Products: MELATONIN
Scientists say this natural hormone could reset the body's aging clock, turning back the ravages of time.
"Senescence, the downward spiral that we have come to associate with aging, does not have to occur" Dr. Walter Pierpaoli and William Regelson declare in their forthcoming book "The Melatonin Miracle." "Melatonin can stop the spiral."
Melatonin occurs naturally in nature, such as small amounts in oranges and tomatoes and is produced by the pineal gland in humans. Like most animals, humans produce melatonin abundantly throughout early life, but the levels in our blood drop slightly before puberty and decline steadily into old age. When Dr. Pierpaoli, an Italian immunologists, restores youthful levels of melatonin in mice, they outlive their life expectancies by nearly a third. And his findings are consistent with numerous other scientific studies.
Newsweek magazine reports, "melatonin is poised to become one of the hottest pills of the decade."
"Recent studies suggest that supplementing melatonin may bolster the immune system, keep our cells from disintegrating, slow the growth of tumors and cataracts, ward off heart disease, and naturally improve sleep." Studies have yet to document any hazards; even scientists are taking the plunge. "I take melatonin every night," says Russel Reiter, a University of Texas cellular biologist who has studied melatonin for 30 years. "I want to die young as late in life as possible, and I think melatonin could help."
"Travelers and office workers are using it as an antidote to jet lag, stress and insomnia."
First identified just four decades ago, melatonin is now recognized as one of life's most ubiquitous molecules. It turns up in such diverse organisms as people and protozoa, suggesting it dates back a billion years or so. Humans secrete it cyclically from the pineal gland, a pea-size structure located at the center of the brain, in response to the amount of light hitting the eyes. Physiologists know melatonin acts to keep us in sync with the rhythms of the day and the season. Through its action on other hormones, it helps determine when people sleep and horses breed, when birds migrate, dogs shed their coats and certain frogs change color.
Cellular biologists have discovered that melatonin can protect against free radical cell damage.
Cellular biologists have recently discovered that melatonin has an even more basic function, which is to protect oxygen-based life from the toxic effects of oxygen. Yes, oxygen. As we metabolize this life sustaining gas, we generate highly reactive molecules called free radicals, which can corrode our cellular membranes and damage our DNA. The process, known as oxidation, weakens our minds and muscles as we age, and contributes to at least 60 degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's. The body produces several enzymes to inhibit oxidation, and nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene can provide extra protection. But most of these so-called antioxidants work only in certain parts of certain cells. Melatonin readily permeates any cell in any part of the body—including the brain. And as Reiter's research team has recently shown in animal experiments, melatonin can protect tissues from an amazing array of assaults.
Dr. Reiter and his colleagues demonstrated that a small dose of melatonin could shield against cancer.
Reiter and his colleagues were able to show that a small dose of melatonin could shield rats from a cancer-causing chemical called safrole. Given alone, safrole quickly oxidizes liver cells, causing extensive DNA damage. But when rats received tiny doses of melatonin before their safrole shots, they exhibited 41 percent less damage than their untreated counterparts—and those receiving a slightly larger dose of melatonin suffered just 1 percent as much liver damage as the controls. In more recent studies, Reiter's team has shown that melatonin's antioxidant action can protect rats from ionizing radiation (halving the death rate from a normally lethal dose), and can shield the animals' lungs from the deadly herbicide paraquat. Melatonin may also help prevent cataracts, the cloudy lesions that appear on the eyes as oxidation damages cells in the lenses. When Reiter's researchers gave 18 newborn rats a toxic compound called BSO, all 18 developed cataracts within two weeks. But when 15 animals got the same treatment plus melatonin, 14 maintained perfectly clear eyes.
Oxidation isn't the only reason we fall apart as we age.
We also lose our immune function. The thymus gland shrinks over time, inhibiting our ability to generate infection-fighting T cells, and we produce fewer of the antibody molecules that bind with and neutralize foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria. Could this follow from a loss of melatonin? Test tube studies have identified receptors, or specialized portals, for melatonin on the cells and glands of the immune system. And animal experiments are showing that melatonin can preserve, or even restore a creature's defenses. In other studies, Italian researchers have shown that a nightly melatonin supplement can boost the performance of immune systems compromised by age. And scientist in Israel and Switzerland have found that when mice receive melatonin, their odds of surviving infection with encephalitis virus more than double.
Growth hormone producing supplements in combination with melatonin provide a powerful anti-aging effect.
In addition to the decreased production of melatonin that occurs with age, growth hormone, which is vital to bodily function, also decreases with age. Recent studies have shown that a deficiency of growth hormone can also contribute to the aging process, although growth hormone acts differently on the body than melatonin. Studies have shown when growth hormone producing supplements were taken by humans a variety of anti-aging effects occur, such as higher energy levels, increased lean body mass, loss of fatty adipose tissue, improved muscle tone, skin elasticity, and improved immune system. Because growth hormone and melatonin work individually, the two substances complement each other and as a result can offer optimum anti-aging effects when taken together.
Bio Corp
MELATONIN
3 mg. capsules, 60 capsules per bottle.
Available at better health food stores.
Suggested retail price $7.95 per bottle
