New things to try - Part 3 : Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone that is made in the pineal gland, when darkness falls it makes us sleepy and less alert. Synthetic melatonin has been used for years by people who want to avoid jet lag and by shift workers, as it can be used to alter your circadian clock.

Now what has this got to do with fertility? Well a study released in 2010 has shown that melatonin is an anti-oxidant that can help the quality of a woman's eggs:

'High levels of oxidising agents - a type of chemical compound - in the follicular fluids surrounding the egg indicate if a woman has low quality oocytes. These can 'stress' and damage the oocyte. The team took one of these agents known as 8-OHdG and measured its levels in follicular fluid samples. Levels of melatonin, which is known to have anti-oxidising effects, were also measured.

The team found that, as melatonin concentration in the follicular fluids naturally increased, the level of 8-OHdG decreased, leading them to believe melatonin was linked to the reduction of the oxidising agents. They confirmed this finding in mice, and discovered that adding melatonin seemed to reduce the damage to the egg caused by the agents.

(www.bionews.org.uk)

I have also read that melatonin should be taken alongside DHEA and I will also take Vitamin E supplement with it. (www.lef.org/dhea/ & www.encognitive.com)

There is also some proof that Sperm quality can be helped by melatonin but I will be discussing what Hubby is taking tomorrow!

Melatonin - arriving in a week along with my DHEA from the USA.