If you’ve heard that vitamin and mineral supplements have increased in popularity, it’s likely more than just an anecdotal observation. In fact, as the world began locking itself inside last year it was reported that in the United States alone, dietary supplement sales rose almost 52% from the previous year just in the month of March 2020. But now you might be thinking, well that was at the height of global panic last year; a symptom of a once in a generation phenomena. Sure! So then consider this – Of the many jars and bottles and packets of tablets and powders and gel-caps sold, one popular sleep aide hormone appears to be snowballing down the hill of health, pandemic or not. Nielsen data reported a jump from $285 million to just under $821million (in US dollars) between the years 2016-2020, across the the US, for none other than Melatonin supplements. And whilst there exist fears from regulatory bodies about the lack of federal oversight within the dietary supplement industry in general, there is also a growing body of good evidence on the benefits of Melatonin supplementation.
So, keep an eye on this space. Melatonin may indeed become the next household name among antioxidant dietary supplements, and research like that from University of Texas Health Science Center, whose peer-reviewed study described the hormone as “..uncommonly effective in reducing oxidative stress under a remarkably large number of circumstances..” is one of a list of papers supporting this view.
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/fbcfe8df-4ab9-47c3-974e-320e0d320d19https://www.businessinsider.com/melatonin-sales-spiked-coronavirus-pandemic-2021-1?r=AU&IR=Thttps://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/epdf/10.1111/jpi.12360
