Do Cookies And Milk Really Help You Fall Asleep?

It's 2 am and you've just found yourself waking up in a half-asleep/half-awake fog. You're not quite sure why you're up this early, but you do know this: you're hungry and you're thirsty. Stumbling out of bed, you wander through your chilly house to the kitchen, barely awake but not quite tired enough to sleep, where your promised relief awaits you. Open the cabinet and grab a few Oreos, then grab the milk and pour yourself a glass of ice-cold milk. Maybe it's your sleep-deprived senses talking — but don't those cookies and milk taste like they came right out of heaven's pantry? After that, you feel satisfied enough to climb back into your nice, warm bed and sleep better for the rest of the night.

Many of us can attest to waking up in the dead of night for a quick snack and be unsure why. Huffington Post details that the reason for our midnight snacking could be for several reasons, such as not eating enough during the day or eating too much before bed. Whatever the case may be, a few cookies with a glass of milk is a common snack choice. Reader's Digest tells us that cookies and milk are already incredibly popular together thanks to the unique combination of textures and flavors, so of course, it's a popular choice for a midnight snack.

But can a handful of cookies and a glass of milk really help you sleep?

You may have heard the old claim that drinking a glass of warm milk can help you sleep. But you probably aren't willing to heat up some milk at three in the morning because you heard it once on TV. According to some sources, there may actually be some truth to the claim that a glass of milk is a good sleep aid.

According to the Sleep Foundation, the reason that a glass of warm milk can help you sleep is because of the milk's high levels of tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that plays a key role in the production of serotonin and melatonin — melatonin being the hormone that helps your body's circadian rhythm, which regulates your sleep cycle. Serotonin is the chemical that improves mood and memory. Combined with melatonin, it gives you that warm, cozy, feeling you get when you're falling asleep.

Some argue, however, that drinking milk before bed is simply a psychological way to "trick" yourself into falling asleep. Healthline tells us that, while more research is certainly needed into the connection between drinking milk and better sleeping, it may just be that having a glass of milk before bed is just a comforting and nostalgic ritual before bed that helps us relax. We associate drinking milk before bed as a childhood ritual, which may put us in a more relaxed and comfortable mindset to fall asleep. 

Aren't milk and cookies a nostalgic childhood snack after all?

Ask around and everyone will agree: a cookie right out of the oven or from a sleeve is always pretty darn good as a snack. But whether you're a fan of chocolate chip, peanut butter, or even oatmeal raisin, can eating cookies really help you fall asleep?

Catering Works tells us that certain foods that contain large amounts of carbohydrates, such as cookies, for example, can help you sleep. Carbohydrates in the body can cause your blood sugar to rise, which will trigger the body's natural release of insulin, which in turn encourages the production of tryptophan. A few cookies can introduce just enough carbohydrates in the body to trigger the production of tryptophan and, when combined with the tryptophan found in milk, can help you feel relaxed and comfortable.

Certain cookie recipes can also have ingredients that help to encourage sleep. Sleep Number, surprisingly enough, has a recipe for cookies that includes cherry and chamomile. Tart cherries are said to be good sources of tryptophan, while chamomile is well-known for its sleep-inducing properties. It would stand, then, that pairing these cookies with a glass of milk will help you fall into a deep, refreshing sleep much easier than before.

But, despite all this talk of ongoing research and whether or not cookies and milk help you sleep, we can all agree that some cookies and a tall glass of cold milk always hits the spot no matter what time it is.