Increase Melatonin Naturally: Top Tips for Improving Your Sleep

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by a small gland in your brain called the pineal gland. Often called the "sleep hormone," melatonin helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle by signaling to your body that it's time to wind down and rest. Its production is influenced by light levels, which rise as it gets dark and decrease with morning light—keeping your internal clock on track for healthy sleep.

Beyond just helping you fall asleep, melatonin also acts as an antioxidant, supports your immune system, and has anti-inflammatory properties. While natural melatonin production tends to decline with age, supporting it through good sleep habits, a cool and dark bedroom, morning sunlight, and melatonin-rich foods can help improve your sleep quality and overall health.

Creating a consistent daily routine that embraces these natural rhythms and supports melatonin production is key to feeling rested and energized each day.

Understanding Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland, a small gland in the brain, that plays a crucial role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. Often referred to as the “sleep hormone,” melatonin helps induce sleepiness and relaxation, preparing your body for rest.

Production of melatonin is influenced by light and darkness, with levels typically rising in the evening as it gets darker and decreasing in the morning when exposed to light. This natural rhythm helps maintain a healthy sleep-wake cycle, ensuring you get the rest you need.

What is Melatonin?

It’s a hormone that our body naturally produces by the pineal gland in your brain. It triggers the body that it’s time to go to sleep. It’s responsible for regulating your body’s circadian rhythms or sleep cycle.

Related: Read more about your circadian rhythms.

Exposure to light in the evening can block production. Some individuals who have difficulties in sleeping may have low levels of melatonin.

The amino acid tryptophan plays a crucial role in increasing concentrations of melatonin and serotonin, which contributes to improved quality of sleep. Dietary sources high in tryptophan, such as milk, tart cherry juice, quinoa, and poultry, can affect natural melatonin synthesis, especially for individuals who may be deficient in tryptophan.

How Does Melatonin Affect My Body?

More than just for sleep health, melatonin affects the body in several significant ways:

• Regulating the sleep-wake cycle: Melatonin helps the body fall asleep and stay asleep by promoting relaxation and reducing alertness. This regulation is crucial for maintaining a normal sleep-wake cycle.
• Antioxidant properties: Melatonin has powerful antioxidant properties, which help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. This can contribute to overall health and longevity.
• Anti-inflammatory properties: Melatonin’s properties can help reduce inflammation and alleviate symptoms associated with various diseases, promoting better health.
• Immune system regulation: Melatonin can help regulate the immune system, potentially preventing autoimmune diseases and enhancing the body’s ability to fight off infections.

Tips on How to Increase Melatonin Naturally

Boosting levels of melatonin can significantly improve sleep quality and overall health. Here are some effective ways to naturally enhance the production of melatonin:

Sleep Cooler at Night

They say it takes two weeks to embrace a new habit, but here's a routine you can accomplish even sooner: just sleep cooler. The key to getting deep sleep -- and boosting your body's level of natural melatonin -- is to keep your sleep environment cool.

The optimal temperature is said to be somewhere between 60°F and 68°F, which can result in a better night's sleep.

The temperature of your bedroom plays a big role in how well you'll be able to sleep. A strict bedtime is a great start, but you really need to adjust your sleep temperature in conjunction with all the other tips shared to increase your the quality of sleep!

While everyone has a slightly different optimal sleep temperature, we recommend setting your thermostat somewhere in the range mentioned above until you find the best temperature to allow you to drift off to sleep.

Using a cooling mattress topper can help lower your body temperature to help you sleep better throughout the night.

Get Out in Natural Light First Thing Each Morning

Exposure to natural light in the morning helps regulate your circadian rhythm. Early morning sunlight triggers natural cortisol production, which allows the body to warm up and feel awake and refreshed to take on the day.

Allowing cortisol levels to rise early in the day using sunlight will, in turn, boost your production of melatonin naturally at night. Spend 10-15 minutes outside in the morning, or open your curtains to let sunlight in.

This simple habit can help reset your internal clock and improve your sleep-wake cycle.

Avoid Bright Light Before Bed

Dim the lights in the evening to help your body naturally perceive darkness and begin to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. Instead of bright white lights, try using dim red or amber colored lights.

Avoid screens like phones, tablets, and computers for at least an hour before bed. The light emitted by these devices can trick your brain into thinking it's still daytime, which suppresses melatonin leves and makes it harder to fall asleep.

