WANT SLEEP? GET MILK!

Looks like Granny knew what she was talking about

WRITER: FRED HILTON

Can’t sleep? Tossing and turning all night? You should follow granny’s advice and have a big glass of warm milk. You’ll sleep like a baby. Does that really work? Some researchers claim it does. “Drinking a glass of warm milk before bed will help you to sleep better — it’s not just an old wives’ tale,” says nutritional therapist Jo Lewis. “Dairy products are rich in the amino acid tryptophan, which helps in the production of the sleep-inducing brain chemicals, serotonin and melatonin.” Tryptophan is the stuff found in turkey meat that’s credited with causing you to nod off in front of the TV after stuffing your face on Thanksgiving.

That theory is endorsed by the website ZocDoc.com: “Your mother was right that drinking warm milk before bed can help you sleep … because milk contains tryptophan which is an amino acid which helps induce sleep. Also, many people find the ritual of drinking a warm glass of milk a calming ritual that helps them wind down to sleep.”

Others reject the theory of tryptophan in milk causing sleep. In The New York Times, Anahad O’Connor wrote, “Whether milk can induce sleep is debatable, and studies sug- gest that if it does, the effect has little to do with tryptophan.” To influence sleep, tryptophan must reach the brain. O’Connor pointed to a study done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that “showed that eating protein-rich foods — like milk — decreased the ability of tryptophan to enter the brain.”

In a blog for WebMD, Dr. Michael Breus wrote, “The jury is still out on exactly whether or not milk can encourage sleep. Studies of tryptophan’s impact on sleep have found only one phase of sleep — the first one, when you’re falling asleep — is enhanced by tryptophan. Other aspects of sleep, such as the amount of deep-sleep reached during the night, can be harmed by tryptophan.”

Tryptophan or not, O’Connor and Dr. Breus agree that warm milk very likely can help you sleep by calming you down and making you comfortable.

“Scientists say the routine of drinking a glass of milk before bed can be as smoothing as a favorite blanket,” O’Connor wrote.

Although not recommended, another sleep aid is a large glass of single malt scotch before bedtime. That’s how the expression “sleep tight” began.

“It may just be that the routine of drinking a glass of warm milk is like an old teddy bear that reminds you of home when your mom tucked you into bed at night,” Dr. Breus said.