Taking Melatonin Does Not Increase Your Risk of Heart Failure
Dec 20, 2025•8 min
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Episode description
- A preliminary American Heart Association (AHA) study linked long-term melatonin use to increased heart failure risk, but a closer analysis shows serious flaws, including lack of peer review and failure to account for confounding variables
- The study found melatonin users had 90% higher heart failure rates, but data mixed together prescription-only countries with over-the-counter markets, misclassifying many actual users as non-users
- Moreover, the study failed to account for insomnia severity, psychiatric conditions, other medications, and dosing details, making it impossible to determine if melatonin caused the observed outcomes
- Decades of peer-reviewed research demonstrates melatonin's cardioprotective effects, including reducing blood pressure, protecting heart tissue, and mitigating oxidative damage, contradicting the study's alarming headlines
- While supplementation is unlikely to pose serious risks, there are natural ways to optimize your melatonin production, such as getting morning sunlight exposure, keeping a consistent sleep schedule, limiting evening blue light, eating earlier, and practicing stress-reduction techniques
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