What is melatonin, where is it found, and what is its function?
Melatonin is produced by pinealocytes in the pineal gland, which is an endocrine gland located in the center of the brain, see above diagram. Melatonin is also found in the retina, lens and GI tract, it is produced in response to signals from the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, which receives its information from the retina about light and darkness. The suprachiasmatic nucleus is situated in the hypothalamus immediately above the optic chiasm on either side of the third ventricle, see diagram below.
Melatonin has a key role in the regulation of sleep and the body’s circadian rhythms, its presence is inhibited by light, and increased by darkness. Diet also plays a significant part in the presence of melatonin, for the presence of melatonin depends on its precursor, tryptophan, and the presence of tryptophan depends on our diet.
Tryptophan is one of eight essential amino acids which can not be synthesized by the body, and therefore it needs to be part of the diet. Tryptophan is not readily available in the normal everyday diet, and the small amount that may form part of the diet can be degraded by competing proteins.
A high protein diet fails to answer this dilemma, for the competing proteins which form part of this type of diet will eliminate tryptophan. The answer to the problem is a diet high in complex carbohydrates which will result in increased insulin secretion, this will then clear away the competing amino acids, and allow the tryptophan to pass through the blood brain barrier.
As if this is not enough, a diet deficient in niacin, B3, may deplete any available tryptophan, and use it to make B3. Furthermore, a diet low in B6 may cause the degredation of any available tryptophan in to toxic substances.
One can safely assume that diet plays a very significant role in the quality of our sleep.
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