More Than Restorative Sleep in a Pill: "Melatonin Loading" Ameliorates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Ultra-Endurance Event
Image 1: The Veleta Peak, certainly not an easy trail (photo by David Adamson ) As a regular visitor of this blog, you are well familiar with the beneficial effects of sleep on general health, hormone levels and (exercise) performance . You will also have read about the anti-oxidant and neuroprotective effects of melatonin and be aware that melatonin supplementation may exhibit beneficial effects aside from improving sleep quality. A recent study ( Ochoa. 2011 ) by scientists from the University of Granada in Spain provides further evidence for the "magic" of a hormone that - much to my surprise - is still widely available as an over-the-counter supplement. In a double blind placebo controlled study, Julio J. Ochoa and his colleagues handed 5 capsules à 3mg melatonin or placebo to their 20 highly trained male subjects and instructed them to use the following unconventional (normally you would expect either administration immediately before the stressor, or supplemen...