Melatonin is a natural hormone made by your body’s pineal gland - a pea-sized gland located just above the middle of the brain. During the day the pineal is inactive. When the sun goes down and darkness occurs, the pineal is “turned on” and begins to actively produce melatonin, which is released into the blood. Usually, this occurs around 9 p.m. As a result, melatonin levels in the blood rise sharply and you begin to feel less alert. Sleep becomes more inviting. Melatonin levels in the blood stay elevated for about 12 hours - all through the night - before the light of a new day when they fall back to low daytime levels by about 9 a.m. Daytime levels of melatonin are barely detectable.

What foods contain Melatonin:

Melatonin is found in oats, sweetcorn, rice, and in dark fruits and berries.

Grapes:

source cbsnews.com:
(WebMD) Scientists in Italy have uncorked a new finding about grapes: The juicy fruit might be packing melatonin, a sleep hormone.

In humans, the brain’s pineal gland makes melatonin to help regulate cycles of sleep and wakefulness. Melatonin levels rise in the evening as a cue for sleep, and ebb as dawn approaches.

News about a possible link between grapes and the sleep hormone appears in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture’s early online edition.

Researchers included Marcello Iriti, Ph.D., of Milan’s Istituto di Virologia Vegetale (Institute of Vegetable Virology).

They tested extracts from eight types of grapes — Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese, Merlot, Marzemino, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Barbera — for melatonin and found evidence of the hormone.

Cherries:

Source choose cherries.com:

It takes mere seconds to reset our watch to a different time zone after an international flight, but it takes longer for our body’s internal time clocks to adjust.  Frequent travelers often stash a bottle of melatonin in their carry-on bag to help fight jet lag, but now they may have a more natural and tasty way to prepare for the trip: cherries.

Cherries are one of the few known food sources of melatonin, a potent antioxidant produced naturally by the body’s pineal gland that helps regulate biorhythm and natural sleep patterns.  Scientists have found melatonin-rich tart cherries (commonly enjoyed as dried, frozen, juice or concentrate) contain more of this powerful antioxidant than what is normally produced by the body.  Eating cherries can be a natural way to boost your body’s melatonin levels to hasten sleep and ease jet lag.

Interesting:

What I found interesting, on hearing tonight about Melatonin and sleep patterns, is the fact that since I started taking Juice Plus, my sleep is deep and my initial waking is a lot more focused that before. Juice plus is a wholefood nutritional suppliment containing raw fruits and vegetables, including cherries. ( see my post dated August 28th ). My friend who introduced me to this nutritional suppliment commented that better sleep was ( for her also ) very noticeable also within just a few days.

Goodnight & sweet dreams x