Should we really be popping melatonin like candy?
ONCE UPON A TIME, insomniacs counted sheep. Today, they take melatonin. Referred to by scientists as the “hormone of darkness,” melatonin is naturally produced by a gland in the brain at night, but it can also be purchased at any major drugstore. Millions of Americans take it, whether swallowing it in pill form, spritzing it on their skin, or enjoying it in fruit-flavored gummies. You can even pick up melatonin-infused chocolates at Whole Foods.
A sleep specialist recommended I try some six years ago, when I came to her office in desperation after months of tossing and turning. I was skeptical but figured I’d give it a shot; no prescription was needed, and Walgreens sold bottles for about $10. I swallowed a 3-milligram pill before bed and nodded off within minutes of lying down. Melatonin felt like a miracle—and I’ve been taking it every night since.
An estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder. According to the Nation al Center for Biotechnology Information, between 2002 and 2012 there was an 8 percent increase in adults and a 31 percent jump in young adults who experienced insomnia or trouble sleeping. Melatonin has gained a reputation as a safe, natural remedy, especially compared with drugs like Ambien that can be habit forming and have more serious side effects. From 2007 to 2012, the number of adults using melatonin more than doubled to 3.1 million people, while the number of kids taking it increased by 482 percent. And sales of the hormone grew 20 percent annually for three years after that, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
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In the Name of the Mother - How Shyamala Gopalan Harris raised a presidential contender
Shyamala Gopalan Harris did not believe in coddling. Pay her daughters, Kamala and Maya, an allowance for doing chores? “If you do the dishes, you should get two dollars,” scoffed the woman who this past summer, almost two decades after we spoke, would launch a million coconut memes. “You ate from the damn dishes!” Reward the future vice president of the United States—and possible future president—for good grades? Ridiculous. “What does that tell you?” her mother chided. “It says, ‘You know, I really thought you were stupid. Oh, you surprised Mommy!’ No.”
Kill the Messenger - The anti-disinformation field is retreating under attack.
A few months ago, a man crawling along a rooftop in Pennsylvania tried to murder Donald Trump at a campaign rally. Hours later, press releases started to circulate, from analysts, think tanks, politicians, and pundits, all offering to cut through the swell of confusion and misinformation.
Food + Health / Global Warning - Why Project 2025 is an environmental catastrophe in the making
When President Joe Biden took office, Democrats held a slim majority in the House of Representatives and a single-vote edge in the Senate. Despite the monumental odds, he has presided over the most productive presidential term for climate action in American history. Under Biden’s direction, the federal government took up the arduous task of incorporating climate considerations into scores of administrative operations and procedures. The epa cracked down on superpollutants and issued stricter emissions regulations for passenger vehicles. The Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate spending bill Congress has ever passed, brings the nation closer to its goal of slashing carbon emissions in half by 2030.
Trumpnesia - To get a second chance, Trump needs voters to forget his disastrous presidency.
One of the most oft-quoted sentences ever penned by a philosopher is George Santayana’s observation that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In 2024, this aphorism is practically a campaign slogan. Donald Trump, seeking to become the first former president since Grover Cleveland to return to the White House after being voted out of the job, has waged war on remembrance. In fact, he’s depending on tens of millions of voters forgetting the recent past. This election is an experiment in how powerful a memory hole can be.
WHEN IN DROUGHT
This obscure yet adaptable grain could be a healthy staple for a warming planet.
BAD HABITS
A spate of recent horror movies recycle tired tropes about nuns-and reveal society's ongoing discomfort with independent women.
Taking the Fifth For a glimpse of the Supreme Court after a second Trump term, look at the radical circuit court that's already driving America to the right.
Imagine obamacare is dead and millions of Americans have lost health coverage.
THE ARCHITECT
TRUMP WANTS TO BE KING. RUSS VOUGHT HAS A PLAN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Losing Faith
As an evangelical leader, I enticed lawmakers and federal judges to adopt a conservative Christian agenda. Donald Trump’s rise proved how wrong I was.
GOD'S COUNTRY
These Christian nationalists have a plan to take over Americafrom small towns to the highest court in the land.
