Melatonin and my sleep

Melatonin can help you fall asleep, but for most healthy adults it offers little improvement in sleep and high supplemental doses may affect other hormone systems. 1

• Melatonin’s natural rhythm: Melatonin signals the body that it is nighttime and can help with sleep onset; it does not reliably generate sleep or keep you asleep throughout the night. 2
• Small average benefit: A meta-analysis in healthy adults found an average increase of just 3.9 minutes of sleep and 2.2% in sleep efficiency. 3
• Hormone considerations: High supplemental doses may affect reproductive hormones. Particular caution was raised for children because melatonin is involved in puberty timing; the discussion also notes its role in bone regulation and development. 4 5
• Alternatives mentioned: Magnesium threonate, magnesium bisglycinate, theanine, and apigenin were discussed as options people may try for sleep. 6