Melatonin for Sleep

Odds are if you’ve ever experienced sleep issues, you’ve either tried or at least entertained using a melatonin supplement for sleep.

Because as everyone knows: melatonin helps you fall asleep.

Nothing much more to it than that.

And, yet, even so, many people who have tried a melatonin supplement (or who have entertained trying one but ultimately decided against it) have also turned away from melatonin...

...due to the common side effects of excess morning grogginess, drowsiness, and headache.

In other words, many melatonin supplements tend to work too good, in a sense...

Performance Lab® Sleep, on the other hand, supplies all-natural melatonin, sourced from tart cherry extract, at a minimally effective dosage that won’t encroach upon your daytime energy and productivity.

Quite the opposite, in fact: paired with L-tryptophan and magnesium, Performance Lab® Sleep’s natural melatonin actually works to the benefit of your daytime productivity.

All-natural, pure, potent sleep enhancement - Performance Lab® Sleep far outranks the standard over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aid. Making it the best melatonin for sleep supplement.

However, to understand exactly what makes Performance Lab® Sleep better than other melatonin-powered sleep aids, we’ll need to first address the basics.

The basics, such as:

What is Melatonin?

Simply put, melatonin is a key hormone secreted in the brain to encourage sleep.

More specifically, melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to the nighttime absence of light, fulfilling the “sleep” portion of the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle.

Healthy, regular sleep patterns rely on the healthy, regular secretion of melatonin. Conversely, irregular sleep patterns (e.g., going to bed at irregular hours) correlate with the unhealthy, irregular secretion of melatonin.

Along with the sleep-wake cycle, this all falls under the concept of the circadian rhythm. 

Because we live in such a screen-lit world, with computer and phone screens that emit “blue” light rays similar to those emitted from the sun, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the brain to commit to a healthy, regular melatonin secretion schedule.

As a result, much of the circadian rhythm and its dependent metabolic functions suffer, resulting in all-around metabolic disorder.

This is a huge part as to why melatonin supplementation has become so appealing. Not to mention effective, to sleep-deprived workers, students, athletics, etc. of the modern world.

However, with that in mind, there are also plenty of natural food options available to us to increase our daily melatonin intake.

Natural Sources

Because so many people take synthetic melatonin supplements as sleep aids, it’s easy to forget that melatonin is a naturally secreted neurochemical.

What’s more, it’s also a dietary nutrient that, as we age, becomes more and more essential, due to the decline in natural melatonin secretion in the brain.

A few of the top natural food sources of melatonin include:

• Montmorency Tart Cherry – the best natural source of melatonin, tart cherries are rich in sleep-supportive melatonin and joint-soothing antioxidants.
• Grapes – related to the tart cherry, many grapes also contain bioavailable amounts of melatonin beneficial to the sleep-wake cycle.
• Eggs and Fish – of the animal foods, eggs and fish possess the greatest amounts of melatonin, in addition to brain healthy omegas, choline, and vitamins.
• Nuts – walnuts, pistachios, and cashews possess a considerable amount of melatonin, as well as essential minerals magnesium and zinc.
• Pigmented Rice – most notably, nonglutinous black rice possesses roughly twice the amount of melatonin as the glutinous type.
• Cereals – aside from black rice, other cereals such as wheat, barley, and oats supply relatively high amounts of natural melatonin.
• Legumes and Seeds – many legumes and seeds have a high concentration of melatonin; and the germination process of legumes and seeds may significantly increase their melatonin levels.

Really, what’s important is simply getting enough food-sourced melatonin in your daily diet for you to earn the sleep benefits, whether you’re consuming your dietary melatonin for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Melatonin Benefits for Sleep

Melatonin alone won’t put you to sleep. Really, what this “sleep hormone” does is signal to your brain and body that “it’s nighttime, so we should probably chill out and get ready for sleep.”

In a naturally lit environment (i.e., sunlit), when the sun goes down, melatonin releases.

The bad news is that the modern world is very hostile to melatonin.

Highly dependent on the cyclical 24-hour rhythms of nature, the circadian rhythm is also easily swayed by the unnatural light emitted from our TV screens, computer screens, phone screens, etc.—all the electronic screens that light our faces in the evening, preventing the natural secretion of melatonin.

When melatonin fails to secrete, we fail to fully fall asleep, resulting in an off-balance circadian rhythm, the downsides of which are many.

With that in mind, the benefits of healthy melatonin activity are also many, including:

Healthy Circadian Rhythm

More specifically, a healthy sleep-wake cycle, the metabolic pathways regulated by the circadian rhythm pertaining to …well, to sleeping and waking.

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As the hormone that signals “sleepy-time,” melatonin acts as a sort of anchor point for the “sleep” portion of the sleep-wake cycle. This means that the more regular and consistent your melatonin activity, the more stable your sleep-wake cycle.

However, if you “loosen” your melatonin anchor by sleeping at irregular hours and exposing yourself to too much electronic screen-light in the evening, your sleep-wake cycle suffers and, along with it, your circadian rhythm.

Therefore, melatonin is key to a healthy circadian rhythm.