Additional tips on how to naturally boost the production of melatonin include:

• Eating melatonin-rich foods: Try adding tart cherries, goji berries, milk, eggs, fish, bananas, walnuts, or even certain cereals to your meals. These foods naturally contain melatonin, which can help your body produce more of it and make it easier to drift off at night.
• Avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bedtime: Both can cause issues with your sleep and throw off your melatonin production. If you can, avoid coffee, energy drinks, or that late-night glass of wine in the evening so your body has a better chance to wind down.
• Relax before bed: Meditation, deep breathing, or even listening to a calming podcast can help quiet your mind and lower stress, which supports healthy melatonin levels.
• Getting regular exercise: Regular exercise is great for better sleep, but doing an intense workout right before bed might leave you feeling too energized to rest. Aim to finish your workouts at least a few hours before you plan to go to bed.
• Avoiding screens and electronic devices before bedtime: The blue light from phones, tablets, and TVs can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, which lowers melatonin. Try turing off your devices 1–2 hours before bed to help your body get into sleep mode.

Create a Day-and-Night Routine for a Healthy Circadian Rhythm

Know when to lighten up and when to “go dark.” It's best to get as much exposure to bright light as possible during the day -- in the evening, it's the other way around, so keep your sleep environment as dark as possible.

Aim for some sunshine and exercise in the daytime. Scientists say that getting as little as 10 minutes a day of continuous sun exposure can lower your evening cortisol levels and allow you to wind down and get quality sleep.

Overexposure to lights from electronics or TVs can throw off your circadian rhythm by tricking your mind into thinking that it's still daytime. Turn off the tech at least an hour before bedtime since these light-emitting devices actually suppress the natural release of melatonin.

Stick To That New Sleep Routine

Insomnia can be a deeply frustrating experience, making the idea of effortless, restorative sleep seem like an unattainable dream. However, achieving quality sleep is entirely possible. Creating a bedtime routine can be a game-changer!

Mastering the art of getting really amazing deep sleep is easier than you think -- no dietary supplement needed! What other strategies can help to boost natural melatonin?

Eat Foods That Boost Melatonin Production

In addition to sleeping cooler and creating a day-and-night routine, experiment with new flavors as part of your new routine. Consider adding “melatonin foods” to your grocery list.

Below are foods that are considered to be a good source of naturally occurring melatonin.

• Nuts & Seeds
• Eggs
• Fish
• Tart Cherries
• Warm Milk
• Goji Berries

Tart cherry juice is a melatonin-rich food that can aid in sleep quality, highlighting its anti-inflammatory properties and its ability to increase sleep time and efficiency among seniors with insomnia.

Just like conditioning your body to do anything else, the key is sticking to a solid routine that works for you. Remember this: a good day starts with the night before, and you can boost your natural melatonin with my tips above.

Creating and sticking to better sleep habits is an investment you make every night for the health and well-being of your future self.

Melatonin and Sleep Disorders

Balancing your natural melatonin in your body can reduce the stress that can come from inflammation and illness. While asleep, breathing and muscle activity slows. This provides more energy for the immune system to perform critical tasks and upkeep.

Deep sleep contributes to both innate and adaptive immunity, which is the body’s foundation for fighting foreign diseases. Melatonin can help manage sleep problems such as insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. You can read more about the different sleep problems and disorders.

While natural methods are preferred, melatonin supplements can be considered under medical guidance.

How Melatonin Impacts Immunity

Better sleep enhances your immune system in several ways, including:

• Cell regeneration
• Increased blood flow to muscles
• A stronger immune system
• Energy renewal
• Development, growth, and repair of tissues and bones

According to sleep medicine research, melatonin plays a crucial role in these processes. Melatonin can help increase sleep, GERD, eye health, and seasonal depression, improve concentration, and provide more energy.

Use These Tips to Help You Increase Melatonin Naturally

The most effective approach to improving sleep lies in optimizing your body's natural melatonin production. This involves a multi-faceted strategy that includes establishing a consistent sleep-wake cycle, optimizing your sleep environment, and incorporating melatonin-rich foods into your healthy diet.

Plus, prioritizing relaxation techniques and minimizing screen time and bright artificial lights before bed.

Focusing on these natural strategies can enhance your body's natural melatonin production, boost sleep quality, and allow you to reap the numerous health benefits of a well-rested mind and body.

Remember, while dietary melatonin can play a role, a healthy lifestyle and consistent sleep habits are paramount for optimal melatonin regulation.