For this examine, researchers analyzed 30 melatonin dietary supplements bought from native grocery shops in Canada (one of many few nations, along with the U.S., the place melatonin is offered with no prescription). They examined to see how the quantity of melatonin within the complement matched as much as the quantity listed on the bottle.
“Melatonin content was found to be highly variable between samples and lots, with no pattern observed between brand, form of supplement, labeled value, or presence of other herbal extracts,” the examine’s consequence part reads. The precise quantity of melatonin ranged from -83% to +478% throughout the samples examined—that means that some had ranges that had been 478% greater than what was listed on the bottle (whereas others contained much less melatonin than what was promised on the Supplement Facts label).
“Additionally, lot-to-lot variability within a particular product varied by as much as 465%,” provides Ellen Wermter, FNP-BC, a household nurse practitioner and spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council.
“Even scarier,” Christina Graham, R.N., a registered nurse and Noom coach, says of the eye-opening examine, “testing also found serotonin in 26% of the samples. Serotonin is more strictly controlled and the presence of unlabeled serotonin in significant quantities could lead to serious side effects.”