This comforting and delicious remedy for insomnia is the perfect bedtime snack to make as a part of your nightly routine! An age old remedy that’s healthy and comforting, this recipe for warm milk and honey is made from simple ingredients you have in your pantry. Comes together in 3 minutes. Not just for adults, the kids also love it! This warm milk and honey blend is always a winner in our house!
Quick Notes:
This Milk and Cinnamon-Honey was one of my favorite recipes growing up! I remember my mom making it on nights we I had trouble falling asleep at night. While it is best made with Manuka honey, you can also use any type of honey – just make sure to get local honey if possible for a boost of immune benefits! And finally, while raw milk is best, you can also use pasteurized in a pinch.
Ingredients:
1 Cup milk, (preferably raw)
1 TB raw honey, (Manukau)
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp butter
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How it all works together
Cinnamon:
What makes this spice special is that it’s packed with a compound called cinnamaldehyde which has powerful anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
However there also appears to be evidence that cinnamaldehyde has an effect on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – a type of dream sleep that should happen several times during nighttime. One study – albeit with rats – showed that when treated with cinnamaldehyde there was a direct increase in REM and non-rapid eye movement sleep in rats that had been put under stress.
The conclusion of the study was that the compound was helping the stressed animals sleep. Therefore the normal consumption of cinnamon within someone’s diet could be beneficial for
individuals suffering from stress-related sleep issues. With it’s anti-inflammatory properties, cinnamon can help fight infection and in turn reduce pain due to inflammation. That can have a direct impact on sleep quality too.
As many major diseases like heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and Alzheimer’s are often linked to chronic inflammation, incorporating anti-inflammatory foods into your diet – like cinnamon – is a no-brainer.
Cinnamon is also packed with antioxidants, even more so than the likes of superfoods such as garlic! Antioxidants appear to have a direct effect on sleep quality, as they support the immune system and help promote restfulness at night.
Honey:
Using honey for sleep treatment has multiple benefits. There are many benefits of using raw honey before bed. Your brain uses a lot of energy at night time.
Glycogen is a source of sugar that fuels your mind. Raw honey stocks your liver glycogen, which allows for better brain function and sleep at night. The small increase in the blood glucose level also helps stimulate sleep.
Raw honey also has a lot of antioxidants which improves blood flow and allows your muscles to relax at night. Honey stimulates the body’s production of tryptophan, which is the main reason your body enters the sleep mode.
It also increases the feelings of happiness and fulfillment, allowing you to sleep better. Honey fructose can improve liver function. It can reduce nocturnal cough, which results in improved quality of sleep(1).
Warm Milk & Butter:
In a study of people staying in a hospital’s heart unit, those who drank warm milk and honey for three days noticed improvements in sleep.
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Milk’s sleep-promoting properties might be due to the amino acid tryptophan7. Tryptophan-enriched foods have been shown to improve sleep and mood8 in the elderly.
Tryptophan plays an important role in the production of serotonin and melatonin9. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that impacts mood, cognitive reasoning, and memory10. Melatonin is a hormone released by your body in response to darkness, in order to help you feel like sleeping11 at night.
Milk collected from cows milked at night12 contains ample amounts of melatonin in addition to tryptophan. Although only animal studies have been conducted with this night milk so far, it could make humans sleepier than regular milk does.
Note: People who have a dairy allergy, are lactose intolerant13, or have irritable bowel syndrome with symptoms that are worsened by dairy14 probably should not use milk to promote sleep. If you are avoiding milk, you may want to opt for non-dairy sleep-inducing foods instead.
Himalayan Salt:
Salt can help regulate hormonal fluctuations, normalize blood sugar, boost digestion, promote sleep and oh so much more.
Himalayan salt retains all of its wonderful trace minerals and nutrients, making it far easier for your body to utilize it where it’s needed most. Because Himalayan pink salt is essentially a whole food product, it doesn’t have the same negative effect on our bodies that the nasty cheap table salt does.
Being high in magnesium, getting more Himalayan pink salt in your diet can ensure you get a better sleep at night. In a study published in the Journal of Sleep, magnesium treatment was shown to provide significant improvements in sleep quality for patients suffering from restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movements during sleep. Another study found that nightly administration of magnesium improved all markers of sleep quality of people suffering from insomnia.
Instructions:
- Add milk to the saucepan
- Scoop butter into the milk to melt
- Add and mix in your honey
- Dash in the cinnamon and salt
- Mix until smooth
Note: Be careful not to scald the milk by overcooking!
Make in Bulk:
Since this is something you’ll want to drink before bed, I’ve found it easiest to make a batch of this at the start of my week so that I can pour some into a saucepan and warm it up on the stove each night – saving me some precious time after a long day. I’ll make enough to fill a pitcher and store it in the fridge for a quick nightcap to encourage restful sleep.