Melatonin

qwerty69 wrote:

Melatonin causes deep sleep with more time in REM cycle. Better sleep => better running. So what's the deal, this seems like a huge advantage, but it doesn't seem like common practice in the running community?

Also, if you take Melatonin, how often do you take it?

The problem is that taking it frequently will result in your body producing less natural melatonin. Therefore, you become dependent on it to go to sleep. No bueno.

yesIguess wrote:

The problem is that taking it frequently will result in your body producing less natural melatonin. Therefore, you become dependent on it to go to sleep. No bueno.

The same is true of other synthetic hormones like HGH and testosterone, but that doesn't mean that taking them doesn't confer a big advantage.

Studies have proven that taking melatonin to increase your sleep quality and decrease your stress levels have been beneficial as long as you're healthy, and you don't have any underlying issues. So the comments about being dependent to it as a substance seem unreasonable. I have taken melatonin myself, and it really has improved my sleep cycles and my caffeine intake to a tremendous level. So if you are looking to improve your running by getting better sleep I totally recommend it. Let apart the fact that it will help you reduce the time your body needs to repair painful and straining activities.

http://www.melatoningummies.org/

Melatonin is my secret weapon. It is a potent antioxidant as well, and I strongly believe that that alone helps me recover and keeps my heart strong (given its cardioprotective properties).

I tried Melatonin in college when I had insomnia issues. Overall the results were minimal. I have heard for people who work nights and need to sleep during the day it is much more effective.

I think if you take to much it does actually hurt your ability to fall asleep. I've continued taking it just out of habit. But there are days I'll forget or a few days when I'll go somewhere and forget it and there will be no difference in my sleep ability. I found that working on healthy sleep habits and a regular schedule was much more effective.

Melatonin is for falling asleep. It’s not like taking Benadryl or ambien or Nyquil, it won’t keep you asleep.

Parents give it to the kids with ASD and ADHD who have naturally lower levels of melatonin and they can’t seem to turn off their brains at bedtime. So for people with ADHD and/or Aspergers could benefit greatly.

Pregnant women with preeclampsia are now being treated with melatonin. Melatonin is a massive free radical scavenger above 20 mg. Oncology studies add it to the daily plan of cancer patients. But not everyone can handle that level. It causes nightmares for some.

One problem with melatonin is they sell them as way too high dose like 10 mg tablets

Ideally you should be only taking like 500 µg

No, adults should take 5-10mg

melatonin also lowers inflammation in unhealthy individuals, and possibly for fit ones too. I usually use it once or twice a week

I heard it is good for weight loss also, can anyone confirm?

I used to take 5-10mg, but now I just take 1mg. Occasionally I take 2mg. You can get 1mg sublinguals (very convenient as you can just pop one in your mouth without needing water) on Amazon. It doesn't matter whether I take 10mg or 1-2mg. Either way with melatonin I can fall asleep like a normal person in 15-20 minutes. Without melatonin it takes me 1-2 hours to fall asleep. Always been that way my entire life. I didn't discover melatonin until I was about 30 years old. For me it's basically a miracle drug.

I definitely am dependent on it and can't fall asleep in a reasonable time without it, but I've been that way my entire life for 30 years before I ever started using melatonin. So it's not like I'm any worse off now for being dependent on it.