Science & Technology

What is melatonin — and should you take it to fall asleep? | Sleeping with Science

Melatonin is the hormone that tells our brains and bodies it’s time to sleep. But if you think melatonin supplements will significantly improve your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, you may have been misled. Sleep scientist Matt Walker shares how this “hormone of darkness” really works. Sleep — we spend one-third of our…

Published

2 years ago

December 1, 2021

CYBER TECH TV

Sleep — we spend one-third of our lives doing it, but what exactly do we get out of it? And how can we do it better? In this TED series, sleep scientist Matt Walker uncovers the facts and secrets behind our nightly slumber. (Made possible with the support of Oura) Check out more episodes on TED.com:

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50 Comments

ZainRenault

December 2, 2021 at 1:48 am

Melatonin has been very helpful for managing my Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, where my body doesn’t prepare for sleep until 2 am. In this case, it helping tell the body to shut down for bed is exactly what I need.

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Laura Mundschau

December 2, 2021 at 3:13 am

Remember when the word “science” meant it was information you could trust? 👀🤣

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iPodFayne

December 2, 2021 at 3:41 am

This makes total sense! I used to take melatonin pills but I would still wake up in the night even though I fell asleep okay.

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phant0

December 2, 2021 at 3:52 am

I’ve found melatonin to be useful for dealing with jet lag when traveling East where you need to go to bed earlier than your body clock wants you to. It allows me to fall asleep much easier under those conditions. Without it I’d just lay in bed wide awake for hours. I use it for 1 day per hour of jet lag then after that stop using it because my body clock is properly set.

I don’t think it is a good idea to use melatonin as a sleep aid for situations other than jet lag though.

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Chris P

December 2, 2021 at 4:06 am

I think you missing the point Matt. To state the obvious… we can’t stay asleep if we can’t get to sleep in the first place. You state that melatonin is key in getting the sleep process going. Discounting all melatonin supplements is misleading if you are using unregulated supplement brands to support your statistics. How about providing us with some options of melatonin brands and dosages that could be helpful in aiding sleep? And what are the sleep statistics if the dosages are accurate?

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- Felicia Amore
  
  December 2, 2021 at 11:41 am
  
  Its not key though.
  That’s the point that you’re missing.
  
  All melatonin does is tell your brain it’s nighttime.
  Which isn’t a requirement to sleeping.
  
  It does next to nothing to get you to sleep.
  And even then the only way to get it to do that nearly nothing, is to severely shock your brain with massive quantities of it.
  
  I mean your average melatonin pill comes in sizes of 5, 10, or 15 mg’s
  
  Yet the minimum amount of melatonin to trigger an overdose, is 3 mg .-.
  And the amount necessary for it to do its job in your brain is 0.05 mg’s
  (A melatonin od, isn’t dangerous unless you’re prone to panic attacks. It gives you hallucinations, vivid dreams, sleep paralysis, reality dissociation, etc. Sometimes mild, occasionally severe.)
  
  Also,
  ALL melatonin brands are poorly regulated within America.
  If you live elsewhere, I’m sure other countries might be better about this,
  I hope so at least.
  
  But in the us, melatonin isn’t considered a drug, or a food. But a natural health supplement, like a vitamin would be classified.
  And therefore has minimal regulations.
  Melatonin pills here are wildly inconsistent with dosage, and rarely pure.
  
  If you’re looking for a consistent reliable dosage,
  Perhaps if your doctor recommended you as needing it,
  Order from another country.
  
  Reply
Andreas Kristofel Simamora

December 2, 2021 at 4:31 am

Nicee

Reply
Nobody

December 2, 2021 at 4:32 am

Can we all agree that this is the best series ever?

Reply
Dennis Murphy

December 2, 2021 at 5:09 am

I swear by melatonin to cure jet lag. I once flew into Sydney from two months in Europe and took it two nights before I flew out. I arrived in Sydney at 10pm and was performing as normal at 10am the next morning.

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Коля Черненко

December 2, 2021 at 5:16 am

why those animations are so stupid? wtat’s wrong with those people who are creating them?

Reply
schizo noise

December 2, 2021 at 5:48 am

I cant fall asleep early, its a big problem.

Reply
Minyu Yu BA

December 2, 2021 at 7:33 am

Every time I use melatonin I can’t fall asleep quickly however I keep waking up Eddie fourth or fifth hour of sleep. Wideawake,Worse than not taking it

Reply
ö

December 2, 2021 at 8:17 am

Placebo enters the chat

Reply
Alli Nicole

December 2, 2021 at 9:32 am

Melatonin supplement whether tabs, gummies, or liquid drops never worked. I have yet to find a cure besides a pharmacy med that knocks me out and im groggy all day after.

