Back-to-School Cures MDs Swear By
“This year my son started a new school, and that came with a mix of anxiety and excitement, which led to sleepless nights,” says mother-of- two Melissa Doft, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of plastic surgery at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. So she started serving him a warm mug of frothed milk 30 minutes before bed. “The tryptophan in milk helps the body make melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle,” says Dr. Doft. “Plus, the frothing makes the drink feel special.” To doubledown on the melatonin effect, she also gave her son an after-school snack of walnuts. “They’re a good source of tryptophan and contain their own source of melatonin.”