Melatonin seems to be all the rage when it comes to insomnia and sleep problems. However, it’s good to be aware that the most popular treatments are not necessarily the most effective – they’re just the ones best marketed. With any supplement or treatment I recommend, I always want to make sure it is backed with clinical efficacy, research, and/or traditional knowledge. But before I get into that, let’s get into the basics of melatonin first.
I used to work in a supplement store, and I had people come in all the time asking for things that would “clear their arteries” because their doctor said it put them at risk for a stroke. This is absolutely true, but unfortunately there’s also no magic supplement that will help “unclog” those arteries. The best approach is through a combination of lifestyle, diet, and potentially supplementation if warranted. To understand how to approach atherosclerosis, we first have to know what exactly it is.
The basic bottom line is that atherosclerosis is a disease of inflammation and immune system activation. It involves a series of steps that start with your risk factors (many of the things I have mentioned this month already on my Instagram posts) and end in restricted blood flow due to plaque formation [1]:
Part of my “east meets west” approach to medicine involves the use of lab testing. Naturopathic doctors can order labs that MDs can (such as cholesterol, blood glucose, creatinine (to help assess kidney function), iron, thyroid, etc) and additional ones that family doctors don’t have access to (such as food sensitivities, saliva and urine hormone testing (a more accurate measurement of hormones vs. blood), stool and bacterial overgrowth analysis, etc). However, I don’t believe in using a lab test for each and every treatment. Individualized medicine is the cornerstone of naturopathic medicine! While lab testing is a fantastic tool that I believe in to get quantifiable measurements to help guide treatment and track progress, it can be tricky to navigate.
Here are some things to keep in mind before you do any lab test: