Lactium® vs. Melatonin: The Sleep Aid Showdown

In recent years, supplements to help manage stress and improve sleep quality have been getting all our eyes and ears, with melatonin and Lactium^® moving into the spotlight. What's also becoming wider known is that the side effects, hormonal impact, and safety concerns of melatonin make it less desirable than Lactium^®.

Let's look at the different mechanisms by which these supplements support sleep, and explain why Lactium^® is better than melatonin for getting a good night's rest and soothing stress.

What is Melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain that plays a role in regulating our circadian rhythm (our body clock) and therefore our sleep-wake cycle. During the day, light exposure inhibits melatonin production, but as darkness begins to set in, melatonin production increases. Once released, melatonin signals to the body that it’s time to prepare for sleep by making us drowsy and reducing our alertness.

What Are The Benefits of Taking Melatonin?

Melatonin supplements can be used to artificially increase melatonin levels to help initiate sleep for people with circadian rhythm disorders. Those might include:

Jet Lag: Travelling across multiple time zones can disrupt our circadian rhythm and cause sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue. Research suggests that taking melatonin at the appropriate time can help travellers shift their sleep-wake cycle to match that of their end destination and reduce the severity of jet lag (1).

Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD): Melatonin supplements also appear to help treat people with DSWPD, a circadian rhythm disorder that makes it hard to fall asleep at usual bedtimes and causes difficulty waking up in the morning. A study indicates that combined with going to bed at a set time, taking melatonin can improve sleep disturbance and impairment (2).

What Are The Downsides of Melatonin?

In the UK, melatonin is only available on prescription and is considered a drug. There are several reasons why melatonin is not easily accessible, and why you should be cautious when taking it:

Side Effects: A review of the safety of melatonin indicates several possible side effects including headaches, dizziness, nausea and daytime drowsiness (3). Furthermore, the possible long-term effects of melatonin remain unclear since it's only been used to treat sleep problems in recent years.

Unsafe for Children: As a hormone, melatonin raises concern about its potential long-term effects on children’s and adolescent’s hormonal development, including puberty. Additionally, the gummy format of many melatonin supplements in the U.S. poses a safety risk, as they are highly appealing to children. Surveillance data reveals that from 2019 to 2022, approximately 11,000 emergency hospital visits in the U.S. involved children under 5 who had ingested melatonin gummies unsupervised (4).

Unsafe for Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women: There is a lack of research on whether taking melatonin is safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Unsafe for People with a Range of Conditions: Studies advise against melatonin for dementia patients, those with autoimmune disorders, seizure disorders and depression. Melatonin may be unsafe for some patients due to interactions with their medications. For instance, it may elevate blood pressure in those on hypertension medications or trigger seizures in epileptic patients by interacting with drugs that lower the seizure threshold (5).

Incorrect Labelling on Melatonin Gummies: An American study in 2023 revealed that the majority of melatonin gummy products available, were incorrectly labelled. They tested 25 melatonin gummy products, finding that most of them contained between 1.2 to 1.7 times more melatonin than the listed amount (6).

What is Lactium®?

Inspired by the blissed-out and soothed state of newborns after feeding, French scientists created Lactium^®: a natural milk protein hydrolysate containing the bioactive decapeptide alpha-casozepine. Alpha-casozepine is produced by the digestive system of babies, relaxing and soothing them by increasing the activity of the calming neurotransmitter GABA in the brain.

Unlike melatonin which our body produces throughout our lives, we stop releasing alpha-casozepine as our digestive systems mature after infancy. Supplementing with Lactium^® can therefore help children and adults experience its calming and sleep-enhancing benefits.

What Are the Benefits of Taking Lactium®?

Anti-Anxiety: Multiple studies have identified Lactium^®’s ability to decrease stress and anxiety-related symptoms such as high blood pressure and cortisol levels (7, 8, 9). Cortisol, often referred to as the stress hormone, is produced in response to stressful situations, playing a crucial role in regulating the body’s fight or flight response. Lactium’s anti-anxiety effects are largely due to its ability to enhance the activity of GABA - a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation - and to lower cortisol levels after situations of acute stress, as well as in patients with chronic anxiety.

Improves Sleep: Several clinical studies on individuals with poor sleep quality indicate that taking Lactium^® improved:
- Amount of Sleep: More hours of sleep were recorded at night (10).
- Sleep Efficiency: The ratio of time spent sleeping compared to time spent in bed increased (10).
- Sleep Latency: The amount of time between turning off the lights and sleep onset decreased (10, 11).

Non-addictive: Lactium^® works much like benzodiazepines - depressant drugs that also enhance the effects of GABA - but unlike benzodiazepines, Lactium^® is non-addictive and non-drowsy.

Why Lactium® Is Better Than Melatonin

Both Lactium^®and melatonin supplements are effective at treating certain sleep disturbances. However, it is clear that Lactium^®offers a larger host of anxiety-reducing benefits and fewer safety concerns than melatonin:

No Side Effects: As a natural bioactive, Lactium^®is completely free from any undesirable side effects such as drowsiness, memory-loss, disinhibition, or sedation. It is also completely non-toxic.

Anti-Anxiety Properties: Melatonin primarily regulates sleep-wake cycles, whereas Lactium^®has been proven to effectively treat anxiety by nine rigorous clinical studies. While there is some research indicating melatonin may help pre-surgery anxiety (12), further research is necessary to make any anti-anxiety claims about melatonin.

Safe for Broader Use: Lactium^®can be used by the whole family. It’s suitable for children aged 7 and above, pregnant women, individuals later in life, and those with certain medical conditions. There are no known contraindications with other conditions or other supplements.

Long-Term Use: Lactium^®does not carry the same risks of dependancy or risk losing effectiveness over time, because unlike melatonin, brain receptors do not become de-sensitized to it. Lactium^®supplements can therefore be used as a long-term supplement whereas in the UK, melatonin is usually only prescribed for 1 to 4 weeks.

Natural: Lactium^®is sourced naturally from fresh cow milk, whereas most melatonin supplements are made synthetically in a lab.

Sweet Dreams

Melatonin may be helpful for some individuals suffering from circadian rhythm disruption. However, Lactium^® stands out as the safer and more effective choice, as it addresses both anxiety and sleep issues, with broad suitability and without any side effects.

Each Leapfrog SNOOZE tablet contains 150mg of Lactium^®, as well as lactoferrin and vitamin B6. This perfect blend works harmoniously to calm an overactive and buzzing mind and will have you sleeping like a baby again.

The Science

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