Exercise with melatonin improved blood fats after menopause
In a 12-week randomised trial of 38 postmenopausal women, exercise plus melatonin improved two blood-fat measures compared with exercise plus placebo.
12 weeks, placebo-controlled
Thirty-eight postmenopausal women took part in a 12-week randomised controlled trial. Researchers assigned 13 to exercise with melatonin, 13 to exercise with placebo and 12 to a control group. Both exercise groups trained three times a week. The melatonin group took 3 milligrams nightly.
At the end, the melatonin group had lower triglycerides, a type of blood fat, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, often called “bad” cholesterol, than the exercise-plus-placebo group. Compared with the control group, the melatonin group also had lower blood glucose and total cholesterol, and higher “good” cholesterol. Both exercise groups had less fat mass, smaller waist and hip measurements, and more muscle mass than at the start.
Why it matters
The trial addressed whether adding melatonin to exercise could improve metabolic health and body composition after menopause.
Caveats
The trial measured blood markers and body composition over 12 weeks, rather than long-term health outcomes. It included only 38 women.
- Melatonin
- Combined aerobic and resistance training
- Inflammation
- Lipid and ceramide metabolism
- Postmenopause
- Humans
The paper
University of Sfax
Experimental Gerontology, 10 Oct 2026
