Is Milk Good for Anxiety?

We have all heard that milk is good for bones, but is it good for anxiety too? There is some research that suggest that milk can actually be helpful against stress and anxiety. Of course, you do have to drink the right type of milk (not the chocolate or strawberry milk that you find at the grocery store). So milk is not just for strengthening bones and teeth. Milk is also an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Here we’ll talk about how something as simple as milk could be beneficial for reducing anxiety.

But in short, milk is good for anxiety because it contains things like tryptophan, calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium, all of which contribute to less stress and more relaxation in the body.

How Is Milk Good for Anxiety?

There are a few different aspects of milk which can make it helpful in reducing anxiety. Of course, this is only the case for someone that isn’t intolerant to milk or lactose in the first place.

One of the first things is calcium, a mineral more often associated with your bones. However, calcium can also be calming because it and vitamin D in milk work together to reduce cortisol levels. Cortisol is released in response to stress and can cause many stress-related health problems over time. Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with stress and depression. It is one of the reasons that seasonal depression exists. People get less sun so their body produces less vitamin D.

Milk is also so effective at reducing anxiety because milk contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that is converted into serotonin and melatonin, two chemicals that help regulate your mood and anxiety levels. Serotonin is a natural happiness and mood booster often lacking in depressed patients and melatonin helps to calm your body when it’s dark so that you can sleep at night. This is one of the reasons people started recommending warm glasses of milk at night to help sleep. 

In addition, milk contains magnesium, a mineral that can also help relax muscles and your nervous system.

What Kind of Milk Is Good for Anxiety?

Today, we are exposed to all kinds of milk such as milk from cows, goats, oats, soy, or almonds. There are then other options such as skim, low-fat, or whole. So which type of milk are we talking about here? The type of milk we are talking about here is cow’s milk. This doesn’t mean other kinds of milk don’t have benefits but that is where most of the research has been done. But what type of cow’s milk then?

Multiple studies have actually shown low-fat milk to be more beneficial for your mental health than whole milk. Whole milk may have other benefits but here we are talking particularly about stress and anxiety. In Japan and China they found that those who consumed low-fat milk and yogurt had less symptoms of depression than those who had whole dairy products. In Australia, they found that those who consumed low-fat dairy improved stress, memory, and social functioning.

So instead of skim or whole milk, go a little in between and get the low-fat milk to see the most benefits.

Of course, milk is no substitute for a therapist or anti-anxiety meds, but for those who have anxiety and want to treat it naturally, every anxiety-reducing food counts. So don’t feel bad about throwing some more milk into your diet especially in the evening hours. It will help you be more calm and sleep better at night so why not!