How Melatonin Supports the Immune System

By Lydia Wallie, Nutrition Director

Sleeplessness and insomnia. Are these perceived maladies a blessing or a burden? Well, if you’re Adam Young, (creator of the well-known song, “Fireflies”), insomnia could be the key to your success. (1) However, even though insomnia may be an advantage when creating amazing music, writing your latest novel, or finishing that last-minute project due the next day, it’s typically a good rule of thumb to sleep at least a solid 7 hours per night. (2) Solid sleep is critical for our immune system (2, 3) and one component of good sleep is melatonin.

Melatonin is shown to, “improve the onset, duration and quality of sleep.” (4) In addition to being a critical component of sleep, melatonin stimulates and enhances immune function, modulates the immune system, may increase life span, has oncostatic properties (inhibition of cancer cells), and is a potent antioxidant. (5-8)

If your body is creating the melatonin needed to sleep well, you’re going to hopefully have good quality sleep...provided there are no midnight disturbances like the neighbor’s dog barking or a mariachi band at the Italian restaurant next to your apartment. But what if your body isn’t creating melatonin? What do you do? Read upcoming blog posts for more details on how to support your immune system by improving sleep through endogenous melatonin production via nutrition from real food.

Ready to take your nutrition to the next level? Contact us for Nutrition Coaching so you can get on track and stay on track with healthy habits!

Sources:

(1) https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/owl-city-star-adam-young-1051002

(2) https://925strong.com/925-blog/2020/4/1/why-sleep-is-important-for-immune-function

(3) https://925strong.com/925-blog/2020/8/3/n9vg6rv53yjgt9kio6ru72vwahglx4

(4) doi: 10.1080/01616412.2017.1315864

(5) doi:10.1111/j.1600-079x.1995.tb00136.x

(6) doi: 10.3390/ijms14048638

(7) doi: 10.1159/000156470

(8) doi: 10.2174/187221411799015408