Irish ‘lullaby milk’ could help insomniacs rest easy

A HERD of cows are being milked at 3 o’clock in the morning to produce a ‘lullaby milk’ which its producers say helps insomniacs, jet lag sufferers and children with sleeping problems.

Ardrahan Lullaby milk, which is substantially more expensive than regular milk at almost €2 a litre, has been produced in Kanturk, Co Cork for nearly two years. Ireland is the fifth country to start developing this niche market. Other dairies are in Britain, Finland, Japan and Switzerland.

As the cows are milked before daybreak, their milk is high in a natural hormone produced by the brain during darkness, melatonin (5-methoxy-N-acetyltryptamine). Darkness stimulates the release of melatonin and light suppresses its activity in our nervous system.

Melatonin is used by the body to regulate body clock rhythm; making people fall asleep and wake up. It is sold across the counter in the United States (US) as a dietary supplement.

Producer Mary Burns said: “This milk been shown by scientists at University of Kuopio in Finland to improve sleeping quality and the Lancet Medical Journal published an article on it nearly ten years ago.

“We’ve had an unbelievable response from people. There are people who have had broken sleep of years who say they are now getting a good night’s sleep while mothers have written to me saying that their children are finally sleeping.”

According to Mrs Burns, people who have difficulties falling asleep should drink the milk at around 5 to 6am, while those who tend to wake up at 3am, unable to go back to sleep, should drink the milk just before going to bed.

It’s estimated that almost a quarter of women aged over 45 have difficulty getting to sleep at night.

However, while the market for ‘night milk’ is growing around the world, the National Dairy Council says that more studies need to be done on its benefits as current research is limited.

“As a nutritionist I would feel that it is more critical to encourage consumption of generic dairy products among children,” said Nutrition Manager, Dr Lean O’Flaherty. “For a small market group, a product such as Lullaby milk may play a role,” she said.