When somebody is affected by insomnia it's inevitable that a friend or loved one will recommend that drinking a glass of warm milk before bedtime is a good insomnia aid. If you're one of these people having difficulty sleeping I'm certain you would like to know if this is true or is it an old wives' tale? And the answer is, it depends! There really are two schools of thought and warm milk may or may not be a good insomnia aid, it just depends on how much warm milk you'll be able to drink.
The idea is that the same chemical that we all think makes us sleepy when we eat turkey, tryptophan, is also found in milk. However the idea that the tryptophan in turkey makes us sleepy is also an urban legend. While it's true that tryptophan will have an effect on our sleep, it's only the first phase of sleep where it makes a difference, the phase where you're just getting sleepy. In fact, an excessive amount of tryptopah, taken in a supplement form, can have adverse effects on the deeper phases of sleep.
In any case, in order to consume enough tryptophan from turkey for it to actually make a difference in your sleeping patterns, you'd have to eat forty pounds of turkey. Therefore you can imagine how much warm milk you'd have to drink before bedtime if you were counting on it to be a good insomnia aid. And I am sure you can also imagine the extreme adverse effects it would have on your sleep patterns because you'd be running to the bathroom all night.
But, studies do indicate that drinking warm milk at bedtime can make you drowsy if it's part of your normal bedtime routine. Scientists tell us that anything we do on a routine basis can cause a psychological response of some sort. Therefore if you ordinarily drink a glass of warm milk before bedtime, it isn't actually the milk that makes you drowsy, it's that your mind has become conditioned to the act of drinking the milk and it knows it is time to start winding down for the day.
One mistake that many people with insomnia make is to drink either an alcoholic beverage or a caffeinated beverage just before bedtime. While alcohol might initially make you drowsy, it also interrupts your sleep patterns and causes you to get a restless sleep. And caffeinated beverages are stimulants that can stop you from even getting drowsy. Both beverages can also make you awaken in the middle of the night because you've got to go to the bathroom.
So perhaps that old wives' tale that warm milk is an effective insomnia aid is not so far off the mark after all. Try substituting a glass of warm milk for that glass of wine or brandy, and especially that sugary, caffeinated soda, as part of your bedtime routine. Just remember though that it isn't how much milk you drink, it's the fact that you make it part of your bedtime routine.
The idea is that the same chemical that we all think makes us sleepy when we eat turkey, tryptophan, is also found in milk. However the idea that the tryptophan in turkey makes us sleepy is also an urban legend. While it's true that tryptophan will have an effect on our sleep, it's only the first phase of sleep where it makes a difference, the phase where you're just getting sleepy. In fact, an excessive amount of tryptopah, taken in a supplement form, can have adverse effects on the deeper phases of sleep.
In any case, in order to consume enough tryptophan from turkey for it to actually make a difference in your sleeping patterns, you'd have to eat forty pounds of turkey. Therefore you can imagine how much warm milk you'd have to drink before bedtime if you were counting on it to be a good insomnia aid. And I am sure you can also imagine the extreme adverse effects it would have on your sleep patterns because you'd be running to the bathroom all night.
But, studies do indicate that drinking warm milk at bedtime can make you drowsy if it's part of your normal bedtime routine. Scientists tell us that anything we do on a routine basis can cause a psychological response of some sort. Therefore if you ordinarily drink a glass of warm milk before bedtime, it isn't actually the milk that makes you drowsy, it's that your mind has become conditioned to the act of drinking the milk and it knows it is time to start winding down for the day.
One mistake that many people with insomnia make is to drink either an alcoholic beverage or a caffeinated beverage just before bedtime. While alcohol might initially make you drowsy, it also interrupts your sleep patterns and causes you to get a restless sleep. And caffeinated beverages are stimulants that can stop you from even getting drowsy. Both beverages can also make you awaken in the middle of the night because you've got to go to the bathroom.
So perhaps that old wives' tale that warm milk is an effective insomnia aid is not so far off the mark after all. Try substituting a glass of warm milk for that glass of wine or brandy, and especially that sugary, caffeinated soda, as part of your bedtime routine. Just remember though that it isn't how much milk you drink, it's the fact that you make it part of your bedtime routine.
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Learn more about sleep apnea cures. Stop by Ronda Sheree Gonzalez's site where you can find out all about best sleep aids and what it can do for you.
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