Sleepy Cows Produce Milk with a Calming Effect 0 11

Milk collected at night helps combat insomnia and anxiety. Such are the results of a study by Korean scientists published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. During the experiment, the behavior of rats that were fed milk obtained during the day was compared with those that received night milk. It turned out that night milk has a more pronounced calming and sedative effect, which allows the animals to sleep longer and exhibit less physical activity.

Moreover, awake rats that received night milk explored new territories more actively, indicating a decrease in anxiety levels—in other words, after consuming night milk, the rats became less skittish. The effect was comparable to that of diazepam, a well-known tranquilizer and sleeping pill. (The milk was processed beforehand: it was turned into powder, which was then diluted with water.)

Daytime milk can also have a relaxing effect, but to a lesser extent than night milk. For example, when rats that were given either daytime or night milk, a solution of diazepam, or just water were placed on a rotating drum and their activity and coordination were observed, the rats that received night milk fell off the drum twice as often as those that drank daytime milk. (In turn, the rats that received diazepam fell off the device twice as often as those that drank night milk.)

A comparative biochemical analysis showed that night milk contains 24% more of the sleep-promoting amino acid tryptophan and ten times more of the hormone melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythms, compared to daytime milk. This indicates that the condition of cows at night affects the composition of their milk. However, according to electroencephalography data, no anomalies were observed in brain rhythms after consuming night milk, while diazepam caused characteristic changes reflecting its sedative effect.

Based on materials from The Wall Street Journal.