The Effects of Milk Collected at Night in Treating Anxiety and Insomnia

Current research claims that drinking cow’s milk that was produced during the night could possibly be a treatment for both anxiety and insomnia alike. This was published in the Journal of Medicinal Food earlier this year. Although these ideas may seem a tab bit strange, a glass of milk at night has been a common sleep aid for a long time.

Milk that is collected at night is different from that of the daytime. The major difference is that night milk has more sedative qualities. The study that was conducted revealed that mice who drank day milk had less of these sedative qualities compared to the other group with night milk. The mice who were fed night milk were more inclined to explore spaces (indication of reduced anxiety). This milk was very similar to the drug diazepam, which is generally used for the treatment of anxiety. Night milk is also enriched in tryptophan, which is a sleep inducing-compound and melatonin alike.

According to the article: “The mice underwent a series of tests about an hour after treatments. Mice that got night milk were significantly less active than either the mice fed day milk or water-fed controls. Diazepam-treated mice were the least active. Balance and coordination were measured by the number of falls from a rotating bar during a 20-minute period: Mice fed night milk on average fell four to five times, about twice as often as mice given day milk. Diazepam-treated controls fell about nine times, while the water-fed controls fell twice.”

These new methods could completely transform the way these disorders are treated. Both insomnia and anxiety are treated with medications, night milk would be a much natural way of dealing with both. Although not all of the research has yet been conducted, from what has been found, these methods seem successful.

Dependence on these drugs has been a reoccurring problem for those with this disorder. Some must take these medications their entire lives. By switching to these organic measures, this problem would be eliminated. However, there are some problems that could occur. Firstly, there are many people who are allergic to dairy products. These people would still have to use the current treatments. Another problem that could happen is the milk not working on humans. The experiment was done on mice and the affects may not be consistent with humans.

Even though these shortcomings could possibly happen, we will not be certain until it happens. If this were to be the case, however, drug companies may lose money in medication sales. People would not need prescriptions for this milk, therefore the drug company would lose a lot of money. This may persuade the research to end because it would be severely cut these funds significantly.

Science is a very important concept in our world today. Each day new discoveries are being made that greatly enhance our quality of life. I am grateful for all of the technologies and new information that is being contributed to each day. There are many times when alternatives need to be created so that the previous methods can be improved. Medications are addictive, expensive, and not healthy for us. By utilizing this research and replacing these treatments, we can help solve several of these problems.