melatonin

Emily Deans writes a series on sleep

I’ve read a lot of Emily Deans work before and found that her science is very good. She wrote a series of articles about sleep on whole9life.com: part 1, part 2, and teenagers and sleep, and The Secret Life of Melatonin.

Part 1 talks about basic sleep hygiene: sleep/wake at same time every day, preferably following the sun’s rhythm and not sleeping too late. Use light lamps if you don’t have sun at your location. And avoid evening lights or use blue-light blocking googles. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.

She summarizes the main reason why sleep is so important to brain health…

“Sleep is the time when the metabolic toxins that build up in the brain from all the energy-hungry thinking we do gets washed away. Complete lack of sleep will eventually lead to inflammation, neuron damage, dementia, possibly psychosis, and death. Sleep deprivation, even a few hours a night, leads to decreased cognitive function, increased irritability, and increased susceptibility to mental health problems.”

Part 2 talks about “sleep restriction therapy”, but cautions …

“If you have bipolar disorder or another physical or mental health condition, it is imperative that you talk to your doctor before trying it. Sleep restriction can lead to a manic episode.”

It also talks about the use of Blue-light blocking googles and magnesium. If you are sleeping good enough hours but non-restorative sleep, then it could be sleep apnea, or other physiological condition.

If your teenager sleeps “all the time”, it may be normal, because teenagers need 9 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, then there are those teenagers that do not nearly get enough sleep due to all the activities they do.

One of her blog post at evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com happens to mention that she does not think high dosage of melatonin for long term is a good idea. The dosage in supplements are too high….

“supplementing large supra physiologic doses of a wide-acting hormone is an apocalyptically bad idea on a regular basis. Physiologic doses are somewhere around 0.5mg.”

And I agree. You have to be careful when supplementing with hormones. Melatonin is a hormone.

Spend two hours outdoors for better sleep

If you want better sleep, strive to spend at least two hours outdoors during the daylight hours every single day. It doesn’t help if you spend only half hours outdoors during the weekday and make up for it by spending 8 hours on the weekend. It has to be consistent on a daily basis if you want consistent sleep on a daily basis.

Have you ever found that you sleep better after a good long hike outdoors on a weekend?

In previous article, we mentioned that sunlight exposure increases serotonin which then converts into melatonin at night by enzymes produced by the pineal gland in the brain. The pineal gland which produce melationin gets its cue from the light signals coming from the retina of the eye. The contrast of light intensity between day and night is what makes the pineal gland regulate our circadian rhythm.

Melatonin is derived from serotonin, so the more serotonin that is produced during the day, the more it can convert to melatonin at night (with all other things being equal).

Serotonin also helps with mood. That is why depressed people with low serotonin often have poor sleep at night as well and disrupted circadian rhythms. [reference]

Most prison inmates get at least one hour or two hours of outdoor. There are office workers that gets less than that.

If you work at an office job (especially one with no direct windows), make sure you get outside at least two hours during the day. For example, you can do half an hour of walk outside before work, half an hour after work, half hour walk during lunch, and eat lunch outside for another half hour. Of course, in northern locations during the winter, before work and after work is often still dark, so you might need to take outdoor breaks during the day.

Sunlight exposure improve serotonin production

Sunlight not only boost serotonin, but it also improves mood. Serotonin is a brain neurotransmitter.

In a previous article, we saw that serotonin production decreases with age and that low serotonin may be a possible cause of poor sleep. In this article, we look at one way of improving serotonin production via sunlight exposure. And when more serotonin is produced during the daytime, you have more of it available to convert to melatonin at night. Melatonine is the sleep hormone and is converted from serotonin via two enyzmes whose activity increases with darkness …

“SNAT (serotonin-N-acetyltransferase) which converts the serotonin to N-acetylserotonin, and HIOMT (hydroxyindole-O-methyltrasferase) which trasfers a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine to the 5-hydroxyl of the N-acetylserotonin.” [reference]

That is why you need darkness in order to stimulate this conversion. Turn off or dim lights after sunset if you want to sleep better.

