213
I would just like to take a moment to recommend reading their full study because it covers a lot of ground and has useful information in it. It is long but worthwhile reading. One interesting message was that NIR from the sun may penetrate significantly deeper into the brain via the cerebral spinal fluid around the brain interacting with gray matter than is currently thought possible.
In the following study, it is shown that the use of NIR in the form of red light therapy not only increased athlete melatonin serum levels, sleep and sleep quality, but also improved endurance. So red light therapy is a third option to increase melatonin levels, but NIR from the sun is free and stronger than some red light treatment options which can get quite expensive.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC3499892/
Here is a useful quote from the study above :
>>> ' We have demonstrated that red-light illumination positively affected sleep quality and endurance performance variables in Chinese female basketball players. Based on previous studies,6,12,14,15,33 we can infer that red-light treatment contributes to increased melatonin secretion in the pineal gland and muscle regeneration. ' <<<
So one of two options to increase melatonin levels without the side effects associated with melatonin such as next-day drowsiness is to get sun exposure.
Artificial NIR red light therapy can also increase melatonin levels, but this option comes at significant cost whereas sun exposure is free!
Another consideration is that in the study above, they used whole body NIR exposure. There are many red light therapy devices, and most that cost under $500 are not going to be whole body applications, but rather partial body applications such as a knee or lower back and potentially weak devices. When you get into professional-grade whole body units, you are generally going to be spending thousands of dollars. The sun is free and gives whole body coverage at no extra charge!
The second way to increase melatonin is natural also. This way involves increasing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Keep in mind that melatonin production in humans declines with age. Similarly, SCFAs have been shown in studies to not only increase melatonin levels in the gut, but also melatonin receptors. SCFAs in combination with melatonin and melatonin receptors improve mucosal gut barrier function as well as improve tight junctions as well as epithelial function all contributing to the improved gut barrier function and reduced gut permeability as well as reduced gut inflammation and oxidative stress throughout the body.
It is worth noting that in cases of many diseases such as PD, the normal age-related decline of SCFAs, melatonin, and melatonin receptors are further increased, so increasing production of these is a very important step in improving the disease state, but also health in general.
On that note here is a partial list of items that have shown the ability to increase SCFAs or improve the gut microbiome in such a way as to help produce more SCFAs.
1. Vitamin D - also improves gut barrier function.
2. Vitamin C - may have synergy with vitamin B2 and also decreases certain pathogenic bacteria.
3. Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin).
4. Fish Oil - also noted for its potent anti-inflammatory effects.
5. N Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) - very well noted as a potent antioxidant and mucolytic.
6. Exercise - already established as one of the more healthful things that people can do for improved health and physical function.
7. Algal Oil / Algae Oil - similar effects to fish oil via DHA and EPA omega 3's.
8. Berberine - anti-inflammatory anti-oxidative stress, anti-diabetic and also noted for improving cognitive function.
9. Fasting - in different forms such as intermittent fasting or Ramadan fasting.
10. Pistachios - also supplies needed fiber to feed SCFA producing bacteria.
11. Probiotics / Synbiotics - also alter the gut microbiome in healthful ways.
12 Prebiotics - especially useful for feeding SCFA producing bacteria.
13 Fermented Foods and Beverages.
14. Oat Beta Glucan.
15. Orange Juice - also offers anti-diabetes benefits.
16. Fiber in multiple forms including fermentable fiber through multiple forms of fruits and vegetables.
17. Mannitol - is also noted by some people as helpful in improving the quality of life in Parkinson's Disease.
18. Xylitol - has also shown usefulness as a low glycemic index sugar substitute.
19. Black Tea - but not green tea can increase SCFAs.
So as you can see, there are many ways to increase SCFAs as a means to increase melatonin production and melatonin receptors in the gut, improve gut barrier function, reduce leaky gut/gut permeability, reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.
So here you have two simple and effective ways to increase melatonin in the pineal gland, gut, and mitochondria to take advantage of melatonin's many positive health effects without the side effects associated with melatonin supplementing.
Melatonin naturally produced in the body does not have side effects, only positive health effects. This makes melatonin a viable health-improving option for EVERYONE, not just those who can tolerate oral melatonin supplements!
It is worth mentioning that increasing short-chain fatty acids or SCFAs is also shown to improve the gut microbiome and many health issues.
Art
