Not only is milk becoming trendy again after a small decline in sales and popularity in recent years, its functionality and purpose is also becoming ‘multifunctional’ – a trend I predicted at the end of 2012 will become even bigger this year.
Manufacturers are now starting to tap into the sleep-inducing properties of milk, which contains the hormone melatonin, which in turn regulates circadian rhythm.
Whether for sleep disorders, jet lag or anti-ageing, synthetic forms of the hormone melatonin have been popular for years among people looking to encourage sleep. However, a Munich-based startup company has succeeded in making available natural, non-synthetic melatonin for the first time.
Milchkristalle has developed what the company calls ‘Nachtmilchkristalle’, a term that loosely translates to ‘night milk crystals’.
Nachtmilchkristalle contains up to 100 times more melatonin than regular milk, because the milk used is collected from cows exclusively at night and then cold processed, according to the company.
Tony Gnann, CEO of Milchkristalle, said: “Since it is a food product, Nachtmilchkristalle can be bought without a doctor’s prescription.
“Just like human beings, cows, sheep or goats produce the sleeping hormone melatonin at night. To raise the concentration of melatonin in milk, Milchkristalle patented a unique method of production, which includes among other things, a special diet based on grass and herbs. In the daytime, the cows are given an extra dosage of light and are then milked at night.
“Nachtmilchkristalle is rich in natural melatonin and is stirred into milk or yoghurt before going to bed.”
I am so pleased to see milk getting the recognition it deserves for the natural health benefits it can provide for a range of so many people, and for so many reasons.
I also see the future potential of its nutritional properties if manufacturers continue to look at different methods to extract the benefits and maximise them in a variety of ways.
So, I may be ‘milking the point’, but in this case, it’s justified.
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