Comparison
Melatonin vs Spermidine
Melatonin
Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Low doses (0.3-1mg) often outperform higher doses for sleep.
Spermidine
Polyamine found in wheat germ, aged cheese, soybeans. Induces autophagy — cellular cleanup linked to longevity.
| Field | Melatonin | Spermidine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | neuroprotective | neuroprotective |
| Dose range | 0.3–3mg | 1–5mg |
| Half-life | 1h | — |
| Onset | 30min | — |
| Evidence | EVIDENCEA | EVIDENCEB |
| Safety | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Legal (US) | USOTC | USOTC |
| PubMed refs | 28000 | 6800 |
The comparison in plain English
Auto-generated from dataMelatonin and Spermidine are both in the neuroprotective category respectively. Melatonin Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Spermidine Polyamine found in wheat germ, aged cheese, soybeans.
Bottom line
Melatonin (evidence A, safety 5/5) has a weaker evidence base than Spermidine (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 Spermidine if
Spermidine is the better fit when your goal aligns with its mechanism (Induces autophagy — the cellular self-cleaning process that removes damaged proteins and organelles — through inhibition of histone acetyltransferases) and the dose range (1–5mg) suits your protocol. Half-life is —h.