The production of melatonin inhibited by light with consequences on sleep and circadian rhythms. And not getting enough sleep also makes you fat
Melatonin is a hormone that helps the body synchronize to a 24-hour rhythm. In humans, it increases at night and decreases during the day, facilitating falling asleep and maintaining a correct sleep-wake rhythm which can be a little upset with the arrival of summer time. Melatonin is produced byepiphysisa small gland in the center of the brain, under the control of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, through the action of the sympathetic nervous system, explains Matthew Cerri, professor of Neurophysiology at the University of Bologna. Its production is very sensitive to light, which inhibits it, so using screens before going to sleep, or strong lights can alter its production, with consequences on sleep and circadian rhythms in general. How melatonin promotes sleep is unclear, but it is probably not a direct action on the sleep centers. More likely, the increase in melatonin in the evening tells the body to reduce its metabolic activity, putting it in the best conditions to allow sleep to appear.
Melatonin is not a sleeping pill
The concentration of melatonin changes with age: maximum in infants, high in young people and decreases as age progresses. Warning, melatonin is not a sleeping pill but a hypno-inducingi.e. a substance that helps to shorten the time to fall asleep by about 8-10 minutes. Not recommended for those suffering from sleep disorders, not even at high doses. In general, melatonin is used to resynchronize the sleep-wake rhythm, for example when there are sleep difficulties related to jet lag or precisely to time changes in spring or autumn
The consequences of sleep deprivation on body weight
Although this data is still controversial, today a part of the scientific community believes that there has been a significant decrease in the number of hours of sleep per day and this has been related to other changes that occurred in the same period, such as the so-called obesity epidemic. It’s possible that decreased sleep could lead us to gain weight, Cerri continues. There are experiments that suggest that the sleep deprivation produces one circadian desynchronization in the production of several important hormones, such as cortisol, leptin and ghrelin which promotes appetite and therefore food intake. Although these mechanisms have been shown in the laboratory, it is unclear how much impact sleep deprivation actually has on weight gain. According to some authors, all in all, these effects would be negligible and the cause of the obesity epidemic should therefore be sought elsewhere.
March 26, 2023 (change March 26, 2023 | 2:48 pm)
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