Achi news desk-
New Delhi9 minutes agoAuthor: Aishwarya Sharma
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A good deep sleep makes every person fresh and keeps away from many diseases. So sleep has been considered a medicine for many diseases.
But these days, lack of sleep is a common problem for all people, because there has been a change in lifestyle. Now people watch mobile till late at night or do some night shifts. Not only this, many times one loses sleep due to stress.
But this problem can be cured by a hormone called melatonin.
Melatonin improves sleep cycle
Melatonin is a sleep hormone also known as the ‘Dracula hormone’ or ‘hormone of darkness’. Dr. Anshu Rohatgi, a neurologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital, says that the hormone melatonin is released in the pineal gland in the brain. When there is darkness around, it gets mixed in the blood because the person starts to feel sleepy.
Light is the enemy of this hormone. Whether that light is from the sun or blue light emanating from a mobile phone or television.
In fact, sleep has a deep relationship with the sun. There is a clock in our body called ‘circadian rhythm’. It starts with sunrise. So, in earlier times, people used to wake up in the morning with the first rays of the sun and go to sleep after the sun had set.
As melatonin is produced in the body in harmony with nature, the levels of this hormone are higher at night.
Darkness increases melatonin levels
Melatonin starts to be produced in the body after 10 pm but this hormone is at its peak between 2 and 4 pm. Its effect diminishes at 5 in the morning. Melatonin activity in the body throughout the night naturally regulates sleep and relaxes the human mind and fills it with energy.
Lack of melatonin hormone reduces immunity.
People who do not sleep at night, lack melatonin in their body. The lack of this hormone reduces the body’s immunity because the person starts to get sick easily. A lot of research has proven that people who sleep on time at night have good immunity.
increased risk of diabetes
A study from General Diabetes Care in 2018 found that people who stay awake at night have a higher risk of diabetes than others. Staying awake at night affects metabolism because melatonin is not produced. Because of this, the body becomes resistant to insulin. That is why nowadays diabetes has started to occur even in young people.
Obesity increases and decreases melatonin.
Dr. Anshu Rastogi says, a good level of hormone melatonin helps to burn body fat so that the person does not gain weight.
A study conducted in America found that sleeping and waking at the right time for 12 consecutive months had an effect on body fat. Because of this, a chemical called adiponectin starts to be produced in the body. Because of this, the fat accumulated in the body decreases rapidly. People who do not sleep at night become obese quickly.
He can become a patient of high blood pressure
Not sleeping at night can give a person high blood pressure. When one does not sleep, the person feels tired, mood swings begin and digestive problems begin.
Not getting enough sleep leads to laziness, which directly affects the heart.
This has also been proven in research published in General Hypertension. This research was done on 66 thousand women whose age was between 25 and 42 years.
This research, which lasted 16 years, found that women who did not sleep at night had an effect on body mass index (BMI) and diet. Of these, 26 thousand women suffered from hypertension. The study also revealed that this problem is more common in those who do not sleep for 7 to 8 hours.
There are many supplements available in the market for good sleep.
These days most people only sleep after 11-12 o’clock at night. These days, there are many types of sleep gummies and supplements available in the market for good sleep. These supplements claim that consuming them activates melatonin in the body, which leads to good sleep.
On this, says Dr. Anshu Rohatgi that the problem of lack of sleep starts for most people when they do a night shift or suffer from ‘jet lag’ due to excessive travel.
In order to induce sleep, any medicine should contain 3 mg of melatonin but in some its amount is up to 10 mg, which is not good to take.
A study on sleep supplements was conducted at the Cambridge Health Alliance. In this study, the amount of melatonin found on a pack of gummies was 347% higher than what was labelled.
According to the US National Institutes of Health, the level of melatonin present in sleep supplements is dangerous to health. This can cause problems such as fainting, headaches, bedwetting, irregular periods. The study claimed that the claims made on 88% of supplement packages turned out to be false.
Melatonin decreases with age
Many people suffer from insomnia as they age. In fact, with increasing age the amount of melatonin in the body begins to decrease. Apart from this, this also happens with people suffering from Alzheimer’s or mood disorders.
At the same time, using a TV, mobile phone or laptop at night also reduces the level of this hormone. Therefore, every person should reduce or stop their screen time as soon as night falls.
