ENCORE: Melatonin: The Master Detoxifier of the Brain
Episode 277
Melatonin is often marketed as a simple sleep aid—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In this episode of Integrative You Radio , Dr. Nick and Dr. Nicole break down the lesser-known but powerful role melatonin plays in detoxifying the brain and supporting neurological health. They explore how chronic stress, poor sleep habits, and lifestyle choices interfere with melatonin production—and how, when properly supported under physician guidance, melatonin can become a key ally in brain detox, gut-brain balance, and regenerative health. Whether you're battling insomnia, burnout, or brain fog, this episode offers eye-opening insights into a natural tool you may be overlooking. 🕒 Noteworthy Time Stamps: 02:26 – How melatonin and cortisol are supposed to work together 04:00 – Simple tips to balance and support natural melatonin production 12:56 – The gut-brain connection and its surprising impact on sleep 14:06 – Common reasons melatonin levels start to decline 27:27 – How to safely supplement melatonin for long-term brain support 💡 Key Takeaways: Melatonin = Brain Detoxifier: It’s not just about sleep—it’s crucial for cleansing and restoring neurological function. Cortisol & Melatonin Dance: These two hormones must stay in rhythm. High cortisol at night can sabotage melatonin levels. Gut-Brain-Sleep Axis: A healthy gut supports natural melatonin cycles—making digestive health a critical part of sleep health. Supplement Wisely: Melatonin is powerful, but needs to be used with precision. Dosing, timing, and quality matter—and it’s best done under professional supervision. 📲 Interested in Working with Integrative You? Book a free consult call: 👉 https://bit.ly/IWRcall2021 🔗 Connect with Us: Website: https://www.integrativeyou.health Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.nicolerivera Instagram (Clinic): https://www.instagram.com/integrativeyou Book a Complimentary Call: https://www.integrativeyou.health/onboarding Text Us with Questions: 732-810-1084
Topics: melatonin, brain, sleep, cortisol, health, unknown, detoxifier, stress
Key takeaways from this episode
- ## ENCORE: Melatonin: The Master Detoxifier of the Brain
- Melatonin's Brain-Cleansing Power:** Discover melatonin's vital role beyond sleep, specifically in clearing out metabolic waste and neurotoxins from your brain.
- Cortisol vs. Melatonin Rhythm:** Understand the delicate interplay between cortisol and melatonin, and why elevated evening cortisol can signal the end of your melatonin production.
- Gut Health and Sleep Synergy:** Explore the profound connection between a healthy gut microbiome and optimal melatonin cycles, highlighting how digestive wellness impacts your sleep quality.
- Factors Diminishing Melatonin:** Learn about the common lifestyle and environmental influences that contribute to declining natural melatonin levels over time.
Pull quotes
**Unknown:** The information provided is for educational purposes and is not intended to diagnose or treat any conditions.
The lifestyle interventions discussed should not be used as a substitute for conventional medical therapy.
Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems. **Unknown:** Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr.
Transcript
**Unknown:** The information provided is for educational purposes and is not intended to diagnose or treat any conditions. The lifestyle interventions discussed should not be used as a substitute for conventional medical therapy. I've been up all night, no sleep. Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems.
**Unknown:** Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr. Nick and Dr. Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey. Feel it.
**Unknown:** I can always feel it. Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Integrative Wellness Radio.
**Unknown:** I'm here with Nick as he's laughing 'cause I said that my cortisol levels are burnt to a crisp as we get into this topic. So, uh- Trying to find the balance. It's not always easy. It's not always easy.
**Unknown:** Oh, my gosh. So today, we are actually talking more about the conversation that we started on our last podcast in relation to melatonin, and melatonin playing such a significant role in how well and efficiently our brain detoxifies. But when it comes to melatonin, it plays many, many roles in the body and the brain, and it also works inversely with cortisol. So a lot of this comes back to our sleep and wake cycles.
**Unknown:** So the reason why we find this to be really important is because melatonin is known for sleep, but it is not well known as being the master detoxifier, uh, for the brain, but also one of the, um, ultimate antioxidants of the entire body. So a lot of people, uh, especially that are familiar with this world, they hear about, uh, glutathione, and they think glutathione is, you know, the best detoxifier of the body, and it is a good detoxifier, but melatonin is actually better. More powerful. More powerful.
**Unknown:** Yeah. So- Not always better at the right time. I will make the disclaimer now is a- please listen to the whole podcast because if you take away a couple tidbits and you go, "Ooh, melatonin, great detoxifier," and then you go take high doses of it, you will make yourself quite sick. So, uh, so really we want you guys to understand more about melatonin, you know, what it does in the body, how it plays a role in detox, but also how it can be leveraged and used in a really positive way.
**Unknown:** But definitely, um, under the supervision of a physician because there's many things that need to be considered, um, when using it. So there's a, a right time and a wrong time for melatonin. 100%. So first and foremost, uh, just kind of getting into the, the cycles of melatonin, and I'm gonna allow Nick to kinda take it a step further.
**Unknown:** But when we are talking about how melatonin and cortisol work, so cortisol is, uh, classified as a stress hormone. But the thing is, is that, yes, it can be overproduced in the event that you're stressed or, you know, dealing with a lot of things emotionally, but cortisol is actually quite high in the morning, and it's high to wake you up and to make you alert when you're starting your day. And as your day goes on, and obviously the light changes, your cortisol starts to decline, and your melatonin starts to go up, and your melatonin will peak, you know, in the evening time in order to get you tired enough to get to bed. So that's the normal way that it's supposed to work.
**Unknown:** Obviously, there are many, many people struggling with insomnia and sleep issues, which is really showing us that these pathways can be compromised. So I'll let you talk a little bit more, um, about what you mentioned in the last podcast just in relation to, you know, light and devices and whatnot. So yeah, there's, like you said, there's many things that affect the imbalance of cortisol and melatonin. Um, one of that just being the stress on what we call, uh, HPA axis, which is the, pretty much the connection between your brain to your adrenals 'cause it's your adrenals that make your cortisol.
**Unknown:** Um, so if that connection is overly taxed, uh, or there's miscommunication between, uh, that process, then that's gonna throw the imbalance of cortisol, which is gonna throw the imbalance of melatonin. Um, maybe we'll get a little deeper into that later in the podcast. But for the most part, we wanna, you know, first things first, focus on just making sure that your brain can produce the proper amount of melatonin and, uh, help you get to sleep and help the brain detox. So there's a couple awesome hacks, uh, you can do.
**Unknown:** You know, we talked about, uh, first and foremost in that last podcast, uh, complete darkness. Darkness is gonna be the biggest thing. When you're going to sleep. When you're going to sleep.
**Unknown:** Um, even before, uh, because you don't have to be in complete darkness before, but what they found is a lot of times through, you know, whether it's being on, on a computer or an iPad, TV, it's really out of those things, um, part of the spectrum of blue light which is really, uh, the strongest negative aspect affecting the pineal gland, um, 'cause in that it's really just, it shuts down that production of melatonin altogether. So if w- somebody has blue light blocking glasses... That's better. Um, it's still not the best because any time that you are going through, uh, you're stimulating the brain differently with artificial light, uh, than natural light.
**Unknown:** So it's gonna be less stress on the pineal gland, but you're still gonna be stressing, uh, the brain and the pineal gland, uh, when you're having those non, um... What do I wanna say? More synthetic, uh, light coming in, into, uh, the brain through the eyes. So speaking of that, I'm actually curious on your thoughts with fluorescent, uh, people that work in fluorescent lights all day.
**Unknown:** It's the worst. Um, there's, there's actually a lot more research coming out. Um, I mean, there's, they call them full spectrum lights. Uh, it's really a false advertisement 'cause there's really no lights that are full spectrum, uh, but they do give, uh, some, uh, of the benefits of each spectrum.
**Unknown:** So the ROY- ROYGBIV, uh, red, orange, yellow, blue, uh, indigo, violet. Uh, so there's lights out there that will give each property and those wavelengths, but not the entire spectrum of light. Mm-hmm. Um, but when you look why that is beneficial, because each spectrum of light, uh, getting on a tangent here, but each spectrum of light, uh, affects the body differently, and it affects different components of the body differently, uh, as well, especially when you look at the energetic, uh, aspect of the body of like- So you're saying the full spectrum lights would be beneficial?
**Unknown:** Yep. 100%. Oh, okay. Yeah.
**Unknown:** And these are things that people can... See, this is what's funny. We're married, and like this is like how different our brains are, but - No, you can go- So this would be- They sell on Amazon. Uh, and you can replace, um, pretty much the majority of lights.
**Unknown:** Okay. So when someone is in, say, the fluorescent lights because it's their job, and, you know, they're kind of bound to that all day, um, is that- During, during lunch, get outside- Yeah ... get some sunshine. But this is- If you, if you- ...
**Unknown:** obviously playing a very significant role in elevating the cortisol and then elevating that to the point that they're probably not going to produce the melatonin efficiently when they're supposed to be going to bed. Yes. Uh, and that's like if you can get outside, that is gonna help because it's gonna break that up, and you're gonna be getting the true full spectrum from the sun. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Also, one of the best things you can do with that is actually grounding. Um, so if you can be barefoot, uh, on the ground, you know, grass is best. Um, well, grass is second best. The ocean is literally the best.
**Unknown:** Um, but with that, that's gonna give you that connection, so to the Earth. Um, why that's so, uh, important is the Earth resonates at, uh, Schumann resonance. It's called 7.8, uh, hertz. And that will also help, uh, kind of reset that, uh, whole access- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** uh, as well. And there's some studies, uh, they're doing more research now, um, but that it's actually, uh, creating, um, it's increasing the health of the red blood cells, uh, more oxygenation, more hemoglobin in it, which is pretty cool as well. Mm-hmm. So grounding can, uh, be a- an awesome reset, and it's free.
**Unknown:** Um, I love free, cheap things. So just a little side tangent with all the light aspect, but any light does, I mean, it's going to pretty much stop that- Artificial light ... artificial light, uh, is gonna stop that melatonin production. So while you're sleeping, have your, set your bedroom as like a little sanctuary, uh, where you don't have any lights, no night lights, nothing, um, complete darkness.
**Unknown:** Uh, if you need it, get like blackout, uh, curtains, um, definitely do that. It's gonna be definitely worth the extra little cost. Well, it's just, I, like, as you're even talking, it's just like thinking about the reality, or I would say the reality for most people is that most people are working in, you know, corporate buildings, and they're working in offices with artificial light. They're working on computers and other types of devices.
**Unknown:** Y- some people are so busy, you know, uh, in, through their day that they're not even getting outside. They're barely eating a real meal, and then they're getting home, and they're so mentally fried that they're probably having a glass of wine, and then they're trying to kind of numb themselves by putting on TV so they can forget about their day, let alone if, you know, they got a crappy email or ran into like some type of a situation through that day. So if it was one glass of wine, and it was French, Italian, somewhere- ... besides, that's actually beneficial because one glass will actually create vasodilation, uh, some more blood flow and nutrients to the brain.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Two glasses or more, the opposite constriction happens. So, uh, that's actually not a bad thing, and it also, uh, energetically will ramp up the, uh, the liver. Um, so it will actually help the liver produce, um, or function better- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** um, at that. A side tidbit, so if you are one of those workers that you can't- So you, you, you just confused people because so let me clarify for Nick. So when you have a glass of wine, um, and it has the vasodilation, but what he's talking about with the liver is I know everybody hears about alcohol, and they think, you know, obviously alcohol is negative for your liver. But when you, um, have that glass of wine, and it kind of calms down that fight or flight or sympathetic, you know, stress response, you can actually mobilize like negative energy out of the liver 'cause your liver actually tends to hold onto anger, resentment.
