It’s not uncommon to hit your late twenties and be bombarded with anti-aging supplements, skincare, and lifestyle tips. Though, rightly so!
Some of the top skincare experts and dermatologists recommend implementing healthy nutrition, lifestyle, and skincare behaviors that promote anti-aging as early as our mid-twenties, while we still look youthful!
There is so much information and advice around anti-aging strategies that it can be difficult to determine fact from fiction—much like the fitness world.
Some of the best advice you can follow for anti-aging includes using SPF daily, upgrading your skincare routine, drinking plenty of water, eating a diet rich in nutritious foods, and prioritizing sleep and stress management.
However, as with many other industries, such as the fitness and weight loss industry, supplementation should also be considered. As it happens, anti-aging supplementation is on the rise!
Supplements such as collagen, CoQ10, resveratrol, and B-vitamins are among some of the most popular anti-aging supplements. Though, we sometimes overlook the power of combining effective supplements, even if they are not singularly used for anti-aging benefits.
This article discusses the remarkable combination of omega-3 and melatonin, two very different supplements, though both very effective in their own ways and as a pair.
How can these two supplements help fight the signs of aging? How do they work together? Are there any other benefits to taking them together?
All will be revealed in this short guide to omega-3 and melatonin!
The Role of Omega-3 and Melatonin
Before we get onto how these two supplements work well together, we should first get familiar with how they work individually.
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats that we must consume through our diet. They play key roles in our body and provide a number of health benefits.
The three most important types of omega-3s are:
- ALA (alpha-linolenic acid)
- DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)
- EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid)
While ALA is found mainly in plant sources, DHA and EPA are mostly found in animal foods and algae.
Some key sources of omega-3 include fatty fish, fish oils, flax seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts.
It’s vital to consume enough omega-3s in your diet as they play many important roles in the functioning of the body, such as brain health, eye health, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland; a small pea-shaped gland located in the brain.
Melatonin is the key hormone involved in regulating our sleep-wake cycle, otherwise known as our circadian rhythm. It is secreted in response to the absence of light, which is what makes us feel sleepy as the night draws in.
Simply put, melatonin signals to our body that it’s time for sleep. Then, upon waking, melatonin production is suppressed in response to natural light, which is why we feel alert and awake in the mornings (after our morning coffee, of course!).
While our body has the ability to produce melatonin naturally, supplementation can sometimes be necessary under certain circumstances when someone’s melatonin production may be low.
Those who may experience low melatonin production are often shift workers or frequent travellers, who typically have abnormal sleep patterns. Low melatonin production can have a major impact on our sleep cycle, thus a knock-on effect on our overall health!
So, how do melatonin and omega-3 work together?!
The Relationship Between Omega 3 and Melatonin
The main link between omega-3 and melatonin is the antioxidant properties. As it turns out, melatonin is actually an antioxidant as well as omega-3.
As you may be aware, antioxidants are substances that protect against free radicals. Free radicals come from the typical unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as high intake of fried foods, smoking, UV-radiation, and pollution. These free radicals can damage cells, leading to all sorts of health issues.
High levels of free radicals that are left unaddressed can overwhelm the body, resulting in oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is known as the fuel for many common diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Consuming antioxidants through the diet is essential to providing our body and cells with the protection they require, as well as reducing and/or avoiding any unhealthy lifestyle factors which may contribute to the production of free radicals.
While omega-3 has antioxidant properties that can help protect us, it has a certain chemical structure which makes it liable for free radical damage, causing these omega-3 molecules to oxidize and lose potency.1
However, melatonin has been shown to provide powerful antioxidant properties, allegedly more so than vitamin C and vitamin E, which can help protect the structure of omega-3s.2
Additionally, melatonin may also increase the absorption of specific types of omega-3, which in-turn may increase the protective properties of these fatty acids.2
So, how does this relationship help anti-aging specifically?
While any substance with antioxidant properties cannot reverse the signs of aging, it can help protect our cells, including our skin cells.
Also, protecting our cells from damage and our body from disease while we’re still in our youth can result in living a longer, healthier life—thus fighting the typical signs of aging associated with illness.
But are there any other benefits with this relationship?
Yes. This relationship actually works both ways—omega-3 can also affect melatonin.
Melatonin may also benefit from its interaction with omega 3. As we know, the pineal gland produces melatonin, and omega-3 fatty acid DHA makes up a fairly big portion of the fats in this gland.
For this reason, it is believed that the pineal gland may be synergistically regulated by omega-3. As a result, it is thought that adequate omega-3 consumption can ensure our melatonin production is as it should be, and that lack of omega-3s may actually cause sleep disturbances.3
While the research in this specific area is still in its early days, it’s still a potential link between omega-3 and better-quality sleep via melatonin production.
Are there any other benefits to omega-3 and melatonin together?
The Benefits of Omega 3 and Melatonin Together
Omega-3 and melatonin may also complement each other on a few other health fronts, including:
- Fighting inflammation
- Improving cell signalling
- Potentially helping cancer prevention
- Overall brain and cognitive health
- Eye health
It goes without saying that the above health fronts go hand in hand with anti-aging. After all, anti-aging isn’t always primarily about skincare, but also from within.
Looking after our body and protecting our cells from damage is one of the most important considerations when looking to implement anti-aging strategies.
Omega-3 and melatonin should both be supplements to consider from a general health and anti-aging perspective.
As we get older, our joints, cognitive health, eye health, and melatonin production all decline, which makes it even more important to consider supplements such as omega-3 and melatonin for additional protection and prevention.
Take-Home Message
We can get many anti-aging benefits from a healthy diet and lifestyle, but supplementation can sometimes be necessary. Melatonin and omega-3 are some of the best supplements you can consider for anti-aging and general health and wellness.
While they seem like an unlikely pair, there is some research to suggest they can complement each other regarding improvements in sleep and antioxidant potency, thus assisting with general health and anti-aging.
Our top pick is Performance Lab Omega-3 and Performance Lab Sleep, two clean and effective supplements which can be safely taken together to enhance your sleep cycle, joint health, brain health, and provide antioxidant benefits!
References
- https://omega3innovations.com/blog/epa-dha-ala-how-to-decipher-the-omega-3-alphabet-soup/
- Leaden P, Barrionuevo J, Catalá A. The protection of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids by melatonin during nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation of rat liver microsomes. J Pineal Res. 2002 Apr;32(3):129-34.
- Catalá A. The function of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the pineal gland. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2010 Feb;1801(2):95-9.
