No! A few cherries or pistachios are not the same as a melatonin supplement

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Addressing the misconceptions about food sources of melatonin

By Melanie Henning, PsyD
Reviewed by Deanna Minich, PhD

August 14, 2023

You may have seen several posts on social media about food, particularly pistachios, cherries, and bananas, having high levels of melatonin. We've seen a number of posts claiming that you only need to "eat a few pistachios before bed to get the same amount of melatonin as a supplement".

The truth is - you would need to eat over a thousand pistachios to get just 1 milligram (mg) of melatonin.

Can you get melatonin from food? Yes, you can.

However, the question is how much of these foods you'd need to eat to get the benefits of melatonin and what else you are taking in, such as sugar, calories, and even allergens. Also, with food sources, the amounts of nutrients will vary greatly depending on the variety, growing conditions, harvesting, processing (e.g., roasting or drying the food), the location and seasonality, and even whether it's produced using conventional farming methods or organically without pesticides.  

As if that weren't enough to calculate, the methods used to analyze the level of melatonin in the food can give very different results. Another point to consider is that thousands of other compounds in foods, especially those related to fibers of different types and even polyphenols, could change whether a person can digest and absorb melatonin.

The bottom line is that research investigating melatonin from food and integration into the body has been inconclusive at best. It’s difficult to assess digestion, absorption, metabolism, and excretion from foods with any accuracy unless a stable-isotope or tracer compound is used (1). After all, melatonin metabolites in the urine may be from the body’s own production of melatonin. It is well known that the production of melatonin in the gut is 400 times that of the pineal gland. Therefore, is the melatonin in the urine an indication of more in the body, or simply reflecting the synthesis and metabolism of melatonin in the gut in response to taking in foods, or that the melatonin in those foods is not being absorbed? To make this issue even more complex, other studies might suggest that gut microbiome interactions with food and with melatonin could also play a role (2).

All those factors are a lot to think about, so if you are aiming for a standardized amount of melatonin, it is simply not practical to use food as a reliable source of melatonin. However, that doesn't suggest that those same foods might not have a health benefit and may even help sleep and related aspects, like immune health. Below we delve deeper into various foods that contain melatonin, as well as how they can benefit your health.

At Symphony Natural Health, we are big believers in the power of plants. What's more, you will regularly hear our team of integrative and functional medical practitioners (which includes MDs, PhDs, Naturopathic Doctors, and Certified Nutritionists) quote Hippocrates' famous line, "Let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food." 

However, as scientists, we feel it is imperative to get our facts and numbers correct. Because, when it comes to our health, doses, serving sizes, and amounts really do matter.

For example, if you find out that you have iron-deficiency anemia, is adding steak to your diet enough? And does it need to be grass-fed, organic, a specific type or part of the cow? What if you don’t eat steak? How do you stack up enough foods to give you the iron you need in a bioavailable form? Do you need to take vitamin C with the iron-containing food to help with iron uptake? The list of variables goes on. It might be more efficient to do a few things to maximize iron levels in the body, like taking an iron supplement while, at the same time, adding iron-rich foods to the diet. 

In a similar way, scientists have also done number-crunching activities for resveratrol, which has widespread acclaim for longevity and age-related diseases (3). It has been shown to be near impossible to achieve the therapeutic level of 1 gram of resveratrol per day from foods and beverages. If we look at red wine with its popularized levels of resveratrol, it would take 502-2762 liters, or greater than 2000 glasses of wine to over 11,000 glasses of wine (depending on the wine, the varietal of grapes, etc.) to achieve that 1 gram on a daily basis.

Our point is that the amount we consume matters, and while we certainly believe that "food is thy medicine", sometimes, based on where we are in our health journey, we may need to ensure we are getting higher concentrations, doses, or amounts of a particular nutrient in the short-term to realign our health or get it back on track faster than we could with food alone, or maybe it is a compound like melatonin that doesn't exist in high enough levels in standard food or there are so many variables with certain types of food that we either can't rely upon or it is impractical to rely on just that food source.

