This is Your Endocrine classification – Pineal

Deep in your brain, in its own little Bat Cave, sits the pineal (PIN ee uhl) gland, the subject of much speculation and not so much research.

Mystics call the pineal "The Third Eye" and tie it to extrasensory experiences. And they write more about it than scientists.

But let's talk about the science.

The pineal guides our body-clock through 24-hour circadian cycles and seasonal adjustments. It times the lot based on the amount of light it receives through our eyes.

The pineal gland is one stubborn gland. It hates changes in its routine, which is why jet lag hits when we travel. Interestingly, jet lag is a good mark for general health.

Like a lot of the other glands, the pineal is heavily involved with the adrenals. If the adrenals are in trouble, so's the pineal. And vice versa.

A faltering thyroid gland takes a whack at the pineal. I haven't found any place that says the reverse is true, too, but since our glands are big on reciprocity, I'm guessing that's how it goes.

Fluoride works against both the pineal and thyroid, with the pineal probably getting the worst of the deal. It absorbs more fluoride than other body parts, and it pushes slight girls into early puberty. It also calcifies the pineal over time, tumbling its ability to do what it needs to do.

We need to rethink fluoride. It's a hazardous, poisonous material that requires handlers to wear haz-mat outfits-complete with masks. If they dump fluoride into a river, they go to jail. If they dump it into our water supply, they get paid. What's that about? Especially since all the talk about doing good things for our teeth is bogus. It does nothing good for our teeth, and it causes all sorts of problems for the rest of our bodies. Bottom line, we're paying to be poisoned.

If you can't sleep, it may mean your pineal is harassed. Getting your thyroid and adrenals to fly straight helps, but in the meantime, you might consider taking melatonin about an hour before bedtime (which your endocrine system wants to occur no later than 10pm).

Melatonin is a very safe hormone. In fact, when everything's running right, the pineal creates enough of its own melatonin to handle things nicely, including sleep.

Most melatonin recommendations tell you to take 3mg, so that's what I took when I decided to give it a try. Not so good. Oh, I slept well. And long. And followed that up with hours of a half-dead zombie routine-once I could, reluctantly, drag myself out of bed.

If you decide to give melatonin a try, consider 1mg to start. Then listen to your body to determine a level that works without putting you into zombie mode.

And before you consider melatonin, make your bedroom pitch black-no visible light anywhere. Not even from a clock-radio; throw a towel over it. The darker the room, the more oomph you get from your expected melatonin-and the better your odds of sleeping.

Can't make the room dark? Consider a sleeping mask.

Amazing, isn't it, that all this is going on in a gland you probably never heard of before.

Here's a fact: Our endocrine structure is a nutrition hog. And our diet can't give us the nutrition we need, no matter how hard we try. To be healthy-and stay healthy-we need to bump up our nutrition with vitamins and minerals. Which brings up another fact: Most of us have no idea what's good, what's hype or how to build a balanced program.

Based on years of research and experience, Bette Dowdell wrote an e-book to get you past the vitamin scholarship curve and into health. Pep for the Pooped: Vitamins and Minerals Your Body Is Starving For helps you build a solid health foundation even if you can't tell one vitamin from another or explain why we need mineral deposits.