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Recipe

Warm milk with nutmeg

This is traditional, it is pleasant, and a good part of what it does is give the evening a fixed edge. We would rather say that plainly than overclaim for the nutmeg.

Time
8 minutes
Serves
1
Protein
8 g
Fibre
0 g

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk, dairy or almond
  • A very small pinch of grated nutmeg (jaiphal)
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder
  • 1 tsp soaked and ground almond, optional
  • A little honey or jaggery, optional

Method

Step 1

Warm the milk gently. Do not boil hard.

Step 2

Grate in a very small pinch of nutmeg — less than a quarter teaspoon. More is not better, and large amounts are genuinely unsafe.

Step 3

Add cardamom and the ground almond if using.

Step 4

Drink about forty-five minutes before bed, away from screens.

Step 5

Do it at the same time each night. That consistency is doing more than the ingredients are.

Keep nutmeg to a pinch. It is genuinely toxic in quantity, and it is best avoided in pregnancy.

Why it works

The routine is the active ingredientA fixed pre-sleep cue is one of the better-evidenced things in sleep medicine. The drink gives you one.
Nutmeg in small amountsTraditionally used for sleep. The evidence is thin and large amounts are toxic, so keep it to a pinch.
Warm, and not too lateA large drink immediately before bed means waking to use the bathroom, which defeats the point.

Nutrition, per serving

Approximate values. Actual figures vary with portion and ingredients.
EnergyProteinCarbohydrateFatFibre
150 kcal with dairy milk8 g13 g7 g0 g

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