You want good sufficient serotonin levels during the day, and good sufficient melatonin levels at night. Serontonin levels can be increased with exposure to sunlight (or alternatively, bright lights during the day).

Healthline writes …

“Exposure to sunlight is thought to increase the brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin. This is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused. At night, darker lighting cues trigger the brain to make another hormone called melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping a person feel sleepy and go to sleep. Without enough sunlight exposure, a person’s serotonin levels can dip low.”

Low light levels and low serotonin can be a cause of seasonal affected disorder (SAD) which occurs more frequently during winter. That is why sunlight and light therapy boxes can help with SAD and depression. Of course direct sunlight is best. But for those in locations of low sunlight during winter, light therapy boxes can help.

Other factors that can affect serotonin are gut microbiome. 90% of the serotonin is produced in the gut and bacteria in the gut is thought to play a role in this production. [reference]

Not only is sun exposure necessary to reset and strength the circadian rhythm, the light dark contrasts in the 24-hour cycle also stimulates melatonin production.

Dr. Mercola writes …

” Your pineal gland produces melatonin roughly in approximation to the contrast of bright sun exposure in the day and complete darkness at night. If you are in darkness all day long, it can’t appreciate the difference and will not optimize your melatonin production. More sunlight exposure is required as you age.”

There is a direct nerve connection from the retina of your eyes to the suprachiasmatic nucleaus in hypothalamus in your brain. Afterall, it is situated directly above the optic chiasm. The suprachiasmatic nucleaus is responsible for controlling the circadian rhythms and gets its cue from light exposure from the eye.

Wikipedia writes …

“The SCN receives inputs from specialized photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina, via the retinohypothalamic tract. Neurons in the ventrolateral SCN (vlSCN) have the ability for light-induced gene expression. Melanopsin-containing ganglion cells in the retina have a direct connection to the ventrolateral SCN via the retinohypothalamic tract.”

From the book The Brain’s Way of Healing, you find it says …

“Serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter, is known to be low in some depressions; studies show that normal sunlight causes the body to release serotonin”

Later on, the book writes how important natural light is …

“… our indoor spaces are ever more deprived of natural light, in ways we cannot perceive, because the counterfeit light we use is often not composed of the frequencies that preserve life. We need full-spectrum light not just for elegant atriums and lobbies for show, but for everyday living and work spaces. The damage caused by living a light-impoverished life is hidden. … we require light to flourish.”

Can Pesticides Affect Sleep?

There are some evidence that suggest that consuming pesticides containing glyphosate can negatively affect sleep.

Round-Up is one such pesticide whose active ingredient is glyphosate. RoundUp is sprayed on many crops such as wheat, barley, lentils, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, citrus, etc. It is not just used as a pesticide, but also as a ripening agent. [reference]

While the main cause of glyphosate is digestive issue, there may be a secondary effect on sleep. Because glyphosate impairs tryptophan synthesis in plants and in gut bacteria. We humans get our tryptophan from foods (including plants, which are now deficient in them), and our gut bacteria produces tryptophan. [reference]

So eating glyphosate laden plants might make us tryptophan deficient. Trytophan is a precursor to making serotonin, which in turn is a precursor to melatonin. Conceivably deficiency in trytophan may cause a deficiency in serotonin, which negatively affects our moods. And a deficiency in serotonin may cause a deficiency in melatonin, which is our sleep hormone.

See reference article that says…

“The amino acid tryptophan is needed to produce serotonin in the brain… It has been shown in human clinical studies that low levels of tryptophan contribute to insomnia”

Our body’s can not make trytophan; we have to eat them in our foods. But if our foods are deficient, then it is pretty difficult to come by. Tryptophan is one of the least plentiful of all the amnio acids.

Just Eat Organic

While we don’t know exactly how significant this effect of pesticide is on sleep, perhaps the effect is small.

But nevertheless, for this and many other reasons, the best recommendation is consume organic fruit and vegetables and meat. By definition, organic includes pesticide free. While meats are not sprayed pesticide, the non-organically raised animals do often eat crops that are sprayed Roundup and some believe that its effects can get into the meat of the animal.

I personally try to get organic whenever reasonably possible to do so.