Melatonin is a very powerful means of delaying the ageing process, expanding your horizons, and doing all this in good health. However, you should not make the mistake of thinking that taking one capsule a day is all you have to do, and otherwise you can go on treating your body badly. It is not as simple as that, and melatonin can only do its work effectively if you support it accordingly. Here are some simple thoughts, intended to help you to remain healthy and to maintain your inner supply of melatonin as long as possible.
· Try to follow a natural sleep-wake rhythm as much as possible, even if you have had problems with this in the past. Melatonin is not the only hormone which is released by your body in cycles - the same applies to many others. If you try to go to bed at around the same time each night and to get up at around the same time each morning, you help your organism to find its natural rhythm again. You cannot go on sleeping too little or too irregularly without in the long run significantly disturbing your body's natural hormone flow.
· Try to avoid any kind of behaviour which disturbs or interrupts your normal sleep cycle. If you are used to sporting activity in the evening, stop and relax two hours before your normal bedtime. Investigations have shown that physically strenuous activities at night may reduce melatonin production significantly - although making love does not count as "physically strenuous activity"!
· Allow for about seven to eight hours of sleep on a regular basis - with the very occasional exception. Some people need less sleep, others more. You have to decide for yourself how much makes you "feel great" during the day. If, however, you feel continuously tired and worn out, you definitely need more sleep.
· Try to avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, especially in the evening. Alcohol impedes the normal release of melatonin during the night. The same applies also to nicotine, caffeine and other drugs.
· If you are taking melatonin as a sleeping aid don't take any other sleeping pills at the same time. This applies to so-called tranquillisers (e.g. valium), as well as those containing barbiturates. These medicines generally work through the central nervous system and block the normal function of the pineal body.
· Try to maintain your normal body weight. Being overweight is dangerous not only because it raises the probability of heart and blood pressure problems, cancer, diabetes and apoplexy. Investigations have shown that overweight people do not transpose melatonin properly and thus disturb the normal function of the pineal body.
· Be careful about electro-magnetic fields. We live in a technical world and are continuously surrounded by electric appliances and machinery, enclosed in invisible electro-magnetic power fields. Even though we cannot reverse history and go back a hundred years to the days of candlelight and coaches, we can still pay more attention to our surroundings and handle the technological achievements of our time with greater awareness. Here are some suggestions as to what can be done:
1. Do you use a cordless or a mobile telephone? If so, think about whether you really need it or not. Radio-controlled telephones, in particular those based on the latest technology using "pulsed fields" are very strong radiators of electro-magnetic fields, and are generally used only a short distance from your brain. Their radiation has such a strong effect on the pineal gland that after some time it stops normal melatonin production completely.
2. Do you spend much time watching television? If the answer is yes, make sure to maintain a minimum distance of 21/2 to 3 meters from the TV-set. The farther away you are the better. If you switch off your television set at night, switch it off completely. In stand-by mode it still emanates strong electro-magnetic radiation. You should not have a television in your bedroom.
3. Is there a radio or electric alarm-clock on your bedside table? If there is, remove it or replace it with a normal mechanical alarm clock. The radiation of even small electric appliances can be measured at distances of up to two to six meters! This also applies to transformers, as very often used with the low-voltage halogen bulbs of modern bedside lamps.
4. Do you often work on your computer in the evening? Do you feel wide awake and "turned on" when you are finished, even if it is long after your normal bedtime? The average working distance from your eyes to the monitor screen is about 50 to 60 centimeters - its radiation, however, reaches out to more than 2 meters! While you are working, normal melatonin production in the pineal body is blocked and therefore you are not getting tired. Switch off in time to give your organism the chance to get tired in a natural way.
You see, there are various possibilities of how to take care of your health and still enjoy the amenities of modern life.