Melatonin trials favored endurance performance, with mixed muscle marker findings
Pooled trials in athletes and active people favored melatonin for endurance and explosive power. Subgroup timing patterns do not establish a preferred schedule.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In athletes and physically active people, pooled trials favored melatonin over placebo for endurance and explosive power. Creatine kinase levels also decreased, but lactate dehydrogenase did not show a statistically significant change. These laboratory measures alone do not establish better recovery or fewer injuries, and subgroup patterns do not establish an optimal regimen.
The abstract omits trial durations, adverse-event findings and details of direct timing comparisons. It cannot establish lasting benefit, safety or a preferred supplementation schedule.
What researchers found
Endurance performance
Melatonin versus placebo; assessment timing was not reported. SMD means standardized mean difference; the authors characterized this as a moderate effect.
What the number means
The confidence interval gives a range of plausible effect sizes, showing uncertainty around the estimate. Because endurance tests were combined on a standardized scale, this is neither a percentage gain nor extra minutes of exercise.
Timing evidence needs caution
Evening use and longer intervals before exercise looked more favorable in subgroup analyses. The abstract does not explain whether timing schedules were directly randomized, so those patterns cannot establish an optimal schedule.
The original publication
Timing-dependent effects of melatonin supplementation on exercise performance and exercise-induced muscle damage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Guo J, Zhou L, Gu J et al.
Front Nutr · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41769636
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.