Comparison
Melatonin vs Pterostilbene
Melatonin
Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Low doses (0.3-1mg) often outperform higher doses for sleep.
Pterostilbene
Methylated analog of resveratrol with much higher bioavailability. Found in blueberries.
| Field | Melatonin | Pterostilbene |
|---|---|---|
| Category | neuroprotective | neuroprotective |
| Dose range | 0.3–3mg | 50–250mg |
| Half-life | 1h | — |
| Onset | 30min | — |
| Evidence | EVIDENCEA | EVIDENCEB |
| Safety | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Legal (US) | USOTC | USOTC |
| PubMed refs | 28000 | 280 |
The comparison in plain English
Auto-generated from dataMelatonin and Pterostilbene are both in the neuroprotective category respectively. Melatonin Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Pterostilbene Methylated analog of resveratrol with much higher bioavailability.
Bottom line
Melatonin (evidence A, safety 5/5) has a weaker evidence base than Pterostilbene (evidence B, safety 5/5). Melatonin has the slightly cleaner safety profile. For users new to either, the higher-evidence option is the safer first try.
Choose Melatonin if
Melatonin is the better fit when your goal aligns with its mechanism (Endogenous hormone produced by the pineal gland in response to darkness, signalling the circadian sleep window) and the dose range (0.3–3mg) suits your protocol. Half-life is 1h.
Choose Pterostilbene if
Pterostilbene is the better fit when your goal aligns with its mechanism (Pterostilbene is structurally similar to resveratrol but with two methyl groups attached, increasing lipophilicity and substantially improving blood-brain-barrier penetration (4x oral bioavailability and a longer half-life vs resveratrol)) and the dose range (50–250mg) suits your protocol. Half-life is —h.