Some people misconceive referring to the term melatonin as a mineral, vitamin, or herb. Well, it is not any of those. It is actually a hormone which naturally produced by the body. This hormone is secreted by the pineal gland that has the role sending signals to the brain on regulating a 24-hour cycle due to sleeping and waking. In other words, it biologically alerts sleeping time to our brain.
Having night shifts, insomnias, awakenings in early mornings, and jet lags can cause our melatonin to deficient. In addition, the deficiency can cause us to have sleeping disorders which may distract our concentration in our daily activities. A consultation from a doctor can be done in order to decide whether it is needed to take pills or supplements for a better sleep or not. In fact, a doctor’s prescription is crucially needed in order get the right dosage that can prevent us from over dosage leading the pills to be ineffective.
Available to be found over the counter, it is still obviously safer to take melatonin with supervisions from a professional health advisor, for it can have side effects. The side effects reported emprises headaches, nausea, nightmares, vivid dreams, hormone fluctuations, etc.