While it is true that several foods naturally contain trace amounts of melatonin, science shows us that we need to consume enormous quantities of these foods to get the natural physiological dose of melatonin that an average middle-aged adult naturally produces from the pineal gland each day, which is 0.3 mg (4).

For example, the amounts of melatonin found in pistachios, bananas, and cherries are all extremely low, with a large range, and measured in nanograms. To put nanograms in perspective, most supplements have about 1 mg of melatonin; however, there are 1,000 micrograms in 1 milligram, and there are 1,000 nanograms in a microgram. Meaning 1 nanogram is 0.000001 of a milligram (mg)!

So let's break down the numbers and health benefits for the top 10 foods containing melatonin:

1.    Tart cherries: When it comes to melatonin, these seasonal red fruits typically come to mind for most people. There are a few studies on using tart cherries in various formats (e.g., juice, powder, concentrate, capsules) for a range of health benefits, including reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, muscle soreness from exercise, and blood pressure, in addition to helping with sleep (5). There's no question that foods like cherries can reduce inflammation, which might improve sleep quality. On the other hand, if we look to tart cherries as a source of melatonin for their ability to promote a healthy circadian rhythm (one of the primary functions of melatonin), we may be in for eating lots of cherries, not to mention a big belly ache! There's quite a range of melatonin levels in cherries and several cherry types. If we take the higher level of melatonin documented in scientific literature, you'd have to eat 2,718 fresh cherries to get 0.3 milligrams of melatonin (6). Eating a few thousand cherries stacks up to about 14,000 kcal and close to 3 kilograms of sugar, not to mention they are not available throughout the year.

2.    Pistachios: You've probably heard about getting melatonin from pistachios. Indeed, there seems to be some melatonin in pistachios, although based on conflicting reports, the exact amount remains debatable. The misconception about pistachios and melatonin dates to 2014, when a paper was published on research done by scientists in Iran, analyzing the melatonin levels in the kernels of four different varieties of pistachio (7). The paper claimed that one of the varieties of pistachio displayed unusually high levels of melatonin (over 350 times what everyone else in the world had found in pistachios). Based on this information, many people base the claim that you only need a few pistachios to get the same level of melatonin as a supplement.

However, after the Iranian research was published, scientists around the world tried to replicate this new research using the exact same variety of pistachios, as well as many others. In fact, our own head of Research and Development, Dr. Meissner also tried to replicate the findings. What he and everyone else found was that the melatonin levels were much lower than stated – and again, were only detectable in the same nanogram levels as seen in all previous research on pistachios and many other plants.

This research caused such an issue in the European natural products industry that the German Federal Institute for Consumer Protection and Food Safety did its own investigation and expressed concern regarding the data presented in the Iranian study (8). The American Pistachio Growers even released their research showing that there was a discrepancy in the Iranian analysis (9, 10). It might not surprise you to learn that Iran is one of world's biggest producer and exporter of pistachios (11). When you run the numbers using the American Pistachio Growers data (660 ng/g raw pistachios), that would translate to 1,567 pistachios for 0.3 milligrams of melatonin.

3.    Walnuts are sources of several nutrients that would be helpful for sleep and brain health, like omega-3 fatty acids and tryptophan. They don't contain as much melatonin as tart cherries (a mere 3.5 nanograms per gram), so it would take even more walnuts, about 857 cups (shelled walnuts) worth (at over 500,000 kcal!) to get your 0.3 milligrams (12). Even though walnuts have much nutritional merit, this is clearly too much to take in daily or occasionally to get one's melatonin! 3.    

4.    Milk: Dairy can be challenging for most, especially those with lactose intolerance or milk protein allergy. Like other protein sources, milk can provide tryptophan, which is known to convert to melatonin in a series of reactions. Some people think that having more tryptophan can fuel their melatonin levels. In theory, that seems logical; however, the biochemical reality is that these reactions are not optimized in all individuals in the same way because nutrients are required to run those pathways. Also, the efficiency of these enzymes can be determined by genes. Therefore, there's a lot of variability and unreliability for those relying on tryptophan to give them melatonin. While a glass of warm milk may soothe one before bedtime for those who can stomach it, it may not be the best source of melatonin, considering you'd have to drink over 85 eight-ounce glasses of cow's milk to get a therapeutic amount (0.3 milligrams) (13).

