Taking melatonin at the right time for the required shift will help reset the clock more quickly when traveling across time zones. Melatonin taken in the evening will shift the clock earlier (a phase advance) whereas melatonin taken in the morning will shift the clock later (a phase delay). Receptors for melatonin are located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, the location of the circadian pacemaker, and can reset the rhythms generated by the pacemaker. Melatonin pills can help regulate the circadian clock by shifting the timing of internal rhythms. How does melatonin help adjust circadian rhythms? Melatonin is not a sleeping pill, however, and will not help sleep once your jet lag is gone. Second, it will help you sleep when you are transitioning between time zones by telling the brain to sleep at a different time than normal. Taking melatonin will do two things: First, it will help shift the timing of the circadian clock to help you overcome jet lag more quickly. If you take melatonin, but your light exposure isn’t timed correctly, melatonin may not help you adapt to your new time zone any faster. However, the right type and dose of melatonin, at the right time, can help you shift even faster and sleep better as you are transitioning between time zones. Managing when you see and avoid light is critical to adapting to new time zones quickly. Light is the most important time cue for resetting your circadian clock. How can melatonin help me reduce jet lag when I travel? Melatonin is the only time cue other than light that can shift the circadian clock and help you shift to new time zones even faster, although its effects are generally weaker than light. Melatonin can also be purchased in a pill form, which contain a synthetic version of the hormone but in a much higher dose than we naturally produce. We usually start to release melatonin about 2-3 hours before we go to sleep. While melatonin is not a sleep hormone, in day-active animals like humans, melatonin ‘opens the sleep gate’ and tells the brain it’s time to sleep.

The release of melatonin is controlled by the 24-hour circadian clock, and tells the brain it’s nighttime. It is sometimes called the ‘hormone of darkness’. Melatonin is a natural hormone, produced by the pineal gland in the brain and is only released at night.

Side effects of olly melatonin