Dear Friends,
You may have noticed that the use of melatonin has exploded in recent years, with surveys reporting as many as 30% of adults in the United States are taking a melatonin supplement regularly or somewhat regularly.
That’s anywhere from 5 to 10 times more people taking melatonin now versus 5 or 6 years ago, depending on what survey you read.
Not all of these are happy users, as a survey by the Sleep Foundation found that about 25% of melatonin users experience grogginess as an unwanted side-effect.
This means you wake up in the morning feeling groggy or experience drowsiness during the day.
Grogginess is what I’ve experienced after trying melatonin, and my wife Beth is in the same boat – as are many others according to this survey.
Today I’m going to share an alternative that I think is a better way to go, which is supporting your body’s natural melatonin production.
First, let’s talk a little bit about melatonin and why I think so many people experience grogginess – and why you should be careful when it comes to taking a melatonin supplement and the amount you take.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body – it’s different than taking a vitamin, probiotic or even a plant extract.
Your body produces small amounts of this hormone for a reason, so we must be careful about how much synthetic melatonin we take or ask if it’s a good idea to take any melatonin supplements.
What’s more, I think it should be mentioned more often that a melatonin supplement is meant to be taken occasionally, not regularly like many users do (they aren’t meant to be taken every night).
What Does Melatonin Do?
Melatonin plays a significant role in regulating the sleep/wake cycle, also called the circadian rhythm.
In the evening hours, as it starts to get dark outside, a gland in your brain called the pineal gland starts to produce melatonin and you start to get tired because this signals the body that it’s getting close to sleep time.
Melatonin levels continue to rise as you go to bed, usually peaking at around 2am or 3am. At this point, the body stops producing and releasing melatonin - and levels start declining as it gets closer to wake time.
Now, here’s an important point - daytime levels of melatonin in your body are barely detectable.
You want to be awake during the day and not sleepy, so your body keeps very little melatonin around during the day. This is important and we’ll circle back to this fact in a moment.
How Much Melatonin Does the Body Make and Use During the Night?
Our bodies make a very small amount of melatonin each night – only around 300mcg, which is 3/10 of 1mg.
When you’re a child till your mid-teens, you make a little more and this levels off starting in your late teens till around age 35 or 40.
After that, your body starts making a little less melatonin – perhaps leaving us 100mcg to 200mcg short of the optimal amount.
This begs the question – why are people taking so much melatonin in supplements?
For example, the Sleep Foundation survey found that, on average, people are taking about 5mg as a supplement. That’s 50x to 100x the shortfall amount of 100mcg to 200mcg.
And many folks are taking 10mg of melatonin daily.
I recognize that these melatonin supplements must be digested and not all of it will be absorbed, but this is a lot of extra synthetic melatonin that our bodies must deal with.
Recall what we discussed a few minutes ago - daytime levels of melatonin in your body are barely detectable.
Our bodies were designed to clear around 300mcg of melatonin by the time we wake, these supplements are now creating a lot of extra work.
I don’t think it’s too great of a leap to say that a key reason many people experience grogginess or drowsiness during the day from melatonin supplements is their bodies struggle to eliminate all this extra melatonin from their body.
Think about the cycle this can create.
You feel tired during the day because of the melatonin supplements, so you reach for extra caffeine or energy drinks to compensate (which can hurt your ability to sleep), and then at night you start all over again. Talk about a vicious cycle.
We think for many people there’s a better alternative to taking synthetic melatonin supplements.
Support Your Body’s Natural Melatonin Production
You can support your body’s natural melatonin production and boost your evening melatonin with the saffron spice – and specifically with a saffron extract used in supplements called Affron.
If you’re not familiar with saffron as a supplement, there’s been a lot of research done over the last 15 years showing that it can help the body cope with stress better and promote better moods during the day.
Other compounds in saffron can have important vision and eye health benefits.
While conducting this research, it was noticed that some people appeared to be sleeping better, so scientists started doing dedicated placebo-controlled research studies on saffron and sleep.
The makers of the Affron saffron extract found that taking just 14mg of their saffron resulted in better sleep quality, and users on average woke up feeling more alert and energized.
The question was… why is the saffron helping sleep?
It was initially thought maybe it was related to folks feeling less stressed, but to find out more, they conducted a second sleep study with the Affron extract.
In this study, they also measured evening melatonin levels in participants – and found that after 28 days, those taking the Affron saffron increased evening melatonin significantly compared to the placebo group.
As important, like before, those taking saffron experienced better sleep quality on average, and importantly, they were more likely to be in a better mood upon waking – and not groggy, which is what we want.
How Can Saffron Support Melatonin Production in the Body?
A recent study provided insight into this question. The Affron saffron extract helps the body produce enzymes used to convert the amino acid L-tryptophan into melatonin.
That’s the main way your body makes melatonin – it takes the tryptophan we get from diet and converts some of it to melatonin.
It’s now believed that saffron can support this process by helping the body produce enzymes needed to make the conversion to melatonin.
We think this is preferable to taking synthetic melatonin, which we know causes grogginess or daytime drowsiness in many users.
The bottom line is the delicate balance of the sleep/wake cycle circadian rhythm is best managed by the body. Your body knows how much melatonin it needs, and saffron can help support melatonin production, so it’s more likely to be available when needed.
We feature the Affron saffron extract discussed today in our TrueZs supplement, along with two other complementary ingredients that can help you fall asleep faster, sleep better, and wake up feeling refreshed and more ready to take on the day.
You may start to feel a difference from the ingredients in TrueZs in the first week, but it typically takes a few weeks to feel many of the desired benefits – which many users believe is well worth it.
Yours for Good Health
Carl Pradelli
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