Have you laid in bed hoping to fall asleep, but sleep seems the furthermost thing from your mind? Often attributed to adrenal fatigue, nighttime restlessness is a serious problem that even I struggled with. The answer? This Sleepy Milk Recipe.
Passed down to me by an Ayurvedic practitioner and then altered to avoid casein, this milk put me to sleep many a night. It’s wonderful when the nights are colder and winding down seems to a challenge.
I have recommended it to clients in the past who have also found that sleep came much easier to them.
Since Golden Milk has become such a hit, I figured that now was the time to share a simple recipe like this that could dramatically improve your sleep.
Sleepy Milk Recipe (To Help You Fall and Stay Asleep)
As a kid, I remember my mom warming up milk before bedtime. She swore that it helped her wind down and get some sleep.
Though milk and I aren’t friends due to a food sensitivity, Sleepy Milk Recipe was a game-changer for me. At night, I’d toss and turn. My brain couldn’t shut off.
In yoga, we call that “monkey mind” and boy is it annoying (and stressful!).
Unfortunately, it is a very common symptom of adrenal fatigue that can go hand in hand if thyroid issues are present.
To help my own “monkey mind”, Sleepy Milk became my drink of choice. It is easy to make from very simple ingredients.
The ghee increases the fat content to help your system go to sleep since most dairy-free milks don’t contain fat. If you can drink milk, you could leave out the ghee if you don’t want it.
To be fair and give credit where credit is due, the recipe came from Maria Garrewho I worked with for a period of time to take a different approach to digestive health. Many of her tips were very helpful and have stayed with me over the years.
Spices and Gluten
It seems to come as a shock to many in that gluten can be found in spices.
Typically it’s a matter of contamination, though there are a few spices that do contain wheat such as the Indian spice called Hing(also known as Asafoetida).
That said, it’s imperative that all of your spices come from companies that are actively checking for gluten contamination. There are several that test their spices to obtain the certified gluten freelabel such as Spicely Organics.
Other notable companies like Frontier do not do any such testing as far as I’m aware. The last time I spoke with the company regarding gluten in their spices, the representative told me they did not test because there is gluten in other products.
That’s why it’s unwise to assume that spices are gluten free because they should naturally be gluten free. That’s not how cross-contamination works so wheat won’t show up on the label.
If you want to read more about cross contamination and why you can’t seek out gluten on the label, read more here.
This section is not meant to be a detailed guide, but more as a heads up so that you are more careful when buying spices in the future.
Sleepy Milk Recipe Substitutions
You can essentially use any vegan dairy-free milk you want. However, I would not recommend using the high-fat coconut milk found in cans.
I have never made this substituting the ghee. You could certainly try, but I make no guarantees about the taste or consistency. I use ghee because I do not tolerate butter well.
Ghee is clarified butter wherein the protein and sugar solids are removed leaving only the fat.
However, if you react strongly to casein, it is best that you buy cultured ghee to ensure that 100% of the casein is removed. After speaking with several ghee companies recently, it seems that non-cultured ghee can still contain very small amounts of casein. So you can make the decision of what’s best for you to purchase based on your level of sensitivity.
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Sleepy Milk Recipe (To Help You Fall and Stay Asleep)
Sleepy Milk Recipe (To Help You Fall and Stay Asleep)
| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time |
| 1 | 5minutes | 5minutes |
- Course Drinks
- Cuisine Ayurvedic
- Gluten Free Courses Gluten Free Drinks
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 | 5minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 5minutes |
Ingredients
- 1 mugful dairy-free milk Get the sugar-free variety.
- 1 /4 tsp Ghee
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 pinch Ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground cardamon
- 1 pinch Ground Nutmeg
- 1 pinch Ground coriander
Servings:
Units:
Ingredients
- 1 mugful dairy-free milk Get the sugar-free variety.
- 1 /4 tsp Ghee
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 pinch Ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground cardamon
- 1 pinch Ground Nutmeg
- 1 pinch Ground coriander
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
- Pick out the mug you'll use. Measure out the amount of dairy-free milk you'd like to drink (usually around 1 cup).
- In a small pan over low heat, add your ghee. Then add the spices directly to the ghee. Use a spoon to move the spices around until fragrant (which happens in about 15 seconds or so).
- Pour in the dairy-free milk of choice from your mug.
- Allow the milk to heat up so that it will be hot enough to drink (but obviously don't let it burn). This should only take 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the mixture back into your mug. Add your honey, and enjoy!
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