Some of us have certainly grown up with a popular sleep routine: drinking milk before sleeping. It is possible that your mother, or your grandmother, gave you the habit of drinking a good cup of milk before sleeping (a habit that sometimes remains even after childhood from personal experience), which helps you sleep better. 

Some, on the contrary, think that it is only a psychological phenomenon. The question that then comes to mind is, should you drink milk before sleeping? This is exactly what we will answer in this new article. 

Drink milk before sleeping:

A good hot cup of milk (with cocoa in our case), that’s what mom or granny prescribed you every night before sleeping. 

We were told that milk would help us get strong, tall, and healthy, and, before bed or when you get up at night, you might be one of those who needed their dose of lactose to get the best results—the sleep.

Moreover, it’s quite funny to see how we fall into the same habits that our parents instilled in us from personal experience. 

Even today, when I feel tired but still can’t get to sleep, I do what my mom and grandma used to do to me when I was little, pour myself a good cup of milk and then go back to bed.

We have all heard that milk is rich in calcium and contributes to our bodies’ well-being in many ways. And many people believe that a cup of hot milk is a good way to get to sleep more easily.

However, we also know that milk can have some drawbacks and that for some people, it can be very indigestible. So, is it the milk that helps you fall asleep or more of a psychological ritual that tells your body it’s time to close your eyes?

So, if you too have this ritual of drinking milk before going to bed and falling asleep, we invite you to discover the advantages and disadvantages that this can bring. 

Benefits of drinking milk before going to sleep.

Let’s be honest. When you drink a nice cup of hot milk before you go to bed, it feels nice.

The heat seems to spread slowly throughout your body, creating a feeling of comfort and drowsiness (which is also experienced by people who habitually drink a cup of tea before going to sleep). 

Well, know that there is a science behind that feeling of warmth and well-being that you get from drinking a piping hot beverage before falling asleep.

Tryptophan.

Does tryptophan not ring a bell at all? This is exactly what you get after eating all night long with your Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve meal. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that works to make you feel drowsy.

According to extensive research, tryptophan plays a key role in helping your body produce serotonin, reducing anxiety.

If your mind tends to be disturbed when you lay your head on the pillow, the tryptophan in milk could help your body release serotonin. It allows your body and mind to relax and unwind or fall asleep more easily. 

Melatonin.

What’s more about this magical cup of hot milk that helps you fall asleep faster? Melatonin! Melatonin is a hormone that regulates your sleep cycle and is also present in milk. 

However, everyone’s melatonin level varies with each person and is regulated by our internal clock.

Typically, melatonin levels rise in your body at the end of the day after the sun goes down, signaling your brain that it’s time to go to sleep.

If your brain isn’t as tired and you don’t feel the urge to go to bed yet, a full glass of milk before bed might help raise your hormone and serotonin levels, and you help synchronize your mind with your body. 

Proteins.

Have you ever gone to bed hungry? You might have dinner early enough or wake up late enough, but what is certain is that nighttime cravings are one of the main causes that keep people from falling asleep.

A glass of milk is full of protein, and drinking one before bed helps you feel relax through the night and helps you sleep better.

Do you feel better after a good cup of milk, but you still can’t sleep? A rather interesting Korean study suggests that you should drink “night milk.” Milk of what? Yes, yes, night milk.

It may sound a bit far-fetched, but this study suggests that milk extracted from a cow in the evening or at night (hence the name eight’s milk) would be more effective and give more positive results for you—help to find sleep more easily.

The main benefits of seeing milk before bed are that it contains healthy proteins and amino acids that help your body get a good night’s sleep without interruption. 

Disadvantages of drinking milk at night.

On the other hand, you may also have already had a glass of milk before going to bed and, instead of helping you sleep, it disturbed your sleep (probably due to an upset stomach) because While milk can have many benefits, some people may also experience some drawbacks that could interfere with their sleep. 

^Lactose

Lactose is the natural sugar we can find in milk. This is what gives this slightly sweet taste that milk lovers love so much.

Unfortunately, according to some medical studies studying digestive problems, between 6 and 10% of French people are lactose intolerant. If you are one of those people, drinking a milk cup before bed is not necessarily a good idea. 

You could then suffer from digestive problems and have gas, bloating, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and many other problems that lactose-intolerant people can suffer from when consuming dairy products. This is because these people not only cannot drink milk, but they also cannot eat cheese, yogurt, enjoy good ice cream, etc.

Glucose

You may not be lactose intolerant and yet still have problems after drinking milk? But then what could be the problem?

Since lactose is a type of sugar, consuming plenty of lactose before bed could have some impact on your sleep. If you are glucose intolerant, a glass of milk could cause your blood sugar levels to drop.

To put it simply, this drop in blood sugar could wake you up during the night because your brain would be deprived of energy, and you will then feel hungry. But isn’t milk supposed to help us feel full? Well, yes, but people who are lactose intolerant experience the opposite.

We agree this requires being aware of your body, and if you are having any problems after drinking milk or eating a dairy product, your doctor should be able to help you identify the problem.

If you are aware of your intolerance, you should be able to predict whether drinking milk before bed is a good idea for you or not.

However, if you don’t want to give up your hot cup of milk in the evening, there are also many tasty lactose-free alternatives, such as almond milk, coconut milk, or even soy milk.

These variations are delicious too, and best of all, they provide the same positive effects on the body and your sleep as cow’s milk, without the negative effects of lactose. 

Weight gain

Are you on a diet and careful about the foods and calories you eat? Be aware that drinking a glass of milk before going to bed slows the burning of calories.

Although healthy and natural, we can recognize that milk is still a food promoting weight gain.

A glass of milk containing around 120 calories and drinking a glass of milk before bed will slow down your metabolism, so if you plan to lose weight, you may need to swap your cup of milk for something else, like a cup of tea (ideally without sugar). 

Liver

Drinking milk before going to sleep can also upset your liver. Nutritionists say that your liver works harder to detoxify your body during the night and eliminate all toxins from your system.

Drinking a cup of milk before sleep could interfere with this process, so if you are in the midst of a detox period or already have liver problems, you may want to avoid milk. 

So, should you drink milk before going to sleep?

Overall the answer is up to you. Drinking a hot cup of milk before going to sleep can have many benefits, but it can also negatively affect your sleep.

To know if this ritual is right for you, you must first know your body and pay attention to the signals it sends you. If you find that drinking a cup of milk before bed helps you relax and sleep better and you don’t experience any side effects, then that’s okay.

If, on the other hand, drinking milk makes it even more difficult for you to sleep, consult your doctor to find out the reason and opt for a solution other than cow’s milk, such as almond or coconut milk, or instead turn to teas, herbal teas, and other infusions.

A little reading before you start

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