Reply
Lord Ao

December 2, 2021 at 11:01 am

I have insomnia. I took melatonin 4 hours ago🤷‍♂️

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Felicia Amore

December 2, 2021 at 11:17 am

I stopped using melatonin,
Because it doesn’t take much of it to od on it. For me at least.

Which causes vivid life like dreams, hallucinations, grogginess, poor sleep, sleep paralysis, and panic episodes.
Not very fun.

Reply
Colin Butts

December 2, 2021 at 11:55 am

Rip Van Winkle took melatonin and had a 20 year nap. Just as advertised.

Reply
Imran Hadi

December 2, 2021 at 12:06 pm

Melatonin is unreliable and ineffective like video mentioned tried it countless times and it never works at helping sleep at all

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Lisa Love Ministry

December 2, 2021 at 12:16 pm

Read the Bible at bedtime you’re guaranteed to fall asleep and feed your soul.
Proverbs 3:5-6

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Minh Hồ

December 2, 2021 at 12:39 pm

???

Reply
Michelle Clark

December 2, 2021 at 2:11 pm

Test: Can you see this post??

Reply
JAC NAC

December 2, 2021 at 3:36 pm

When we are really tire we will sleep wether we want to or not. Time and good health are priceless…

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Crazy Zaul

December 2, 2021 at 7:32 pm

Or just take CBD instead.

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John Petan

December 2, 2021 at 11:28 pm

I agree 100%. Exercise & routine makes a huge positive difference & don’t force it. If you’re not tired, but want to go to sleep, but your body isn’t ready, try meditation for 15mins, if done correctly, it will put u in a complete state of relaxation.

Also remember most people only need 4-7hrs of quality sleep, especially young adults, and especially if you’re eating a very healthy diet, as it has been proven that a very healthy diet, along with daily exercise, provides the body with more energy. So don’t force yourself thinking u need more than say 6hrs, just because you know others are, OR u see it in the movies lol

Eat well, exercise daily, meditate & try to create a sleep routine tkme frame, because the body & mind loves routine.

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skytiger859

December 3, 2021 at 1:45 am

I mean, those 3 minutes and 2% count for something, even if it’s placebo lol

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Sez Clark

December 3, 2021 at 3:00 am

I take both magnesium powder and melatonin to relax my body into falling asleep or I’m awake until 1am-4am. Been like this since I was a teenager so hormones are a huge part of the issue

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Darkhorseman82

December 3, 2021 at 5:51 am

I find it funny whenever we get longevity breakthrough studies around chemicals, we start getting these ‘this substance is bad’ videos.

Circadian mediated autophagy is one of the keystones of aging. Dysregulated clock genes rapidly increase aging speeds. Governments go to great lengths to downregulate melatonin production in our bodies so we don’t have an aging population epidemic.

You really can’t trust anyone, these days.

Let me guess, you’ll start attacking Glynac/N-Acetyl Cystein, next.

Reply
123

December 3, 2021 at 6:20 am

Dear Matt Walker. Could you please adopt me. I love you.

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Katie LaGreca

December 3, 2021 at 8:40 am

This was so not helpful. For those who do all that stuff and are still finding sleep hard the grasp, any additional help is welcome.

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chris rush

December 4, 2021 at 3:28 am

I hear you. But 1mg was a miracle drug for my son. He’d lay there for 1-2 hours before falling asleep and then after finding out about and trying melatonin it was reduced to 10-20 minutes.

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R Kerr

December 5, 2021 at 5:39 am

I used it when I worked nightshift. I found that I would still be tired after sleeping 8+ hours in darkness. I was extremely irritable as well. No point tricking your body.

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No one star

December 5, 2021 at 8:50 pm

I’ve had to use melatonin for decades now–there’s been no other choice, and nothing else (natural) helped nor worked. I stayed AWAY from ‘pharmaceutical cocktails’ like Ambien and ALL chemical drugs, period. Would never use these.

My sleep has been poor since childhood–I doubt that I get legitimate REM sleep very often, if at all.

Pretty certain this has easily shaved about 20-30 years off of my life, and… it’s beginning to truly show. 😓 In the last 6-8 years, I feel like I’ve aged 20. The desire for death (or, at least, escaping the anguish of physical, psychological and emotional suffering) has become worse, more and more frequent… even though I have a LOT I’d like to accomplish.

It is what it is, but… I predict that I’ll never make it to 70 nor 80 years old. 90 is DEFINITELY out of the question. No possibility.

I used to be an athlete, had TONS of energy, and I smiled far more often than I was upset or downtrodden. Life beat me down over the decades, though. It is what it is.

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Sarah A

December 5, 2021 at 10:55 pm

Oh I normally sleep 8 hours in one go, I just start to sleep at 2AM or 3AM and while Im a student and can be flexible like that, it is very annoying to be behind everyone else’s wake up time. I just started taking melatonin (1mg only) and it immediately makes me tired and I’ve been sleeping well and deeply (I sleep deeply anyway) and wake up right on time 🙂

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Who Tf

December 6, 2021 at 12:11 am

Dont you love it when the only solid solution is just to let the body does its work.. it’s 3 am and my so called gland says “naah”..

