Do you have trouble falling asleep and is the quality of your night rest not always the best ? Perhaps you should try this hot drink before going to bed... According to a recent study, this drink can really have beneficial effects on our sleep !
With the temperatures dropping, all we want to do at the end of the day is to snuggle up under a blanket and take a break with a comforting drink such as a tea or hot chocolate... And just think, enjoying a hot drink made from cow's milk at the end of the day could be an excellent idea to optimise the quality of your sleep, according to a recent Chinese study!
Researchers from the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, whose work was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, reveal that hot chocolate could have real beneficial effects on sleep.
Sleep : drinking warm milk helps you sleep better, it's proven !
Beginning with the observation that dairy products contained tryptophan, an amino acid precursor of serotonin, (a neurotransmitter, nicknamed the “happiness hormone”), Mouming Zhao and his team sought to find out more about the effects of cow's milk on sleep...
And in laboratory tests on mice, the authors of this study found that other components of warm milk could help us fall asleep faster.
They highlighted several substances that played a role in the quality of sleep, including peptides (YPVEPF and YFYPEL), capable of acting like “sleeping pills”: these components could, according to the scientists, both ”significantly extend the duration of sleep” and ”increase the quality of sleep by 58% to 83%”.
The authors of this work observed that these peptides were released and had an effect on the body during the digestion phase.
Good advice: to benefit even more from the beneficial effects of this hot drink, opt for dark chocolate rich in cocoa (at least 70%). Dark chocolate is an excellent source of magnesium, a mineral that helps reduce anxiety!
Golden milk or turmeric milk : do you know this wellness drink?
Looking for a comforting drink as the days get shorter? Try Golden Milk (also known as turmeric milk, or Golden Latte), a drink that is both nutritious and has antidepressant qualities!
It can be prepared with cow's milk (to take advantage of the soothing benefits highlighted by this recent Chinese study), or opt for a vegan version with vegetable milk (almond milk, coconut milk, etc.).
Golden milk recipe for one person:
15 cl of milk (cow's milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, etc.)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon organic ginger powder
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 pinch of pepper
Optional: honey or coconut oil
Heat the milk slightly in the pan, mix it all together, and enjoy!
Source: Identification and Screening of Potential Bioactive Peptides with Sleep-Enhancing Effects in Bovine Milk Casein Hydrolysate, 2021.
