SEROTONIN TO MELATONIN
What is the difference between waking up in a dark weather and waking up in a sunny weather? Could this difference be related to a watch inside us? Have you ever thought that this watch may have related to depression ?
"Hour Hands" and "Minute Hands"
The human body also has a cycle of about 24 hours called circadian rhythm. A brain structure called suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is responsible for this cycle. Our SCN sleep cycle is associated with the release of cortisol hormone, which we know as body temperature, growth hormones, stress hormone. We can think like a clock that determines "what" will be secreted "when".
1. The tickers of this watch are related to whether some proteins are activated or not.
2. The light signals from the eye send a number of warnings directly to the structure we call this SCN.
Thus, this system becomes active or not according to the amount of incoming light. In other words, when daylight is born, our biological clock starts activities that will awaken us.
But if we wake up at a time when there is no daylight, we will have trouble waking up because the brain still cannot receive the signal to start activities that will wake it up. The same system makes us ready for sleep by starting some activities after daylight is gone. SKN is responsible for the release of a chemical called “
melatonin” around 21.00 - 22:00 by sending some signals to the pineal cloth known as the third eye of our body.
Melatonin is a chemical that is secreted only in the dark, has a sleep-inducing, lowering body temperature. Especially at night between 23:00 and 05:00, melatonin secretion peak and its concentration in the blood increases 3-10 times.
Within an inch of Depression
In winter, the daylight diminishes, with more exposure to the darkness, and a fluctuation in the circadian rhythm of the body and in the amounts of
melatonin. As a subtype of depression due to the genetic predisposition in some people may experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (MeDB);
- Starting in winter and autumn, ending in spring,
- Accompanied by an increase in appetite and weight gain, including carbohydrate-weighted nutrition,
- Excessive sleep (hypersomnia),
Also known as “winter depression”. There is an increase in their amount of melatonin during the day.
Melatonin, on the other hand, acts as a chemical that initiates energy-gathering activities. Thus, it triggers the mood of sleep and eating, revealing the symptoms of winter depression. MeDB was more common in people who live in high-latitude countries such as Canada and Norway and are less exposed to light in winter than low-latitude countries.
Sour cherry is rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants.In scientific research conducted with randomly selected subjects, double-blind and placebo controlled, two main features of cherry juice stand out. The first is related to "sleep disorder" and the other is related to "exercise fatigue".
Let's concentrate on the feature of "
sleep disorder" that cherry interests us.
The reason why it contributes to prolonged sleep time and improved sleep quality in healthy individuals is that cherry naturally contains melatonin and increases the circulation of melatonin in the body.
Cherry juice, which has been shown to increase sleep time by more than 1 hour in individuals suffering from insomnia, naturally contains the compound "Procyanidin B2". This compound inhibits the enzyme indolamine-dioxygenase, which breaks down tryptophan, promotes melatonin formation and helps reduce inflammation and insomnia.
