Warm Milk for sleep…True or False?

All of us have heard someone say, "I drank a glass of warm milk, went to bed and slept like a baby." Was the milk really helpful or is it all in our mind? According to an article on WebMD.com called Warm Milk, True or False this is true. Anahad O’Connor wrote a short article in the New York Times for December 2007 on the benefits of warm milk for sleep.Most people assume the tryptophan enzyme in such things as, milk and turkey, aide sleep. However, this is misleading. Tryptophan can help with one stage of sleep, the falling asleep portion, but the amount of deep sleep can be harmed by this enzyme, especially if taken in supplemental form. It also must cross the blood/brain barrier in order to effect sleep and this is difficult in the presence of other amino acids. Protein rich foods including milk can decrease the ability of tryptophan to enter the brain. High carbohydrate foods increase insulin production which will increase the absorption of tryptophan into the brain. Sounds as though we need to be chefs to get the absorption we need to aid our sleep difficulties. It is suggested that the ideal bedtime snack is an ample dose of carbohydrates and a small amount of protein which will increase production of the calming hormone, serotonin. So what is the answer? Is a glass of milk the all time sleep aide we thought it was? It is really more a psychological association than something that does or doesn’t work. As I said earlier, it is all in our minds.