Some parents use melatonin to get their children to fall asleep. This can be a negative, dual-pronged attempt due to the fact that many children who have trouble sleeping are probably struggling with diet related causes such as excessive sugar, dyes, and other ingredients from a processed food diet.
The use of melatonin in children and its systemic effects are not completely studied.
David Kennaway, the director of the circadian physiology lab at the University of Adelaidein Australia comments, “extensive evidence from laboratory studies that melatonin causes changes in multiple physiological systems, including cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems, as well as reproduction in animals,…providing melatonin supplements to children may result in serious side effects when the children are older.”
Suspect Contents
Consumer Lab Reports recently studied various supplements sold in Big Box, Big Name stores only to find that many didn’t even contain the advertised substance. Melatonin is one of many supplements that do not require regulation by the FDA as long as it is advertised as a ‘dietary supplement’.
Melatonin can be produced in other countries where regulation is never considered. This can include a process that involves extreme heat, toxic solvents, and many fillers or additives that create impurities and even contaminants.
Clete Kushida, a sleep researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine told the Huffington Post that,
“Even for adults, the unregulated nature of the supplement gives cause for reconsideration. Although synthetic melatonin is “chemically identical” to natural melatonin, commercially available supplements “often contain fillers, inert and other ingredients that may cause effects that would not be expected with natural melatonin,”
This can result in toxin accumulation which may cause future, often unrelated, side effects or even diseases that can never be traced back to subpar melatonin supplementation.
Hangover Effect
If you take melatonin, chances are it contains a higher milligram dosage than your naturally occurring production. As a result you could end up experiencing an opposite effect the next day.
Professor Wurtman describes that,
“This can lead to higher plasma melatonin levels the next day, which can cause a “hangover” effect that leaves users groggy.”
More Side Effects
These side effects include:
Bleeding disorders – Melatonin might make bleeding worse in people with bleeding disorders.
Depression – Melatonin can make symptoms of depression worse.
Diabetes – Melatonin might increase blood sugar in people with diabetes. Monitor your blood sugar carefully, if you have diabetes and take melatonin.
High blood pressure – Melatonin can raise blood pressure in people who are taking certain medications to control blood pressure. Avoid using it.
Seizure disorders – Using melatonin might increase the risk of having a seizure.
Transplant recipients – Melatonin can increase immune function and might interfere with immunosuppressive therapy used by people receiving transplants.
These 10 dangers of melatonin are just another example of how self-dosing with natural supplements should be taken more seriously.
The more people that do not research the many potential effects of alternative remedies, the more chances there will be for injury. When this occurs once too many, the government just may step in and strip you of your ability to rise above conventional medicine to heal yourself naturally.