Just listened to a podcast interviewing the doctor who first used melatonin for sleep, a Dr. Richard Wurtman, I had just read the melatonin article on wikipedia and his name came up there too
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#History at the bottom of this section on wikipedia
anyway I recorded the significant points and figured I'd post em on here
Interview with researcher who discovered what melatonin does sleep wise: Dr. Richard Wurtman
https://smartdrugsmarts.com/episodes/episode-140-melatonin/
Says the dose of melatonin should be around 0.3 mg, 1 mg or less is safe for use. 3mg is way too high and may lead the brain to become desensitized to melatonin which may be worse than this pill simply not working since endogenously produced melatonin is the bodies main sleep control chemical. I wonder how long desensitization would last if trigger, would really suck if it stuck around.
Says that melatonin should be extended release, melatonin leaves the body quickly and what gets one to sleep often wont keep one asleep unless time release
I want to say he said the way delayed release melatonin pills work is that they deliver one dose at first, enough to get you to sleep, then another full dose halfway through sleep. I think this means the pill should contain twice whatever your effective dose is, if 0.3 mg melatonin gets you to sleep then maybe get a 0.6 mg delayed release pill?
Says that some melatonin pills that are advertised as delayed release aren’t really delayed release
If someone takes melatonin continuously, every night in other words, they should be taking the lowest effective dose, higher doses may desensitize the brain to melatonin
Melatonin is regulated through the level of light coming into the eyes, only the eyes not the skin. Evedence of this connection can be seen in blind people who have issues sleeping at the same time as the rest of the world as their eyes don’t sense light and therefore leaves the bodie’s melatonin out of whack
Light suppresses melatonin production and therefore sleep
Virtually any light will suppress melatonin, mentions that some people have tried to spend the hours before sleep in blue light, unfortunately the level of intensity of that blue light would have to be strong enough to suppress melatonin for it to be any good for reading/seeing/not being in the dark. So there is no special trick about light for handling melatonin. Dr Wurtman may have implied that the lower the intensity of the light, the less it suppresses melatonin, though, perhaps not. He mentions that bluelight emitting devices have been used effectively to clear biliruben from the blood but that that works through the skin
The amounts of melatonin in foods, even those that are much higher in melatonin than the rest, are a negligible source of melatonin
The doses of melatonin that would be needed for it to be a worthwhile antioxidant are just too high to be practical