Why do milk make you sleep better?

Drinking warm milk before bed may help you relax, but there is no evidence that milk makes you sleepy. The drowsiness some people experience may be more from the warmth of the milk or a full stomach than the physical effect of any compound in milk.

The ‘milk myth’ may have persisted because milk has small amounts of tryptophan, the raw material the brain uses to build both serotonin and melatonin. These are compounds that help us relax and prepare for sleep. However, there is not enough tryptophan in a normal serving of milk to cause any real drowsiness

I would like to know more on what function of serotonin and melatonin performs to make us relax.

Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you very much for any suggestions :>

Here's a *simplified* pathway. Milk contains tryptophan, which gets converted into 5-HTP, which then crosses the blood-brain barrier to form serotonin and melatonin. I know this doesn't explain how those chemicals induce relaxation, but it does provide insight to your original question.

[/url]


"Production of serotonin is stimulated by sunlight"

I would like to know on what and how the key elements from sunlight play the major role to produce more serotonin.

Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, to everyone very much for any suggestions :>


http://www.ehow.com/info_8242212_tobacco-effects-serotonin.html

Exposure to bright light is a second possible approach to increasing serotonin without drugs. Bright light is, of course, a standard treatment for seasonal depression, but a few studies also suggest that it is an effective treatment for nonseasonal depression and also reduces depressed mood in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and in pregnant women suffering from depression. The evidence relating these effects to serotonin is indirect. In human postmortem brain, serotonin levels are higher in those who died in summer than in those who died in winter. A similar conclusion came from a study on healthy volunteers, in which serotonin synthesis was assessed by measurements of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the venous outflow from the brain. There was also a positive correlation between serotonin synthesis and the hours of sunlight on the day the measurements were made, independent of season. In rats, serotonin is highest during the light part of the light–dark cycle, and this state is driven by the photic cycle rather than the circadian rhythm. The existence of a retinoraphe tract may help explain why, in experimental animals, neuronal firing rates, c-fos expression and the serotonin content in the raphe nuclei are responsive to retinal light exposure. In humans, there is certainly an interaction between bright light and the serotonin system. The mood-lowering effect of acute tryptophan depletion in healthy women is completely blocked by carrying out the study in bright light (3000 lux) instead of dim light.

Referring to following statements, do you have any suggestions on how high levels of serotonin lead to a cheerful disposition? on the other words, what kinds of body's stress are removed with high levels of serotonin? so we feel good  lol

Thank you very much for any suggestions :>

"Mood and Mental Effects

Sometimes referred to as the happiness molecule, serotonin has a profound effect on mood. High levels of serotonin lead to a cheerful disposition and the ability to withstand everyday stress. Depression can result from chronically low serotonin levels. Other mental disorders linked to low serotonin include social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia, bulimia, phobias, bipolar disorder and body dysmorphic disorder."

http://www.livestrong.com/article/154361-effects-of-serotonin-on-the-body/

Post Merge: 9 years ago

Referring to following articles, it seems that positive mood can be defined by following factors:

• Controlling aggressive reactions
• Process new information more quickly and effectively
• Good memory
• Reduces appetite
• Regulating our circadian rhythms, or the regularity with which we fall asleep and wake up again

Do you have any suggestions on the definition of positive moods?
Thank you very much for any suggestions :>


http://www.calmclinic.com/ocd/serotonin-deficiency