Alternative Options to Manage Menopausal Symptoms with a Focus on Melatonin and Osteoporosis

Many menopausal women are seeking symptomatic relief from hot flushes, irritability, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, and to prevent bone loss. Instead of pharmaceutical approaches, many women are opting for alternative modalities such as yoga, meditation and natural products. Melatonin is a molecule released from the pineal gland in response to darkness and is commonly used as a sleep aid due to its soporific effects and/or due to its ability to reentrain circadian rhythms out of synchrony with the light dark cycle. The focus of this mini-review is to highlight the novel use of melatonin on managing menopausal symptoms and menopausal bone loss and describe food sources that are rich in melatonin.