Faster Sleep Onset

Naturally, without an adequate melatonin response prior to bedtime, falling asleep can be annoyingly troublesome.

Tossing and turning all night, all the while feeling anxious that you’re not falling asleep (which in turn only makes sleep a greater impossibility)—this is something we’ve all experienced and that we all, to some degree, dread.

By signaling to the body that it’s “time for bed,” melatonin helps get your brain and body with the program, significantly reducing sleep onset latency for an increase on total sleep time and overall sleep quality.

Better Overnight Recovery

Rest and recovery are just as important to physical performance as exercise and activity.

Naturally, melatonin assists with rest and recovery via its REM sleep-supportive biomechanisms; however, the “sleep hormone” may also improve overnight recovery (say, from daily exercise) by encouraging the activities of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).

This is also why many athletes supplement magnesium for sleep: daily exercise depletes sleep-essential minerals, such as magnesium, making magnesium supplementation key for physical performance enhancement and recovery.

Paired with magnesium, melatonin is essential for sustaining a healthy, active lifestyle.

Can Melatonin Supplements Improve Sleep?

Yes, melatonin supplements can help improve sleep.

Because melatonin secretion is greatly affected by light (or the lack thereof), melatonin supplementation has been seen as increasingly important to those living in unnaturally lit environments.

Nighttime use of electronic devices and artificial “blue” light suppresses the natural release of melatonin, disrupting healthy, natural sleep and long-term sleep patterns.

Because melatonin is a “natural” acting hormone, dietary sources of melatonin (including melatonin supplements) may offer a more “natural” approach to getting better sleep. At least more so than the risky, synthetic “sedative” options available to us.

With that in mind, however, it’s important to distinguish natural melatonin from synthetic melatonin—a common type of supplementary melatonin linked to several side effects.

What are the Side Effects of Melatonin?

For the most part, side effects of melatonin are mild and easily mitigated through the use of natural melatonin at a minimally effective dosage.

However, the problem is: many sleep aid companies sell synthetic melatonin at excessive dosages.

Briefly, the common side effects of melatonin include:

• Morning Headache
• Excessive Grogginess
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Stomach Discomfort
• Mood Imbalance

Typically, taking too much melatonin results in the sleep-supportive effects of this hormone overstaying their welcome come morning time.

Though we’ll dive into greater detail on the differences between synthetic vs. natural melatonin below, it’s worth noting here that synthetic melatonin is particularly risky due to the unpredictable potency of the synthetic stuff.

The unpredictability of synthetic melatonin perhaps explains why customers buy melatonin supplements at dosages that are 10X higher than the ideal dosage.

Optimal Melatonin Dosage

The ideal dosage of natural melatonin is 0.3 mg.

If that seems surprisingly low, this is likely because you’re used to seeing melatonin supplements with dosages upwards of 3-5 mg.

Needless to say, if 0.3 mg is the optimal melatonin dosage, then 3 mg is too much.

And though “too much” here might sound appealing if you’re trying to get really, really good sleep, research has found the much lower amount of 0.3 mg to actually be more effective than 3 mg for promoting restful sleep within the threshold of “normal physiological circadian rhythm.”

Natural Sources vs Synthetic Melatonin

Many supplement buyers are still unaware that the melatonin they’re buying isn’t the real deal.

Though, yes, synthetic melatonin still possesses more or less the same bio-benefits as natural melatonin, the artificial stuff differences from the natural stuff in a couple key ways:

• Potency – as opposed to standardized concentrations of naturally sourced melatonin, synthetic melatonin tends to unpredictably vary in terms of bioavailability; some servings work, others do, and others still do way too much, despite them all sharing the same dosage.
• Dosage – speaking of dosage, many synthetic melatonin supplements are dosed way too high, perhaps as compensation for the unreliable potency of synthetic melatonin, resulting in an unhealthy flush of melatonin activity.

Earlier in this article, we listed several natural dietary sources of melatonin you can take to increase your natural melatonin levels.

Of those listed foods, the best for sleep and overnight recovery is:

Conclusion

Is it possible for melatonin to vary in importance from year to year?

Can a hormone naturally produced by the body waver in terms of relevance over time?

Or can we trust in the stable production and balanced activity of all the chemicals and compounds circulating our body?

Of course, as we’re learning more and more, as our external environments shift, so, too, does our internal ecosystems.

The stress of living in uncertain times may throw your hormonal homeostasis way off, and, likewise, the unnatural exposure to artificial lighting and heightened work demands may significantly impair your natural ability to produce and secrete melatonin.

This is why all-natural sleep aids, such as Performance Lab® Sleep, are gaining increasing attention. To combat the unnatural environmental factors that are contributing to an unnatural inner ecosystem within our brains and bodies, we need all-natural supplementary aid.

With the best melatonin for sleep, CherryPURE® Montmorency tart cherry, stacked with L-tryptophan (as TryptoPure®) and magnesium (as NutriGenesis®), Performance Lab® Sleep delivers a formula suited for the ultramodern busybody who’s trying to navigate our ultramodern world.

Vegan-friendly, eco-friendly, non-GMO—Performance Lab® Sleep is safe for daily, long-term use without any risk of habit-forming effects or circadian disruption.