Melatonin Can Also Be Extremely Useful In Combating The Effects Of Jet Lag.

Melatonin As A Dietary Supplement To Combat Insomnia.

Melatonin is almost certainly the most widely studied and best understood natural sleep remedy for insomnia, and can be especially useful if you are suffering from initial, or sleep onset, insomnia - difficulty falling asleep.

Melatonin is a hormone that occurs naturally in the body and is secreted throughout our lives by a tiny pea-sized organ at the center of the brain called the pineal gland. The release of melatonin is controlled by your body's circadian rhythm - your internal 24 hour time-keeping system, or body clock, which plays a key role in controlling when you fall asleep and when you wake up. The release of melatonin is triggered by the fall of darkness and its activity is suppressed by the return of daylight.

Although the pineal gland has the capacity to produce melatonin throughout life, there is evidence to suggest that production slows with age. This may well explain why younger people find it easier to fall asleep than older people and tends to reinforce the opinion that melatonin can be particularly useful as a sleeping aid for older people.

Melatonin can be purchased today in a synthesized form and is available in health food and drug stores as a dietary supplement. It can also be purchased in natural form, made from the pineal glands of animals, although the purchase of melatonin in this form is not recommended as a result of the small, but nevertheless significant, risk of virus transmission.

If you are suffering from initial, or sleep onset, insomnia then you might consider taking melatonin about thirty minutes before you go to bed. The dosage will vary from individual to individual, but melatonin is typically available in tablet form ranging from 1mg up to 3mg.

It is recommended that you start with a low dose and only increase this if it proves necessary. For many people a dose of 1mg is more than adequate and you may well find that trying just half a tablet, or 0.5mg, will do the trick. You should also experiment with the time at which you take melatonin as, although most people find that thirty minutes before bedtime is about right, you may find that taking it a little bit earlier, say an hour or even two hours before bedtime, will suit you better.

Melatonin can also be extremely useful in combating the effects of jet lag. For many long-haul flyers taking a very small dose of melatonin at the start of their flight and a slightly larger dose when going to bed at their destination has proved effective in reducing the symptoms of jet lag insomnia.

Melatonin can also be extremely helpful when it comes to weaning yourself off those long overused sleeping pills. The long-term benefits of discontinuing sleeping pills are considerable but, in the short-term, giving up can add to your sleeping problems. One way to help in this process is to replace your sleeping pills with melatonin.

Melatonin is widely used as a dietary supplement, and has been available over the counter for many years now, however, its use has not yet been regulated by any statutory authority and so there is scant information about its interaction with other medications. So, if you do wish to use melatonin, and are currently taking any form of medication, you should proceed with caution and, if in doubt, consult your doctor first.

Melatonin is often described as nature's own sleeping pill and it helps many thousands of people to tackle the problems of insomnia every day. Insomnia is an increasingly common problem, but it is also a problem that can be addressed with simple natural remedies, that include the use of dietary supplements such as melatonin.

Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health related
e-books including "Help Me To Sleep - A Guide To Natural
Sleep Remedies"
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