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More Magic of Melatonin

Do you want to lose body fat, gain muscle, all without going on any kind of a diet?

If you are a postmenopausal woman, I have a tip for you. In a properly designed (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled) study, researchers studied 81 postmenopausal women for one year. Those who took melatonin (1 or 3 mg) nightly had some remarkable changes at the end of a year. Although their weight stayed the same, as well as their BMI, they had valuable body changes nonetheless. (Of course, this just proves why pounds and BMI are terrible markers of health.)

The women taking melatonin lost body fat and gained leaned muscle mass, probably because of a 21% increase in adiponectin, the fat-burning hormone. Not a huge amount, but statistically significant.  Sadly, there was no real benefit in overall metabolism (glucose, insulin levels), but hey, you can fix those things in other ways. The magic of melatonin has just become more magical!