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Sol Sön's avatar

In Finland we used to buy melatonin milk.

It was fantastic stuff to drink before going to sleep.

The night milked cow is rich in the substance.

Unfortunately, because it was to cheep and good to be true, it was taken out of the market.

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Frederick R Prete's avatar

That’s too bad. If it helped you, it should’ve been made available to you.

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Collette Greystone's avatar

When we were still attending farmer’s markets, I used to sell herbal teas blended from herbs I grew or foraged. Once we got known as herbal tea vendors I had many, and I mean many customers, who wanted a night time herbal blend to brew instead of using the melatonin. They would say the melatonin made them feel “funny”. They never could describe what “funny” meant. I created a blend that consisted of lemon balm(we grew it), chamomile (we grew it) and skullcap(wild crafted). Sold hundreds if not into the thousands of jars. Combined with our honey, moms were fine giving it to children(can’t give infants and kids under 2 honey though) and themselves. Was a nice little gig while it lasted.

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Frederick R Prete's avatar

Well, that makes sense to me! Your elixirs sound like a much more reasonable approach to nighttime relaxation than dried brain parts, or a synthesized chemical concoction. Melatonin is, after all, a hormone with widespread physiological interactions — as is the case for all hormones. Most people don't have any idea as to the extent of its effects, or what's actually in the (unregulated) supplements that they buy. I gotta' be honest, if you were still in business, I'd certainly be one of your customers!

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Collette Greystone's avatar

Thanks! If I were still in business, I’d be thrilled to have you as my customer!

As an engineer, I can’t imagine using dried brain parts or synthesized chemicals for anything let alone something humans would ingest. Always have been a big fan of what Mother Nature dishes up though (and Traditional Chinese medicine). I’ve avoided most things that had hormones(milk), high fructose corn syrup and ingredients I couldn’t pronounce for me and my kiddo. I can’t even imagine giving melatonin to a child. It’s unfortunate ingredients on melatonin labels don’t say “delectable dried brain parts and beautifully synthesized chemicals”. It’d be an eye catcher wouldn’t it?

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Frederick R Prete's avatar

Yes it would be an eye catcher! What kind of engineer are you?

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Collette Greystone's avatar

I’m a retired mechanical engineer. My graduate work at MIT was in computer science, specialty in system dynamics and networks. In fact, in a comment with your last post you had a guy tell you to read up on Forrester’s system dynamics, I took Forrester’s class on that topic. He was at the end of his career at the time, so it was a TA. I was going to comment but let it go. Forrester was an early member of The Club of Rome, which would be more interesting reading if you were going to read up on him.

I spent my time in corporate America in MCAE (Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering).

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Frederick R Prete's avatar

Wow. That sounds fascinating! You are the only mechanical engineer that I've ever met. I really don't know anything about Forrester or the club of Rome. There's just too much to learn, and not enough time… I'm thinking of doing a post in the near future about what I really do for research… It changed over the last couple years... I had to learn a bunch of new stuff, myself.... life is a cornucopia. It'd be nice sometime in the future to chat. I'd like to learn about what you did professionally and in your gardening…

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MM's avatar

Any thoughts/opinions on liquid sublingual melatonin preparations? I always assumed melatonin had poor oral bioavailability (as many tryptamines do) and that sublingual was a better ROA.

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Frederick R Prete's avatar

According to the literature, it appears that sublingual administration is more effective than oral (swallowing) because it bypasses the digestive system. Here's a review:

https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0035-1565083

My best, Frederick

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May 12, 2023
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Frederick R Prete's avatar

Sorry, I can't comment on safety or make suggestions. I'm only passing on what's in the scientific literature. Here's an overview https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551646/

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