Melatonin or Chunky Thighs?

Posted on April 14, 2014 by admin

Dr. Michael Colgan 13 April 2014

In 1958, Aaron Lerner at Yale discovered a powerful hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the center of the brain and regulated by light. He named it melatonin. It has proved one of the most important scientific advances of the 20th century.

By the 1980s we established that melatonin is the circadian pacemaker of the body. By sensing light, it programs thousands of bodily functions to the 24-hour revolution of the Earth, and the seasonal changes of the annual revolution of the Earth around the Sun. Melatonin times every aspect of your physiology, as it does for almost all living creatures.

In animals that are seasonal breeders, including all birds, melatonin controls their annual cycle of physiology and behavior, the seasonal changes in plumage, the changing melodies of birdsong, nest building, and nurture of the young.

It works the same in mammals. The annual growth of antlers in deer, for example, the seasonal changes in their fur, their mating cycle, and their reproduction are all controlled by melatonin.(3)

Melatonin also times all the vast animal and bird migrations throughout the world, in response to the seasonal changes of the light. The largest migration of animals on Earth occurs every day though most folk never see it. The biomass of plankton in the oceans far exceeds the biomass of all other creatures put together. Uncountable millions of tons of biomass swim up and down in the ocean every day in rhythm with the variations in the light. All this movement is controlled by melatonin.(3) It is the first hormone that occurred on Earth about 320 million years ago which enabled primitive organisms to move in response to light and thereby ingest sustenance.

By the 1980s, melatonin had proved to be non-toxic, even in very high doses. Realizing that it is one of the most important hormones in the human body, groups of scientists, including myself, petitioned the US government to make it freely available. Because melatonin times the sleep cycle, and because the US National Center for Sleep Disorders was more than swamped with cases at the time, and for various other reasons, we managed to persuade the politicians to make it an over-the-counter sleep aid.

We also persuaded the politicians in Canada though it took a couple of decades longer. We knew that melatonin was much more important for health than a mere sleep aid. But, for political approvals you have to keep it simple. Because of the simple story used to get it allowed, the general public came to believe that melatonin is merely a sleep remedy, akin to aspirin for a headache. No way!

People in North America don’t realize how lucky they are, because melatonin is still an expensive prescription drug in Britain, Australia, and the whole of Europe. Here is a bit of the latest science behind your enormous stroke of luck to have free access to very inexpensive melatonin, an essential supplement for extending healthy life.

Melatonin declines rapidly with aging. At age 25, melatonin output is about 50 pg/ml per day. By age 50, it drops to about 20 pg/ml, and to 10 pg/ml by age 70.

No one knows the exact level of melatonin required to maintain health. But from the hundreds of studies over the last 40 years, numerous scientists, including me, conclude that 40 pg/ml is the lower end of the range that will support healthy melatonin function in the body You start to dip below that level about age 35.

From a very large number of cases who have taken programs with the Colgan Institute over the last 40 years, we have had excellent results in raising melatonin levels above 40pg/ml, the average level of melatonin at age 35. For some people this requires only 1.0 mg of liquid melatonin per night. For others it requires 25 mg.

Our cases agree with the controlled studies. Blood levels of 40 pg/ml seems to be the minimum required for long-term health of the hormone cascade, sleep pattern and quality, normal immunity, bone structure, control of body fat, and inhibition of aging of the brain.

The evidence from hundreds of studies is now irrefutable. Unless you have sufficient melatonin, you gradually lose the temporal organization of many physiological systems, causing degenerative changes in the brain and bones, insulin resistance, overweight, and widespread organ damage. Low melatonin levels will do this to you despite the very best diet and regular exercise.

I could cite many studies, but will stick to just one, the latest review on melatonin and overweight. I just received it from world expert on melatonin, Professor Russell Reiter of the Dept of Structural Biology at the University of Texas, San Antonio. The paper just came out in epublication in the Journal of Pineal Research on 21 March 2014, and covers many of the earlier reviews.

So that you don`t think I`m exaggerating, I will quote directly from the summary of Professor Reiter`s paper.
QUOTE “ Experimental evidence demonstrates that melatonin is necessary for the proper synthesis, secretion, and action of insulin. Melatonin is a powerful chronobiotic being responsible, in part, for the daily distribution of metabolic processes so that the activity/eating phase of the day is associated with high insulin sensitivity, and the rest/fasting phase at night is synchronized to the insulin-resistant metabolic phase of the day. The reduction in melatonin production, during aging, shift-work or illuminated environments during the night, induces insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, sleep disturbance, and metabolic circadian disorganization leading to obesity.“

O.K. That`s plain enough. If you have insufficient melatonin, you will get fat and sick and old in short order, no matter what else you do to avert it.
But before you rush out to buy melatonin pills, let me tell you I have done research on melatonin supplementation for 40 years. It is not a simple substance like aspirin. It is a complex hormone. Swallow it in a pill and up to 90% is broken down and destroyed by your digestive acids and the first pass through your liver. Melatonin is effective only if you take it as a liquid and hold it in your mouth for absorption. Now you know why we designed the Sleep Spray. You can find it at fatbgone.org

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