I would recommend Melatonin over Valerian root. The reason you don't sleep during the daytime is hormonal. Hormones are entrained by light/dark cycles, meal patterns, and exercise. Melatonin is the hormone your body produces to make you tired and to go to sleep. When you're exposed to high-energy visible light (blue is the primary culprit, followed by green) your body does not produce melatonin. When that light goes away, your body starts producing it again.
However, just blacking out your room is not usually enough to make you sleep during the day because of the natural entrainment of sleep patterns; Your body produces melatonin not just when it's dark, but when it is used to going to sleep. Melatonin supplements basically let you circumvent that whole problem because you don't have to wait for your body to produce the melatonin. Once your'e asleep, your body's natural systems take over, continuing to produce melatonin, regulating your sleep-stages, and basically allowing you to sleep normally.
Valerian root is a GABA-ergic compound (specifically, a GABA-a receptor agonist, like benzodiazepines, ambien, and alcohol) which means it does not function on your melatonin pathways, it's a sedative. Alcohol and Benzos are well-known to disrupt your sleep cycles and to favor deep sleep over REM sleep which makes it less restful and can lead to dependence. You can also end up with a glutamate-rebound effect that wakes you up when your body overcorrects after the valerian wears off. Basically, you should think of Valerian as a GABA-ergic sedative/hypnotic drug like Benzos (xanax, ativan, valium, etc.) or alcohol, not as a supplement. Just because it doesn't require a prescription does not mean it is not a drug.
If you can't tell, I'm not a fan of Valerian. I'm personally pretty sensitive to excitatory rebound effects, but I definitely got them from Valerian. I would definitely recommend staying away from that stuff.
Regarding your other points:
First of all, as a vegan, you're at risk for a lot of deficiencies. Why are you a vegan in the first place? If it's just for health reasons, I would highly recommend switching to ovo-lacto vegetarian and/or including fish. Both groups have demonstrated significantly higher longevity than vegans in epidemiological studies. Either way though, you might want to look into Cronometer. It tracks the vitamins and micronutrients in your food. If you track everything you eat for a week but try not to let it influence your food choices, then at the end of the week, you can pull a report and see where you averaged out in both micro and macronutrients. That can be a good way of identifying deficiency risks. You can then address those either through dietary interventions or supplements, the former being preferable of course.
Let me know if I can help clarify anything or if you have any questions. Cheers
Thanks for such an in-depth reply.
I'm a vegan for ethical reasons. I'm not rigid about it, (the bean burgers I mention contain small amounts of eggs, for example) but I definitely watch which animal products I consume. If there weren't healthy ways to get something critical, I would probably make an exception. I tend to believe that there is a vegan substitute for just about anything, however I'm open to be proven wrong.
I just set up a Chronometer account, that seems like a good service. Is there a way to put exact recipes in? I put in my breakfast this mo...
Since it turns out that it isn't feasible to include check as many as apply questions in the big survey, I'm asking about supplements here. I've got a bunch of questions, and I don't mind at all if you just answer some of them.
What supplements do you take? At what dosages? Are there other considerations, like with/without food or time of day?
Are there supplements you've stopped using?
How did you decide to take the supplements you're using? How do you decide whether to continue taking them?
Do you have preferred suppliers? How did you choose them?