What Is the Pineal Gland — And How to Activate It for Better Sleep, According to Experts

 The pineal gland is a small, pea-shaped structure deep in the center of the brain. It plays a crucial role in secreting melatonin and other hormones. If the pineal gland isn’t working properly, you could experience a hormone imbalance, disrupted sleep, and even cardiovascular problems.

The pineal gland regulates how your body reacts to seasonal changes and cycles that can affect your normal sleep patterns, and is part of your greater hormonal network that creates and releases hormones to tell your body what to do and when to do it, explains Zach Bush, MD, a physician specializing in internal medicine, endocrinology, and hospice care.

The pineal gland’s primary job is to produce and secrete the sleep hormone melatonin, although it also plays a role in secreting other hormones.

In fact, Dr. Bush says, “it is believed to be the body’s only source of melatonin. The pineal gland secretes the highest levels of this hormone during dark periods and decreases melatonin production when you’re exposed to light. It is under control of the circadian clock, which modulates sleep patterns, including both circadian and seasonal cycles. The pineal gland receives light information from the retina, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the third eye, or Ajna chakra, and sends the information elsewhere in the body to elicit important responses.”

In other words, if your pineal gland is functioning properly, it helps you get a good night’s sleep without any disruptions. It also regulates the hormone oxytocin, which promotes positive feelings and relaxation and has been shown in studies to decrease anxiety and stress levels....<<<Read More>>>....

What You Need to Know About Melatonin

 Melatonin is one of the most important antioxidant molecules and certainly the most ancient, as it has been part of biological life for over 3 billion years. It’s present in prokaryotes, which are bacteria, and even in plants. In the human body — aside from having direct antioxidant effects — it also stimulates the synthesis of glutathione and other important antioxidants like superoxide dismutase and catalase.

Melatonin has been here forever … and its functions have evolved. It has learned to work successfully with other molecules during this three-billion-year evolution. One of the molecules with which it collaborates is glutathione … But the antioxidant activity of melatonin is extremely diverse.

It in fact is a very good radical scavenger. There are other radical scavengers — vitamin C, vitamin E and so forth — but melatonin is superior to those. But beyond that, it stimulates antioxidative enzymes, especially in mitochondria. Mitochondria are small organelles in the cell that generate the bulk of the free radicals.

So, it’s very important to have a good antioxidant at the level of the mitochondria and melatonin happens to be located and is, in fact, synthesized in the mitochondria. Melatonin scavenges radicals that are generated, but it also stimulates something called sirtuin-3, which activates or deacetylates super oxide dismutase (SOD), which is a very important antioxidative enzyme.

It also removes free radicals and prevents the degeneration of the mitochondria, and why this is so important is because mitochondria are really the center of the action within a cell. In other words, there’s strong evidence that aging, frailty of aging, senescence of cells as we age, relate to molecular damage at the level of the mitochondria, and melatonin seems to be very efficient at protecting mitochondria from that damage.”

Melatonin increases glutathione through a genomic effect on the enzyme that regulates the synthesis of gamma glutamylcysteine synthase, the rate limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis. Melatonin activates that enzyme.

Glutathione tends to be found in high concentrations in cells, although some is also found, to a lesser degree, in the extracellular space and the mitochondria. Meanwhile, 95% of the melatonin in your body is concentrated within the mitochondria inside the cells.

Its antioxidant effects are quite diverse, but include preventing free radical generation by enhancing the efficiency of the electron transport chain so fewer electrons leach onto oxygen molecules to generate super oxide antiradical....<<<Read More>>>...

Melatonin Insight

Melatonin is a hormone, produced in the brain, that carries out a wide range of roles in the body; the most well known of its functions is the control of circadian (daily) rhythms.

Melatonin is also used medically in a number of conditions, including radiation exposure, Alzheimer's disease, and tinnitus.

Produced in the pineal gland in the brain, melatonin helps control sleep-wake cycles. Some foods contain melatonin, and it is also available as a pill.

Of melatonin's many functions, the best understood is the part it plays in maintaining circadian rhythms. In humans, the circadian "clock" is found within the hypothalamus in an area called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Using the daily cycle of light and dark, the SCN creates and maintains a daily cycle. Certain hormones are released at specific times of the day. In the late afternoon and early evening, hormones are released that prepare the body for sleep. During the early hours of the morning, the body starts to prepare for waking and activity....read more>>>...

Surprising benefits of melatonin: Alleviating depression, treating autoimmune disorders and fighting cancer

S.O.T.T: The hormone melatonin plays many important roles in your health, from helping you sleep better to strengthening your immune system, slowing down brain aging, reducing migraine attacks, protecting bone mass, and preventing cancer.

Lack of sun exposure during the day combined with artificial lighting late into the night disrupts your biological clock and hence, your melatonin production, and this disruption can provoke a number of adverse health effects. In fact, melatonin has been the subject of preclinical research on over 100 different disease applications, many of which go hand in hand with your need for sleep.

Your master biological clock resides in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of your brain (SCN), which is part of your hypothalamus. Based on signals of light and darkness, your SCN tells your pineal gland when it's time to secrete melatonin, and when to turn it off. In scientific studies, melatonin supplementation has been shown to help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep, experience less restlessness, and prevent daytime fatigue...read more>>>...