Low Melatonin, Hot Flashes, and Blood Sugar
🌙 Melatonin: The Hormone of Darkness (and So Much More)
Melatonin often gets billed as the “sleep hormone,” but that’s just scratching the surface. While it’s made in multiple places in the body, the melatonin produced in your brain’s pineal gland is the one that really gets around—it enters your circulation and influences everything from your temperature regulation to your metabolism.
⏰ Your Body Doesn’t Follow a 24-Hour Clock (But Your Phone Does)
Here’s something fun: your body’s internal clock isn’t perfectly 24 hours. It runs a little short or a little long depending on the person. So every day, you have to reset your circadian rhythm—your internal timekeeper—using light, dark, and hormonal cues.
Morning light in the eyes triggers a healthy rise in cortisol, your "get up and go" hormone.
Darkness at night allows melatonin to rise and signal it’s time for rest and repair.
This rise and fall acts like your body’s master scheduling system. But when it gets disrupted—thanks to things like screen time, stress, alcohol, or irregular sleep—you can start noticing problems. Think: hot flashes at night, fatigue during the day, cravings, or blood sugar crashes.
🌕 Melatonin’s Big Moment Happens While You Sleep
Melatonin begins to rise about two hours before bedtime and peaks somewhere between 2 and 4 AM—that is, if you're not a night shift worker or falling asleep to Netflix and wine.
This peak is crucial. Why?
Because melatonin helps signal your core body temperature to drop, which is exactly what your body needs to do to fall and stay asleep. If you don’t get that proper signal, you may wake up hot, sweaty, or tossing the covers off at 3 AM, trying to cool down manually. Sound familiar?
🔥 Melatonin Declines (Just As Perimenopause Heats Up)
Many women notice hot flashes and night sweats as they move deeper into perimenopause—and melatonin might be playing a bigger role than we realize.
Melatonin production naturally declines around age 50, but it can dip even earlier if you:
Eat late at night
Use bright screens before bed
Drink alcohol regularly in the evening
Have caffeine later in the day
Have chronic stress or inflammation
No wonder midlife women are wide-eyed at 2 AM wondering what the heck is going on.
🍽️ Melatonin, Metabolism, and Midnight Munchies
Melatonin isn’t just about sleep—it also influences your:
Glucose and insulin regulation
Cravings
Hunger hormone (ghrelin)
Poor melatonin production—and poor sleep in general—can increase your risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and weight gain. If you’ve ever pulled an all-nighter with your sick child, caught a red-eye, or just had a bad sleep, you’ve likely noticed the next day you’re extra snacky and craving sugar or carbs. That’s melatonin (or lack of it) in action.
🧬 The Unsung Mitochondrial Hero
Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant that can be created in every single mitochondrion (your cellular powerhouses). It helps reduce inflammation and protect your cells from oxidative stress—especially during energy production (ATP) and hormone synthesis.
💡 Fun fact: The first step in making all of your steroid hormones (cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) happens in the mitochondria.
And your ovarian mitochondria? They’re LOADED with melatonin. Translation: melatonin is essential for healthy hormone production.
😴 It’s Not Just About Progesterone and Stress
When sleep goes sideways, most people jump straight to cortisol or progesterone—and yes, they matter. But don’t sleep on melatonin. It may be declining silently in the background and throwing off your entire nighttime routine.
Final Thought:
If you're waking hot, tired, wired, or hangry, melatonin might be the missing piece. And before you jump straight to supplements, make sure your light exposure, evening routine, and sleep hygiene are actually supporting your natural rhythm.
You body needs better hormone signaling in the day AND night!
➡️ Come join my FREE Masterclass on Melatonin August 6th at 4pm PT/7pm ET
⭐️ Sign up here! It’s my favorite hormone so I’m talking about it - replay will be available!