Taking Melatonin To Sleep? Your Gut Might Prefer If You Didn't — Here's Why

Odds are you know someone who's reached for melatonin to help them sleep better, and that person might even be you. The hormone is naturally produced in the body, yet it's become one of the most widely used (and unregulated) supplements out there.

For this study, researchers wanted to investigate the connections between IBD, supplementing melatonin, and the subsequent immune responses and bacterial compositions in the guts of mice. To do so, they created a mouse model of IBD, administering melatonin to a portion of them.

Based on their analysis, melatonin actually made symptoms and recovery worse for the mice who had been administered melatonin, showing worsened gut inflammation and during remission, slower recovery.

Namely, the mice who had been administered melatonin showed notable signs of colitis aggravation, delayed recovery, and increased inflammatory markers, which the study authors say confirm the harmful effects of melatonin supplementation on a disrupted gut barrier.

While these findings have yet to be replicated in humans, study co-author and immunologist Cristina Ribeiro de Barros Cardoso, Ph.D., notes that people should be scrutinous when it comes to hormonal supplements.

Even if you don't have IBD, these findings raise some interesting questions about the relationship between melatonin, the gut, and the immune system, suggesting that if you can avoid melatonin, it might be in your best interest.

You might opt for some lifestyle modifications instead, like forgoing screens late at night and going to bed at the same time each day.

And as Seema Bonney, M.D., founder and medical director of the Anti-Aging & Longevity Center of Philadelphia, previously told mindbodygreen, "It's important to remember that melatonin is a hormone, and using any hormone regularly can downregulate your own production of that hormone."

If you do want to get the benefits of a great night's sleep without taking any hormones, we recommend a quality, nonhormonal, non-habit-forming supplement for sleep that's made with research-backed ingredients like magnesium (an essential mineral that is not a hormone).