1.What Is Melatonin?

In vertebrates, melatonin is involved in synchronizing circadian rhythms, including sleep–wake timing and blood pressure regulation, and in control of seasonal rhythmicity including reproduction, fattening, moulting and hibernation. Many of its effects are through activation of the melatonin receptors, while others are due to its role as an antioxidant. In plants, it functions to defend against oxidative stress. It is also present in various foods.

In addition to its role as a natural hormone, melatonin is used as a dietary supplement and medication in the treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Melatonin dietary supplements can be made from animals or microorganisms, but most often they’re made synthetically.

2.How Melatonin Works

Melatonin acts on receptors in your body to encourage sleep. Taking melatonin tablets adds to your body's natural supply of the hormone. This can help you get to sleep and improve the quality of your sleep. During the day, the brain’s pea-sized pineal gland remains inactive. A few hours before our natural sleep time, as it starts to get dark outside and the light entering our retina fades, the gland switches on to flood the brain with melatonin.

Instead of a lights-out trigger, melatonin acts more like a dimmer switch, turning the day functions off and switching night functions on. So taking a melatonin supplement is sort of like taking a dose of sunset, tricking your body into feeling like it’s nighttime. It doesn’t put you to sleep as much as it tells the body that it’s time to sleep.

Melatonin may make you feel a little drowsier when you take it, but it has a bigger impact on regulating the timing of your overall sleep-wake cycle and helping to set the circadian clock, the roughly 24-hour internal timekeeper that tells your body what time of day it is and syncs it with the outside world.

3.Benefits and Uses

Support Better Sleep 

Reduce Symptoms of Seasonal Depression 

Increase Levels of Human Growth Hormone

Promote Eye Health

Help Treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease