{"id":1655,"date":"2020-05-31T23:51:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T23:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bedguard.com.au\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2020-05-31T23:54:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T23:54:14","slug":"what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Getting to sleep isn\u2019t as simple as shutting your eyes and nodding off. Your ability to sleep relies on a number of hormones to work in sync. One of these is melatonin.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1656\" src=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"what is melatonin\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What is melatonin?<\/h2>\n<p>You may have heard about melatonin but are unsure of what it is and the role it plays in your sleep.<\/p>\n<p>Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced in your body, and it works together with your circadian rhythm. For this reason, it\u2019s sometimes called the \u2018sleep hormone\u2019 as high levels help you fall asleep.<\/p>\n<p>Melatonin doesn\u2019t \u2018knock you out\u2019 so to speak, but it does help prepare your body for sleep, by letting you know when it\u2019s time to relax.<\/p>\n<h2>What does it do?<\/h2>\n<p>Your circadian rhythm is your body\u2019s internal clock that regulates your sleep patterns. It lets you know when it\u2019s time to sleep, time to wake, and time to eat. Melatonin levels vary over a 24-hour period. Production of melatonin is reduced when you\u2019re exposed to bright light and begins to rise in your body when it starts to get dark.<\/p>\n<p>Levels of this hormone begin to rise about 2 hours before you go to sleep. These increased hormone levels signal to your body that it\u2019s time to relax and prepare to go to sleep. It does this by reducing nerve activity in your body, and reducing dopamine levels, a hormone that helps you stay awake.<\/p>\n<h2>Why is melatonin important for sleep?<\/h2>\n<p>Without adequate levels of melatonin you may struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep. Things that may cause low levels of this sleep hormone at night include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>stress<\/li>\n<li>smoking<\/li>\n<li>exposure to too much light (including <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/are-electronics-before-bed-interfering-with-your-sleep\/\">blue light<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>not getting enough natural light in the day<\/li>\n<li>shift work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What can you do to increase melatonin?<\/h2>\n<p>There are a number of ways you can naturally increase your levels of melatonin, so you can get to sleep easily. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>increasing the amount of natural sunlight exposure during the day<\/li>\n<li>going to bed early enough to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep. When you stay up late, your body won\u2019t produce enough melatonin at the right time.<\/li>\n<li>avoiding screens and blue light before bedtime<\/li>\n<li>ensuring your bedroom is dark<\/li>\n<li>managing your <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/is-stress-affecting-your-sleep\/\">stress<\/a> levels, and develop a <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/how-to-relax-before-bed\/\">relaxing pre-sleep routine<\/a><\/li>\n<li>reducing <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/foods-to-avoid-before-bed\/\">foods that interfere with your sleep<\/a><\/li>\n<li>avoiding caffeine, <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/how-alcohol-affects-your-sleep\/\">alcohol<\/a> and other stimulants before bed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You might also consider a melatonin supplement. Taken in this way, melatonin can help re-set your \u2018body clock\u2019 to help you fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep for longer. However, before taking any kind of supplements, you should discuss with your health care provider, to make sure they\u2019re suitable for you.<\/p>\n<p>One of the key things when it comes to getting a good night\u2019s sleep is the <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/top-tips-for-choosing-the-right-mattress\/\">right mattress<\/a>. If it\u2019s too hard or too soft, you\u2019ll find it difficult to get comfortable. But with the right support, you\u2019ll be sleeping soundly all night. At BedGuard our mattresses are waterproof, antibacterial, hypo-allergenic, stain resistant, odour resistant and dust mite resistant. Why not <a href=\"http:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/shop\/\">browse our range<\/a> today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting to sleep isn\u2019t as simple as shutting your eyes and nodding off. Your ability to sleep relies on a number of hormones to work in sync. One of these is melatonin. &nbsp; &nbsp; What is melatonin? You may have heard about melatonin but are unsure of what it is and the role it plays&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,213,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mattress-health","category-sleep-facts","category-sleeping-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it&#039;s important and how you can reduce your levels of it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it&#039;s important and how you can reduce your levels of it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BedGuard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Carey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Carey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Peter Carey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2\"},\"headline\":\"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\"},\"wordCount\":537,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Mattress Health\",\"Sleep Facts\",\"Sleeping Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\",\"name\":\"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2\"},\"description\":\"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it's important and how you can reduce your levels of it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"pre-teen bed wetter\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/\",\"name\":\"BedGuard\",\"description\":\"Peace of Mind Mattresses\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2\",\"name\":\"Peter Carey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41ad8025a5070e30f8b81851d3b21556?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41ad8025a5070e30f8b81851d3b21556?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter Carey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/author\/bedguard\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard","description":"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it's important and how you can reduce your levels of it.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard","og_description":"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it's important and how you can reduce your levels of it.","og_url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/","og_site_name":"BedGuard","article_published_time":"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Peter Carey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Carey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/"},"author":{"name":"Peter Carey","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2"},"headline":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep?","datePublished":"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/"},"wordCount":537,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Mattress Health","Sleep Facts","Sleeping Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/","url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/","name":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep? - BedGuard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-31T23:51:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-31T23:54:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2"},"description":"Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body to help you sleep at night. Find out what it does, why it's important and how you can reduce your levels of it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/woman-sleeping-935777-min-1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"pre-teen bed wetter"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/what-is-melatonin-and-why-do-you-need-it-for-sleep\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is melatonin and why do you need it for sleep?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/","name":"BedGuard","description":"Peace of Mind Mattresses","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/3130f771e51e3524b23ba1f0137d8fc2","name":"Peter Carey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41ad8025a5070e30f8b81851d3b21556?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41ad8025a5070e30f8b81851d3b21556?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter Carey"},"url":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/author\/bedguard\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1658,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/1658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bedguard.com.au\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}