Warm Milk Before Bed and More Busted Food Myths

When I was young, my grandma always used to tell me to drink a warm glass of milk before bed to help me fall asleep.  Whether it was the milk or not, I would listen to her and fall asleep shortly after.

Always believing in these types of at-home remedies such as “an apple a day will keep the doctor away,” I never thought to investigate them – after all, grandma knows best. Truth is, they’re not all true.

While milk contains tryptophan, the same ingredient that turkey has which claims to make you sleepy, one glass (or a few pieces of turkey for that matter) wouldn’t do the trick.  It’s all mental. You’d have to drink gallons of warm milk for the tryptophan to kick in and help put you to bed.

Of course when told by our elders that the warm glass of milk before bed will help us rest, we believe it and therefore sleep better.  It’s amazing what we can convince our minds and bodies to do.

MSN has eight more busted food myths.