5.    Strawberries: For those who do not have an issue with histamine intolerance, you can enjoy strawberries when they are in season. They provide many different antioxidant nutrients, like polyphenols and vitamin C, which can support healthy immune function. Yet, when we do the math, you would need over 2000 fresh medium strawberries to give you your daily dose of melatonin (14).

6.    Apples: One study tracked the melatonin content of Fuji apples across several months (15). The researchers found that the levels fluctuated greatly. The highest level of melatonin was documented in mid-July at 134.3 nanograms per gram of apple. Even though that is a relatively modest amount of melatonin compared with other foods, the amount of Fuji apples at the right time of year to give you the 0.3 milligrams would equate to a little more than 11 medium-sized Fuji apples.  

7.    Grapes: Much like the other plant foods, grapes can be a variable source of melatonin depending on the type of grape and how they are prepared. Wine contains melatonin, but in much lower amounts than the grape itself. A research study analyzed grape seeds, flesh, and skin (16). If we consider the melatonin content of the flesh, you will have to eat just about 15,000 grapes to get 0.3 milligrams of melatonin. If you don't want all that sugar, the seeds are much higher in melatonin, yet it's not easy to find and safely eat seeds. From a food perspective, grapes are not a significant dietary source of melatonin; despite that fact, they are good to eat in season for their power-packed polyphenols.

8.    Tomatoes: While the popularity of tomatoes has been waning over time due to greater awareness about nightshades and even lectins, many researchers have studied several varieties for their melatonin content. Like all other foods, the amounts significantly differ depending on the variety. If we assign the tomato the highest level of melatonin documented in an analytical study (17), we would essentially be at about 20 whole, medium-sized tomatoes to get 0.3 milligrams of melatonin.

9.    Mushrooms: Depending on the type of mushroom, you can get different amounts of melatonin. One study (18) measured melatonin in the white button mushroom, a common variety at grocery stores. About 60 fresh mushrooms would need to be eaten to get 0.3 milligrams of melatonin.

10.   Bananas: While there is no doubt that bananas can be excellent sources of potassium and even fiber to help with gut, heart, and kidney health, it would take 3,852 bananas to get to the goal of 0.3 milligrams of melatonin (19).

As you can see from this basic numbers-crunching activity, it's not as easy to get melatonin in the diet from foods. Even though these foods may not supply the amount of melatonin needed for health benefits, several have beneficial nutritional properties for certain individuals. Therefore, it's essential not to disregard these foods due to their lower amount of melatonin but to see them as whole foods with thousands of diverse compounds that may act as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

The reality is that getting physiological appropriate doses of melatonin from food is extremely hard. This is why Herbatonin^® was the first and only phytomelatonin (plant melatonin) product in the world for over twenty years!

Herbatonin^® is made from unique varieties of chlorella, rice, and alfalfa, where the melatonin is not extracted, but naturally contained within the cells of the plant, which means that just like the food sources mentioned above it has other plant actives like chlorophyll, beta-carotene, and lutein, making it even more beneficial for your health. The process we use to create Herbatonin^® involves a very unique method of farming, combined with a manufacturing process that only includes water, temperature and pressure. By these means, we have created a product so natural that it is just like eating the plant itself – but in far more concentrated doses. 

Herbatonin^® is available in two convenient dosage options – a Herbatonin 0.3 mg for sleep and immune support , or a Herbatonin 3 mg for jetlag, shift work and immune support, or as recommended by your healthcare provider.*

Read more on the published scientific research on how Herbatonin^® outperforms synthetic melatonin for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activity, free radical scavenging activity, and cellular health reactive oxygen species (ROS): https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/19/6087

References

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