**Unknown:** So if you had a bad day, and you're grabbing for that glass of wine, sometimes it's an intuitive thing for your body f- to help you. Only one. Only one. But I wanted to jump back to that, like, corporate job or if you're inside underneath the first lights, you're not getting, one of the best things that you can do, um, a little hack is, you know, whether it's a tennis ball or something, uh, have that at, at, underneath your desk, take your shoes off, and roll that around.
**Unknown:** So underneath on the bo- like, let's say this is your foot, um, if you're listening to this, uh, I guess I'll try to paint a good picture. But underneath your foot on the, pretty much like the highest aspect of your arch, uh, is your, the meridian for your kidney, uh, your K1. So with that, your adrenals sit on top of the kidneys. Um, kidneys in Chinese medicine is your, like, your life force.
**Unknown:** So one of the things you can do is just rub your foot, uh, on that ball to stimulate that meridian point. It's going to be like acupressure. Uh, and acupuncture is when they're using needles. Acupressure is when you're just applying pressure to it to stimulate the meridian point.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. But that's gonna signal more energy flow all the way up through the entire meridian to the kidneys to help support that, even though, you know, you can't be outside, and you can't have that grounding all day long. Yeah. Well, I think it's important to know too is that when we're talking about melatonin production, um, it's, it works top-down.
**Unknown:** And, um-It works top-down and bottom-up. So a lot of what we're talking about right now is if your cortisol is really elevated, and that be, can be because of stress, it could be because of burnout, it's because you're under these artificial lights all day, that can definitely play a significant role in the lack of melatonin. But then at the same time, your melatonin being produced, uh, so actually, I should take this a step back because your melatonin is produced in your pineal gland, but your serotonin actually converts into your melatonin. So having lack of serotonin, especially because you have a lot of gastrointestinal issues, can be a huge part of why you don't have adequate amounts of melatonin.
**Unknown:** Secondary to that is that if your pineal gland is extremely stressed because of toxicity, which we're gonna elaborate on, that can also play a role in your melatonin production. I just wanna take a quick moment to thank you for listening and allow you to know that we work with clients from all over the world. You can check out more information at integrativewellnessgroup.com to learn a little bit more about how we work with our clients remotely. So a lot of people don't always know that serotonin converts into melatonin, but that's one of the reasons why, uh, the supplement 5-HTP is geared towards sleep problems, because 5-HTP converts into serotonin, and then that is hopefully going to convert into melatonin.
**Unknown:** So with that being said is a huge portion of your serotonin is actually made in your gastrointestinal system. So an unmanaged gut issue can very much be an unmanaged brain issue and sleep issue. So that 100% needs to be evaluated. But if you have a sleep problem, uh, a lot of times you're going to a neurologist.
**Unknown:** If you have a gut problem, you're going to a gastroenterologist, and nobody is talking to each other or necessarily piecing the puzzle together. And that- And sometimes they're, they're both a problem, you know? Exactly. So it's like you'll fix one, and like, "Well, I still didn't get better," blah, blah, blah, and then you give up.
**Unknown:** But it's like- Well, I think it's unfortunate how many people are on sleeping pills as well as on antidepressants when it really, it, it is an unmanaged gut issue. Yeah. So sometimes, you know, you get- I'd say both 'cause pretty much everybody's pineal gland's not doing well. Well, and that's, that's the next point is, you know, what is going to affect the pineal gland, which again, is part of the brain.
**Unknown:** What would potentially be causing, um, the limitation with how melatonin is being produced? And there is a lot of components that can, uh, create stress on the pineal gland, and that goes back to almost the last podcast that we did is, you know, is your pineal gland, pineal gland getting proper, um, oxygenation because of blood flow? You know, so many people that are struggling with headaches and migraines, it's because they have abnormal blood flow in and out of their head. So that can definitely cause a problem with how much oxygen the pineal gland is getting, which can be a problem for your melatonin.
**Unknown:** But if you wanna talk about a stress from a toxicity, one of the biggest known stressors is actually fluoride, um, as being negatively impacting the pineal gland. It'll actually calcify, uh, the pineal gland. Yeah. So calcify means, you know, calcium's being laid down, and it's actually becoming, you know, hard.
**Unknown:** Yep. Um, so when you're thinking about fluoride, I think a lot of people know fluoride is in the water, and if anything, it's advocated for it to be in the water because it builds strong teeth. Um- Which is a lie. If you, if you look at all the research, there is some science showing that topically, uh, there's some benefits.
**Unknown:** There's also a lot of science showing that topically there is no benefits. Um, but pretty much all the science says that there is no benefits, um, taking it, uh, orally. Orally. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Um, and there's a lot of, all the science pretty much says that it's, it's a neurotoxin, so if you take it orally, uh, it's gonna get into your nervous system. And the, unfortunately, it's your pineal gland has the, the bignet, biggest magnet, uh, for fluoride. Well, and too, it's like with the amount of fluoride we're all exposed to, it's, it's more than we would ever need for strong teeth. And, um, I said this in the last podcast as well, but one of the things that I literally learned three weeks ago is that all of the white dental fillings that go into cavities, uh, I shouldn't say all, but if you're going to a traditional dentist that is not classified as a holistic or biological dentist, uh, those fillings are actually time-releasing fluoride throughout the amount of time they're in your mouth.
**Unknown:** So you're having a time-released fluoride from your fillings, then you're also getting your fluoride treatments with your cleanings, and then in addition to that, it's in the water. It's also in many vitamins, um, and other types of beverages, like Pellegrino, as an example, has fluoride in it. Well, some, I mean, there is a difference between, not that there's, it's structured differently. Um, but there's natural fluoride, and then there's synthetic, man-made fluoride.
**Unknown:** Yes. And they, they're both not the best for you, but definitely the synthetic's processed a lot stronger. Yeah. So the fluoride exposure is definitely, we're all being exposed to it, and if you have lived in an area where there is a high amount in the water or if you've been given, um, especially as a child, if you actually grew up in an area they didn't have the fluoridated water, then chances are you were given, uh, fluoride drops or you were giving, uh, given fluoridated, uh, vitamins.
**Unknown:** So that is actually even more potent than what is available in the water. So these are all things that play a very significant role in the melatonin production. So depending on what the issue is, you know, obviously you have to consider all of your environmental factors like Dr. Nick mentioned is, you know, are you going to bed with a device, you know, in front of your face, watching TV, et cetera?
**Unknown:** Are you constantly under artificial light? Do you even have artificial light in your bedroom? And then, you know, what's going on that could be affecting your neurological system, and what can you do to actually improve it? Do you want me to talk about that or You go for it, my friend.
**Unknown:** Well, I mean, honestly, when you look at the nervous system, uh, and the brain everything's processed through it. So it's like you know, are you are you walking around? Are you physical? You know, that's the best nutrient for your brain is, you know, movement.
**Unknown:** Uh, that's my favorite way to hack the brain, uh, neurologically is through specific body movements to activate different parts of the brain. Even different eye movements is gonna activate different parts of the brain. So I love, uh, I love moving. Uh, moving's one of the best things you can do.
**Unknown:** Um, then you're looking at the other things that we talked about, you know, chemical, that's gonna stress the brain. Um, emotional, uh, if you're a very highly emotional, highly reactional, highly judge- judging person, that's gonna create a lot of overstimulation throughout the limbic system, uh, which is literally the pineal gland's- It's the neighbor ... right, right right in the middle of it all. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Um, it's pretty much, yeah, it's dead smack in the middle 'cause on both sides, won't go into anatomy right now. But, um, it's, it's gonna be affected by that, but it's also not just through the brain, but it's like all of those emotions. You know, we talk about adrenal burnout, uh, and if you're just like on stress all the time, uh, that will go through and increase the cortisol, which is gonna lower your melatonin. So making sure that you have a, a balanced, uh, perception, balanced emotion, uh, you're not too high, you're not too low, uh, that you're just, you know, you're seeing, you're having a good conscious awareness of what's really happening around you.
**Unknown:** Uh, and then energetically, you know, there's tons of meridians, uh, that go over the head and innervate different areas. And then when you look at even deeper, uh, the different chakras, um, so you have, you know, your sixth and seventh chakra. The, right there, and your sixth is literally dead onto the pineal gland, uh, and then your seventh's your crown going up. So it's like those are two major important areas energetically, uh, that you want to make sure...
**Unknown:** It's like a lot of times you'll be doing all this neurological work, uh, but then you'll plateau. And what we've, what I've found, uh, working on people is a lot of times it's what they haven't been evaluated for, evaluated for and what they've never- Yeah ... had any treatment for- Well- ... which is their energetic systems ...
**Unknown:** and I think that that's a big thing is like some of you listening might be like, "Oh, that's super weird and woo woo," but, um, I've found, you know, for myself I've always been super analytical, and I was always about blood work and labs. And I had my own personal experience with hitting a plat- a major plateau and found out that a big part of my issue was energetic and emotional. And, um, mine all stemmed from my liver, but when you're coming back to the pineal gland and the chakra associated with it, um, I find that with a lot of my patients, um, that can be blocked in the event, uh, 'cause this is classified as your third eye, is, um, what do they not wanna see? And there's a lot of things that we go through in our lives, and if you are maybe in a bad relationship or you know that your spouse cheated on you or, or certain things is you can almost- Or you wake up every day and you hate going to work.
**Unknown:** Yeah You know? You can easily block that chakra because you're almost like, "I just need to power through. I just need to keep going. You know, I just, this is my reality right now.
**Unknown:** Like, it's not time. I can't leave him," or, "I can't do this," or, "I can't leave the job. I need the security." And that's increased stress, which goes down and affects the adrenals, which affects the cortisol. Yeah.
**Unknown:** So I think it's just that system is, it- it's a system. There is energy channels in our body the same as there is blood flow and everything else. So it's very important that that is considered when- I mean, it's been around just about 2,0000-plus years. Yeah ...
**Unknown:** so I think it's, uh- Well, and even in this holistic medicine world all, you know, we talk about how, uh, traditional medicine and conventional medicine is so segregated. You know, your cardiologist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, but the same thing is really happening in the world of holistic medicine as well. Mm-hmm. You know, you have your acupuncturist, which is dealing with those energy systems, and then you have your functional medicine doctors, and then you have your massage therapist, and your personal trainers and everything else.
**Unknown:** So we have just found that we hit plateaus, excuse me, with our patients over time, and that's what kept us learning and putting everything under one roof essentially. So it's definitely been an amazing evolution to understand all of those pieces and be able to help people in a really significant way. Um, but one of the things I do wanna say, like, going back to the melatonin, is that many people take melatonin, and there's some people that take it and they do well. They're like, "Oh, it helped me sleep.
**Unknown:** It's, like, the best thing ever." And then there's other people that take it, and it makes them feel bad. It keeps them awake. It gives them bad dreams. So would you like to elaborate further?
**Unknown:** I would love to. Um, I was just trying to- So let's start with- ... trying, trying to figure out where, where to start with that. I would say with starting, if you take it and you have that negative reaction, um, you have two choices.
**Unknown:** You can, A, power through it, um, or don't. Because- Well- ... if you do have that, it's because your brain's detoxing. Yeah.
**Unknown:** So you're having a reaction to your brain actually going through that detox process, and really the reaction is that it's not detoxing properly. Mm-hmm. Um, and when it's not detoxing properly, that creates more inflammation, and then you're gonna have either really bad sleep, no, no sleep, or some really crazy dreams, uh, 'cause it's messing with all that inflammation. Well, like you said before, talk about balance.
**Unknown:** So back in the day, um, I guess it's, like, almost 10 years ago now, uh, when we first started practicing, which we obviously didn't know then what we know now, um, do you remember how we would... So we would drive home, but we had one car, so we drove together. And we only drove maybe 15 minutes to get home, and I would get into the car and pass out so hard that I would be dreaming, and Nick would have to, like, shake me to wake me up and bring- Sometimes I would mess with her, and I would just, like, go in the house- ... and leave her in the car.
**Unknown:** But I'm telling this story because, um-I thought that was normal. Like, I thought it was great. I was like, "I'm a great sleeper. I could sleep anywhere." And then I ended up, uh, doing neurological testing, and I did a neurotransmitter test which tested melatonin and I remember my melatonin was through the roof.
**Unknown:** And I remember being confused about it, and I was like, "What is this, what does this mean? Like, this is really bizarre." And I was like, well, clearly this is why I'm sleeping the way that I am and, you know, maybe having, like, a low-grade narcolepsy essentially. And, uh, but then later down the line, you know, learning so much about the neurological system, what I realized is my body naturally was amping up my melatonin production in order to try to detox my neurological system, and it was because other testing that I did actually revealed I had very, very significant mercury toxicity. So that, you know, it- obviously it's very difficult to test is it actually in my brain or affecting my brain, but it clearly was.
**Unknown:** So my body, being smart, you know, intuitiv- intuitively was like, "Let's raise the melatonin to try to detox her neurological system," but then obviously was creating, you know, this side effect of being able to sleep anywhere and, you know, to kinda fall in that deep sleep which I clearly thought was a great thing. And then when my body, like, started to get better and correct, I was like, "Oh, so I guess that wasn't really that normal." Not so much. Yeah. So it, it's definitely interesting across the board of what it looks like when your brain is dealing with toxicity and how the melatonin can affect you.
**Unknown:** So for Nick and I, um, we have actually embarked- Can I talk some more about the orally first? Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Okay, cool. So when you're taking it, so if you don't get a bad reaction, it actually helps you sleep, um, A, awesome, uh, it's gonna help you sleep.
**Unknown:** But you don't wanna be dependent on it. Mm. 'Cause any time you do take something for a long time, it weakens the actual structure in the system- Mm-hmm ... to do it itself.
**Unknown:** So melatonin's not something you wanna do long-term at all. And what I've found clinically getting, uh, better results is actually almost, like, microdosing with it 'cause you're really just, you're giving the body a little taste and saying, "Hey, here I am." Mm. "Produce more." So it's actually you're giving the body a, a good, a little bit of support but also a little bit of a challenge to naturally produce more melatonin itself. Would, like, wouldn't you say this microdosing concept, though, is better for a person who maybe they suffered with a pretty significant gastrointestinal issue which compromised their serotonin, and maybe they've worked on their gut and now they're trying to correct their melatonin, the microdosing would be good?
**Unknown:** If, yeah, if they've corrected it 'cause, I mean, most, honest to God, most people that take it, it's barely gonna get to their brain because their- Yeah ... stomach's not functioning properly. Yeah, because when it comes to the, the, you know, the other side of it, if you're resonating with the symptoms of brain toxicity, like, that's kind of a completely different ballgame of, of how to work with the system. Right.
**Unknown:** And then, I mean, and then literally orally is probably my least favorite way of taking melatonin anyways. Mm-hmm. Um, there's just a lot more, uh, intelligent ways to take it so that it affects the body. Uh, it's ...
**Unknown:** Struggling for how much I wanna say on the podcast- ... 'cause I don't want somebody to just run out and, like, Google and purchase some things and then have some really bad side effects. Um, but just looking at the science of the body, uh, the two best ways to actually take melatonin is transdermal, so you're putting it on your skin, letting it soak in, um, or rectally, uh, so doing it as a suppository. So I would, unless you've done your due diligence and you've done a lot of work and you're working with somebody that knows what they're doing, absolutely do not do a suppository, uh, 'cause that's really strong and really powerful.
**Unknown:** Yeah. Uh, because it goes in and it goes right to your, there's, like, doesn't have to go through the stomach, doesn't have to be digested. It's gonna go right in your bloodstream. Yeah.
**Unknown:** And it's really strong, and it can create a lot of problems if you're not doing all the other, um, detoxing benefits with it. Uh, you literally have to support every system, or you're not gonna be a happy camper. Well, that was the conversation that we had as we've gone through our own personal melatonin detox, and, uh, we said, you know, we had s- definitely some side effects, but, you know, we said we really can't recommend this to people that have not done any type of work on themselves in the past because- It's not where you wanna start. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Mm. We've been on a health journey for, you know, eight, nine years now, and, you know, we still had to be really, really strategic for ourselves because when we started with the transdermal high-dose melatonin, and that created, um, some really interesting symptoms. Uh, it was almost like an emotional detox, uh, for myself at least. But, um, the first time that I did the, um, the melatonin suppository, you, if you remember, I didn't sleep for, and I didn't, I don't even think I sleep- slept at all that night.
**Unknown:** I felt like I drank 75 cups of coffee, and, um, it was, like, a serious general nervous system detox. And then Nick just looks at me and he's like, "Your nervous system sucks." I'm like, "Thank you." Good morning. Thank you for that. So, so considering how much, you know, work I've done on myself, infrared saunas, foot baths, you know, supplements, detoxes, et cetera, you know, this was still, um, you know, creating definitely some, some side effects in my system.
**Unknown:** You know, obviously there, the benefits are huge once you get past the, you know, the difficult part. But, um, you know, the point of this podcast is to have you guys really understand, like, if you have been a person struggling with your sleep and you've, you know, been struggling with burnout and you've really, you started to take melatonin, now it's stopped working, and you've been on Ambien, and you've been on, you know, all of these different protocols to correct your sleep, like, this is something to bring to your awareness that you could be dealing with a massive melatonin issue because of toxicity in the brain. And there are amazing protocols out there, but you definitely need to work with a physician in order to make sure you're doing it correctly.Because when we're talking about high-dose melatonin, you know, melatonin when people take it orally is a milligram, two milligrams, like three at, at max. We're talking two hundred to four hundred milligrams.
**Unknown:** Like, it is a completely different ballgame when we're, we're doing that level. So, um, so this is definitely something that has extreme benefit, but you might need to support your gut going through the process. You might need to do lymphatic detox going through the process. You might need to be taking other supplements that are complementing the, the detox.
**Unknown:** There's a lot of strategy that goes into it. Yes, lots of strategy. So for those of you that are really resonating with this podcast and are like, "Wow, this really sounds like me, and I've been struggling with my sleep for a really long time, and I really feel like I'm scared for my neurological system, and, you know, I do feel very foggy, especially, you know, being young, and I'm nervous about having more significant neurological decline," you know, hop on a strategy call with our client care team and learn a little bit more about the testing that we do, um, because we always do testing to dictate are you even a candidate for the melatonin detox. Because, you know, everybody starts somewhere, and you might not be a candidate for it right away, um, but you might be ha- be able to do other preliminary things to start correcting these pathways as well.
**Unknown:** And it's not just... It, I, we, I mean, we've both seen awesome results with it in the more severe aspect of neurological disorders too. Mm-hmm. You know, 'cause sometimes you gotta bring out the big guns for those to really cross that threshold- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** uh, to be able to kinda get them back in, you know, the game, uh, needless to say. So- 100% ... it can be utilized in so many different ways when done correctly. 100%.
**Unknown:** Well, we thank you guys for being with us, and we're gonna be hopping on and doing another podcast, and it's, we're still staying on the neurological theme, but we're gonna be talking all about migraines and one of the biggest reasons why people have migraines, um, and especially cannot always manage them through traditional medications. So join us on our next podcast, and we'll see you guys soon. We thank you for being a listener and subscriber to Integrative Wellness Radio. If you're looking to learn more about Integrative Wellness Group as well as Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick or Dr. Nicole, you can check out integrativewellnessgroup.com. All night, no sleep. 'Cause I feel like I'm always dreaming.
**Unknown:** Wide awake, that's okay.
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About Integrative You Radio
Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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