Study Shows Nocturnal Milk Reduces Anxiety and Promotes Sleep

04 Jan 2016 --- Scientists at the Sahmyook University in Seoul (South Korea) have demonstrated in an extensive study with rats and mice that nocturnal milk, but not "day milk", produces sedative and anxiolytic effects. As stated in the scientific paper, which has now been published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, nocturnal milk contains abundant sleep-promoting ingredients such as tryptophan and melatonin.

"These results suggest that nocturnal milk could be an effective, natural aid for sleep-related disorders, and a promising alternative for the treatment of anxiety disorders", the authors concluded after analysis of various tests. In Germany the company Milchkristalle GmbH has been producing nocturnal milk since 2010 according to a patented method, which is then freeze-dried and sold through pharmacies and on the Internet.

In their tests the Korean scientists administered day and nocturnal milk powder dissolved in water to rodents. While the day milk powder contained 375.16 mg of tryptophan per 100 grams and 8.8 picograms of melatonin per gram, the nocturnal milk powder reached a tryptophan concentration of 465.88 milligrams per 100 grams and a melatonin concentration of 85.5 picograms per gram. Tony Gnann, CEO of Milchkristalle GmbH from Munich, viewed the tryptophan and melatonin concentration achieved in the day and nocturnal milk as realistic.

Gnann: "By the right time of milking at night the melatonin content can increase significantly." The Milchkristalle GmbH achieved a higher native accumulation of the amino acid and the hormone through a patented light regime and special feeding of cows. The milk crystals, which are obtained by freeze-drying the nocturnal milk, contain about 150 picograms per gram of melatonin, which is almost twice as much as in the test carried out by the scientists. The tryptophan content of milk crystals is also about twice as high.

In the English-language newspaper "The Guardian", Carl Bazil, director of the division for epilepsy and sleep disorders at the Department of Neurology at the University of Colombia, considered the Korean study to be promising. The idea of nocturnal milk is conceivable with regard to its properties. In another recent publication, which is also related with the Korean study, Sanjeev Kothare, professor in the Department of Neurology at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Centre of the NYU Langone Medical Centre and director of the paediatric sleep medicine, expressed: "Scientifically it makes sense that the secretion of Melatonin increases at night."