So this past summer I had mentioned that I was having trouble with waking up at night and then tossing and turning for a while. I decided to try melatonin to see if it had any effect. Here's a link to Examine.com and their aggregate interpretations of the studies that have been done on the supplement.
I think my experiences with melatonin highlight an important question when trying to evaluate a supplement's effectiveness: Is there evidence in existence that the supplement helps with an issue you're having. It sounds silly to say, but it's often not considered. So with melatonin, many people think that it helps you sleep, which is true, but they don't know what it does to help. Basically it helps to regulate your circadian rhythm, and decrease the time it takes you to fall asleep when you first go to bed. I didn't have those problems. I fell asleep within a few minutes, and when I would toss & turn I was never fully awake, and it did not appear to be a disturbance to my circadian rhythm causing the issue. So the melatonin didn't really make a difference for me. That's not saying it's not a worthwhile supplement, it just doesn't aid much in the area that I was experiencing issues with.
Another brief thought to take with you: Supplements should be just that, supplements. They don't replace a good diet, getting enough fruit/vegetables/etc. or anything else. They should be used when you're not getting enough of something through those means. Fish oil is a great example; since this country eats so much factory farm raised red meat there is a horrible omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance. This is one of the ways that fish oil helps people lose fat; by increasing the omega-3s in their diet the rebalancing actually helps your body shed fat. I don't actually eat red meat (I just prefer chicken) so it didn't have a huge effect on my body fat, I actually noticed no difference. Now there are a TON of other reasons to take fish oil, and I take plenty of it, but if I was just taking it for fat loss, I would have been foolish, because I didn't pay attention to what the supplement does to achieve it's effect.
I think my experiences with melatonin highlight an important question when trying to evaluate a supplement's effectiveness: Is there evidence in existence that the supplement helps with an issue you're having. It sounds silly to say, but it's often not considered. So with melatonin, many people think that it helps you sleep, which is true, but they don't know what it does to help. Basically it helps to regulate your circadian rhythm, and decrease the time it takes you to fall asleep when you first go to bed. I didn't have those problems. I fell asleep within a few minutes, and when I would toss & turn I was never fully awake, and it did not appear to be a disturbance to my circadian rhythm causing the issue. So the melatonin didn't really make a difference for me. That's not saying it's not a worthwhile supplement, it just doesn't aid much in the area that I was experiencing issues with.
Another brief thought to take with you: Supplements should be just that, supplements. They don't replace a good diet, getting enough fruit/vegetables/etc. or anything else. They should be used when you're not getting enough of something through those means. Fish oil is a great example; since this country eats so much factory farm raised red meat there is a horrible omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance. This is one of the ways that fish oil helps people lose fat; by increasing the omega-3s in their diet the rebalancing actually helps your body shed fat. I don't actually eat red meat (I just prefer chicken) so it didn't have a huge effect on my body fat, I actually noticed no difference. Now there are a TON of other reasons to take fish oil, and I take plenty of it, but if I was just taking it for fat loss, I would have been foolish, because I didn't pay attention to what the supplement does to achieve it's effect.
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