why does melatonin get past the digestive system but insulin doesn’t?
I have read that the reason that people have to take insulin shots is because insulin is a hormone and will not make it past the stomach. melatonin is a hormone also and is reccomended as a sleeping aid in oral form. how does melatonin get past and insulin doesn’t or are we being scammed by one or the other?
uh, I think I already know it can’t be digested, hence the question. but thanks for answering.
Tagged with: insulin shots • melatonin • stomach
Filed under: digestive system
Insulin is a protein, which are digested in the stomach and gut and in order to be effective at controlling blood sugar, can not be taken orally.
Basically, it has nothing to do with insulin being a hormone. If you swallowed insulin, it would be destroyed once it mixed with the acids in your stomach. For that reason, it has to be directly injected into the blood.
No scam. The term, hormone, has nothing to do with their chemical composition. It has to do with their action in the body. Insulin is a blend of amino acid residues while melatonin is 5-methoxy-N-acetyltryptamine, which is an entirely different chemical makeup. Hence, melatonin is not broken down by the digestive system and insulin is… long before it gets into the blood which is required before it can do it’s job… getting glucose past the cell walls.