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Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland. It is believed to
play a role in anti aging, as well as helping with jet lag and
insomnia. But caution is well advised with using melatonin as a
supplement, given how powerful its effects are.
One of the problems with melatonin is that most of the studies
were done on animals, like rats, and not humans. Animal studies
are used by the scientific community to indicate whether a
substance has promise, and can yield valuable results even
though they are ethically reprehensible and other alternatives
exist. One such study was done at the University of Texas Health
Science Center.
Whilst it was funded by a grant from the California Walnut
Industry, these scientists were able to establish not only that
walnuts contained melatonin, but that it was able to be absorbed
- at least by rats. But they believe humans would also be able
to absorb melatonin from walnuts. Unfortunately, they don't know
how many walnuts you'd have to eat to get the benefits they
established as a potential in this study. It might be a lot! But
using food as a source of melatonin is a good option given that
it is much safer, particularly if suffering from serious
illnesses.
University of Texas scientists also found that melatonin had an
antioxidant effect. Antioxidants protect our cells from damage
by oxidation. Antioxidants slow down the aging process, and
interestingly, melatonin levels often decrease with age.
The antioxidant effect of melatonin has been presented before.
Dr Reiter, also of the University of Texas Health Science
Center, believes it can protect the central nervous system as
well as the body generally from free radicals. He also thinks
melatonin can increase the body's own production of another
antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase.
People who should not take melatonin supplements are:
* children
* pregnant women
* breastfeeding mothers
* couples trying to conceive
* people with serious allergies
* HIV and cancer patients
Whilst it is not recommended that people with cancer take
melatonin, this is primarily for the reasons that not enough
research has been done on humans, at least according to Dr
Kenneth Cooper. But some of the research that has been done with
people suggests that melatonin may be very helpful - if it is
taken with the supervision of a doctor. And herein lies the crux
of the problem - melatonin is a very powerful substance. Only
small doses are needed to create improvements. For example, Dr
Cooper cites the example of dosages as small as 2 to 3 mg only,
for some people suffering insomnia.
Overall, melatonin is very promising, and may well help people
with serious illnesses like cancer and multiple sclerosis. In
the meantime, increasing our dietary intake of foods like
walnuts that potentially supply us with this wonderful nutrient,
may have a host of protective health benefits as well as slowing
down the aging process.
References:
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=62492
Dr Kenneth Cooper, Advanced Nutritional Therapies (Nelson, 1996)
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