In this revisit of our Magic Melatonin podcast, we discuss what Melatonin is, how it works in our bodies, the benefits of it (including its beneficial effect on cancer), foods that help our bodies produce melatonin, and the question about supplementing. Transcript of Magic of Melatonin--Revisited Edited for clarity.

Wendy  00:00

So we're reposting this Magic Melatonin podcast because it's early summer, and we're both having sleep challenges with our animals.

Debbie  00:12

Yeah, and it's light until 8:45. And we listened to this podcast just to see what it sounded like and forgot how great it was.

Wendy  00:21

There's so much super information. I mean, before we go into that info, I mean, you've got your animal house right now.

Debbie  00:29

Yeah, I am an Animal House. I got cats, dogs and ducks that we're raising right now. And they all wake up at the crack of dawn, because their melatonin says it's time to wake up.

Wendy  00:41

And well, and they aren't sleeping in room darkening shade places, right? You don't have any masks on them. Right?

Debbie  00:48

Exactly. Not like me. Yeah, I have my mask on. But that doesn't help the animals from waking me up.

Wendy  00:54

Right, right, well, and our cats wake us up too. We've gotten into the habit of feeding them at 4 am, just to put them back to sleep. So anyway, some of the really hot buttons, we want to have you stay tuned. We talk a little bit about the support of melatonin in cancer, and how it's so affected by our gut health--the connection between melatonin and gut health.

Debbie  01:20

Absolutely. And we also touch on how taking a supplement of melatonin may not be the best idea, you may not actually need it. And if you do, it could be a good idea. But people are probably overusing it.

Wendy  01:35

Hmm.  And then we round out with foods to eat to help you generate your own melatonin. So stay tuned. Thanks so much for listening.  So, we're so excited that you're here and joining us today we are talking about the magic of melatonin.

Debbie  01:50

This is a good one.

Wendy  01:50

This is a good one because we all need our sleep. We all probably don't quite get enough sleep for optimum health, right. So we're going to talk about why we need it, how to get it, and a couple of foods that help produce it as well.

Debbie  02:04

Melatonin is so incredible. I hadn't realized before we did our research, how incredible it is and all that it does. So this is really interesting.

Wendy  02:11

And it's very interesting that you bring it up because the last few nights I've gotten very little sleep staying up late with bright lights and on my computer. And so this is really a good reminder for me, this stuff happens for a reason.

Debbie  02:23

That's right. That's right.

Wendy  02:25

So the first thing about Melatonin is that in order to get optimum production of melatonin, we need darkness.

Debbie  02:32

Right. 100% darkness.

Wendy  02:34

100% darkness and that is not. That's not often the case for many of us.

Debbie  02:42

Right. You know, my husband makes fun of me because of how dark I make the room because he doesn't--he thinks he doesn't need the darkness to sleep.

Wendy  02:48

We'll talk about some of those.

Debbie  02:50

Right.  But I do and I guess I knew it. So where does it come from? What is this melatonin? It's a hormone.

Wendy  02:56

And it's produced by the pineal gland, that little tiny thing in the brain. And it regulates our body's relationship with light and dark. So it's kind of like it's a clock. You know, it's a regulator.

Debbie  03:08

Right, they actually see it as a reset button for our circadian rhythm. Because during the day when it starts to get dark, it starts producing and when it gets light, the melatonin stops producing.

Wendy  03:18

Isn't our body fascinating? So why do we care? Why does it matter?