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Life is Short

December 6, 2021 at 12:11 am

Dont you love it when the only solid solution is just to let the body does its work.. it’s 3 am and my so called gland says “naah”..

Reply
Kimberly Ferrer

December 7, 2021 at 2:34 am

I can’t use it. I get bad headaches

Reply
Quang Phú Vlog

December 7, 2021 at 4:21 am

Really love this kind of videos. So useful

Reply
Nasha Manuel

December 7, 2021 at 7:57 am

this video really help me and my family

Reply
Soren Kaster

December 7, 2021 at 5:54 pm

Melatonin has been a very researched substance, and I cannot argue with the facts you bring up. You mentioned how taking melatonin before bed only increases the quality of sleep, what you called sleep efficiency, by 2.2%. I wonder how felt this difference is, if it is even noticeable. Another thing that is significant to me is how it affects the time it takes to fall asleep. 3-9 minutes may not seem drastic, but personally that easily can make the differences between falling asleep right away or getting distracted and waking up again. I’ve never had problems falling asleep once I’m tired, but in the time I’ve taken melatonin I’ve noticed taking it about an hour before I plan on falling asleep does help me feel more tired and ready for sleep. I have no argument against the idea of a placebo but, even if it were a placebo it’s not causing any problems I know of. I’ve also personally noticed melatonin’s effect on quality of sleep and among this frequency of dreams. When I take melatonin I fall I sleep faster, get better sleep, and dream more.

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David Moore

December 7, 2021 at 10:03 pm

Read the study about melatonin and covid. Pretty soon, democrats will want to ban melatonin. Any bets???

Reply
熟肉CookedMeat（にく）

December 7, 2021 at 11:18 pm

By combining the use of melatonin and sleep pills, can you force a sleeping cycle to form on a normal person that has a broken sleep cycle only due to habit?

Reply
همس القلب / Heart whisper

December 10, 2021 at 5:38 am

I would like to translate the video into Arabic

Reply
Pip

December 15, 2021 at 4:39 pm

What can increase the efficiency of the pineal gland…!

Reply
Sh Vh

December 21, 2021 at 11:29 pm

thank you, pharmaceutical economy is the true devil, spit on those pills!

Reply
Charan Karasudula

December 22, 2021 at 7:45 pm

All the positive comments stating that it worked, are paid..I believe this guy…

Reply
Gwyn Norris

December 29, 2021 at 6:12 am

This video ain’t it. Taking it reduced the time it took me to get to sleep from over two hours to less than half an hour. As if I’d never tried dimming the lights before 🙄

Reply
RollYourRock

December 29, 2021 at 8:05 pm

Once I made the change to a 300mcg (.30% of 1 mg) tablet of Melatonin 1 hour before bedtime, my sleep has improved immensely. If I do wake up in the middle of the night, which doesn’t happen often, I will take 1/2 of of one of these tablets and I’m back to sleep within 1/2 hour.

Reply
Arina Hasman

January 3, 2022 at 4:10 pm

My daughter has sleeping problems since infancy. As a toddler, she was often sick because the lack of sleep at night, she would sleep in the morning till afternoon. We visited countless doctors, they would prescribe sleeping medications for her, and when she was off meds, it came back even worse. The sleeping problems just got worse, she couldn’t even attend school. When she was 6, i gave her melatonin gummies for kids. I swear it took her just 30 minutes to sleep, it used to take her 2-3 hour just to fall asleep. She is now healthier, happier, and no dark circles around her eyes. She can finally make friends and attend school. And i finally get to sleep normally after all these years. I mean her sleeping problems also took a toll on me. I was sleep deprived because i had to stay up with her 😂 and then i had to wake up earlier.

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Ambitiouz Theveganstonerr

January 5, 2022 at 7:41 pm

Thank you Chuck Norris

Reply
Daddycool

January 8, 2022 at 7:36 pm

Utter BS… it works wonders for me . Paid shill for big pharma so people turn to pharmaceutical drugs.

Reply

Science & Technology

Meta claims Llama 3 is the most advanced open source AI yet l TechCrunch Minute

Published

21 hours ago

April 19, 2024

CYBER TECH TV

Meta is advancing its AI, and putting AI products in more and more places across Facebook and Instagram. Meta has added two more models into their generative AI family: Llama 3 8B and Llama 3 70B. These generative AI models are notable because they are trained on a massive data set which should make them smarter, quicker, and all around better for the user. At least that is what Meta’s messaging is pushing. TechCrunch’s Alex Wilhelm discusses how Llama 3 stands up against the competition and where Meta users may see them put to use.

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