Melatonin — the language the Moon speaks to your body
Melatonin is called the hormone of darkness: your body releases it as the sun goes down. Yet it works far beyond the brain — it reaches the follicular fluid surrounding the egg and acts there as an antioxidant, shielding her from oxidative stress and supporting the follicle's maturation. Quite literally: your sleep affects your fertility.
Melatonin follows your natural circadian rhythms — sunrise and sunset. Perhaps this is why women who lived without artificial light saw their cycle temporarily synchronize with the Moon's: both the Moon and your body answer to the same rhythm of light and dark.
Melatonin is born only in darkness. Even soft light at night lowers its production — your eyes signal light, and your body decides that night hasn't yet come. So a dark bedroom and an evening without bright screens aren't self-denial; they're care for the very rhythm your sleep and your cycle depend on.
Melatonin is one of the most ancient molecules of life: it exists in plants, bacteria, and animals and, researchers suggest, arose to protect cells from oxidation long before it became the hormone of sleep. In your body it still does that primordial work — guarding your cells, including the most precious ones.
The Moon and your body speak one language — and its name is melatonin. Sleep disturbances are linked to lower fertility, so your rest is, quite literally, an investment in the quality of your egg, your fertility, and your whole endocrine system.
Sources
- Tamura H, Takasaki A, Miwa I et al. Oxidative stress impairs oocyte quality and melatonin protects oocytes from free radical damage and improves fertilization rate. Journal of Pineal Research, 2008; 44(3):280–287. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00524.x
- Tamura H, Takasaki A, Taketani T et al. The role of melatonin as an antioxidant in the follicle. Journal of Ovarian Research, 2012; 5:5. doi: 10.1186/1757-2215-5-5
- Helfrich-Förster C, Monecke S, Spiousas I et al. Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon. Science Advances, 2021; 7: eabe1358. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe1358
- Li J. et al. Sleep disturbances and female infertility: a systematic review, 2024.
- Gooley JJ, Chamberlain K, Smith KA et al. Exposure to room light before bedtime suppresses melatonin onset and shortens melatonin duration in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2011; 96(3):E463–E472. doi: 10.1210/jc.2010-2098
- Manchester LC, Coto-Montes A, Boga JA et al. Melatonin: an ancient molecule that makes oxygen metabolically tolerable. Journal of Pineal Research, 2015; 59(4):403–419. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12267