Melatonin, known as the ‘sleep hormone,’ is produced naturally from the pineal gland in the center of our brain — it’s secreted when it gets dark to help us feel sleepy.
While our bodies are designed to provide us with enough melatonin, research published in 2022 showed that Americans’ use of melatonin supplements increased from 0.4% in 1999/2000 to 2.4% in 2017/2018.
Experts say they can be effective, and that includes helping those who experience sleep disorders, delayed sleep-wake phase syndrome, or who have short-term jet lag, to fall asleep faster.
But before you reach for the melatonin gummies, you might want to consider your gut health. Because a new study has indicated that taking melatonin supplements may actually do more harm than good to those with inflammatory bowl disease (an umbrella term that includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).
Here, we’re taking a closer look at what the study says, what it means for your gut and what you can do to aid your sleep without resorting to supplements…
Key takeaways
- Scientists exposed mice to colitis and then treated them with melatonin
- Their results showed that melatonin treatment increased gut inflammation and aggravated the colitis in the mice
- They also found that melatonin treatment delayed recovery in the mice with colitis
The study, published in the journal Microorganisms has indicated that melatonin can have a variety of negative impacts on IBD, from worsening intestinal inflammation, to weight loss, severity in the colitis and a longer recovery period.
IBD is a term that encompasses diseases which cause chronic inflammation in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Symptoms can include lower abdominal pain, fatigue, blood in the stool, diarrhea and weight loss.
Melatonin can have a variety of negative impacts on IBD, from worsening intestinal inflammation, to weight loss, severity in the colitis and a longer recovery period
While melatonin is produced in the pineal gland and secreted to help us sleep, it’s also produced in the intestine, and previous research had indicated that it may be able to help improve IBD as it plays a number of roles in the body, including being able to “impact the composition of intestinal bacteria in favor of bacteria with anti-inflammatory properties.”
However, the authors of the new study noted that “there is no consensus and some studies point to controversial effects on IBD.”
To explore further, they induced colitis in mice and administered melatonin as treatment, looking at how the hormone affected the mice, including during the acute phase of colitis and in the recovery period.
What did the study find?
In one experiment they administered melatonin to the mice at the onset of colitis inflammation and reported both weight loss in the mice and a ‘significant increase in the colitis severity throughout the disease progression.’
Another experiment looked at how melatonin might affect the mice when they were in remission from colitis.
Here, they extended the melatonin treatment until day 13 of the trial and found that “hormone-treated mice presented higher weight loss and clinical disease scores than those which did not receive [melatonin],” and that recovery from the colitis was prolonged in these mice.
The study authors concluded that, “the mice under the hormonal supplementation not only presented notable signs of colitis aggravation or delayed recovery, but also increased markers of exacerbated inflammatory response.”
Ultimately, the use of melatonin to treat IBD was shown, in this study at least, to make both the symptoms of the disease worse, and have a negative impact on the length of time it took to recover from it.
Can melatonin supplements worsen your sleep?
While this new study was carried out on mice, it does raise questions about how taking melatonin supplements, like melatonin gummies, might impact human gut health, particularly for those who experience IBD or any gut inflammation.
One of the authors of the study, Dr Cristina Ribeiro de Barros Cardoso, said in a press release that, “[Melatonin is] generally thought to be harmless. After all, it’s a hormone and can help regulate sleep. However, our study shows that people should be careful about taking hormone supplements and that the ingestion of melatonin as a supplement can have adverse effects on health.”
It’s important to remember that this is an animal study and what happens in animals may not happen in humans
We know already that IBD can have a negative impact on sleep. Research from 2003 found higher sleep disturbances in those with IBD, and since then there have been a number of studies that have indicated that IBD can have a negative impact on sleep.
This includes sleep disturbances, increased fatigue, decreased sleep efficiency and poor quality of sleep which impacted the quality of life.
Since the findings from the new study point to the fact that melatonin may negatively impact IBD, it’s possible that if you experience issues with your gut already, instead of helping you sleep better, supplements like melatonin gummies could even have a negative impact instead.
However, Dr Shilpa Ravella, a gastroenterologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York explained to Medical News Today that, “it’s important to remember that this is an animal study and what happens in animals may not happen in humans, so we cannot state that these findings are definitively relevant to humans.”
How to increase melatonin levels naturally
If you’re worried about your gut health but are still struggling to sleep, you can increase melatonin levels naturally.
Pay attention to your diet
Whether you are experiencing IBD or not, being mindful about what you eat can help you naturally boost your melatonin.
There are a variety of natural foods out there that help support melatonin production and make healthy nighttime snacks. These include:
- Cherries: These stone fruits contain melatonin, while tart cherries have both melatonin and tryptophan (research has shown the latter can help us fall asleep faster).
- Almonds: As well as being a source of both melatonin and magnesium in the first place, the latter helps to regulate melatonin as well as promoting sleep and relaxation, making almonds a great snack.
- Whole grains: Stock up on the likes of brown rice, breads, cereals, tortillas oats and quinoa, since they’re all sources of melatonin.
- Cow’s milk: A glass of cow’s milk will help with your calcium levels, which is great because calcium aids melatonin production.
- Nut butters, like peanut butter: This versatile treat can be eaten on its own or as a topping, and its full of nutrients, including melatonin and tryptophan.
- Other foods that are rich in melatonin include bananas, citrus fruits, grapes, walnuts and tomatoes.
Get enough sunlight
Stepping outside into natural sunlight can play a huge role in keeping your body clock on track, which will help you to feel energized and awake during the day and sleepy at night.
Sunlight has the effect of producing cortisol, a hormone that makes us feel alert and awake, but exposure to it also helps regulate our circadian rhythm, so that we’ll produce melatonin at the right time too.
Dr Menka Gupta, sleep expert and functional medicine doctor at NutraNourish previously explained to us that getting your natural sunlight in early in the day can have a positive impact on your melatonin.
“Morning sunlight exposure has been very beneficial for my clients in positively impacting circadian rhythms and melatonin production in the evening,” she explained.
A recent study also showed that morning sunlight improved sleep quality the next night in participants, further indicating that a morning stroll outdoors may be beneficial for your melatonin production and getting a restful night overall.
Keep a consistent sleep schedule
Depending on your work schedule, family dynamic (parents of young children, we see you!) and lifestyle choices, going to bed and waking up at the same time each day can be tricky.
But creating a regular sleep schedule can regulate your internal body clock, also known as your circadian rhythm.
That means it will help your body know when it’s time to produce melatonin at night, and to do so consistently each evening so you’re falling asleep at the right time.
