Warm Milk Induces Sleep According to the Latest Findings

To be precise, researchers from the American Chemical Society (ACS) have recently discovered a potential new natural sleeping aid — a protein found in bovine milk named Casein Tryptic Hydrolysate (CTH).

The above-mentioned study, conducted on mice and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, indicates that this particular milk compound has stress-relieving and sleep-inducing properties.

Consequently, researchers screened some 131 peptides found in CTH in order to identify exactly which of these was responsible for the sleep-inducing effects.

The first thing they came across was a CTH-derived decapeptide called α-CZP that acts as nature’s sedative, potentially ending the need for prescription drugs (benzodiazepine, in particular) to fight insomnia.

What’s more, the screening revealed two additional molecules with substantial sleep-enhancing effects. Namely, one of these peptides, identified as YPVEPF, has improved the sleep rate of mice from 58.33 to 83.33%!

In other words, the number of mice that fell asleep after receiving this peptide was up by approximately 25%. Likewise, the sleep duration increased a whopping four-fold compared to that of the control group.

Better yet, scientists believe that these may not be the only sleep-enhancing peptides found in milk; past studies even linked milk to tryptophan — a chemical precursor to serotonin and melatonin.

Now, scientists are looking to start clinical trials on humans in the hopes of producing a 100% natural, non-addictive sleep aid; much like a good melatonin supplement, only better!

After all, what better motivation than finding an alternative to the nasty side effects caused by sleeping pills.