Moon Milk
Moon milk is an ancient and traditional remedy for a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, too many of us suffer from lack of sleep. Whether it’s insomnia, restlessness, or a churning, anxious brain, sometimes it can be hard to let your body and mind calm down and accept rest. Of course, you can support sleep health by limiting beverages like coffee and alcohol, but you can also add a tasty drink to your routine.
Warm, calming, and delicious, moon milk straddles the role of night-time treat and medicinal supplement. It’s easy to make and it’s a delicious way to relax and get some quality rest. Not to mention, it’s a treat for the senses and provides a peaceful and calming atmosphere. With just a few ingredients and a few minutes of your time, you can be enjoying a warm mug of moon milk to bring on the sweetest of dreams.
What Is Moon Milk?
Moon milk is a calming elixir that blends warm milk with plant medicines for a soothing sensation and peace of mind. It promotes sleep and relaxation and is a great bedtime drink. Though trendy, moon milk is far from new. The recipes for moon milk that are popping up all over social media are all inspired by the Ayurvedic recipe for ksheerapaaka, which combines warm cow’s milk with herbs to create a gentle, sleep-inducing concoction.
How Moon Milk Helps You Sleep
In the ayurvedic tradition, the herbs in this moon milk recipe are intended to help balance the Vata Dosha. An aggravated Vata Dosha can increase anxiety and have consequences on your sleep. To combat a Vata imbalance, incorporate grounding and warming foods into your diet. Moon milk is the perfect remedy to bring a bit of balance to your Doshas. And, each of the ingredients in the recipe offers its own value as a calming sleep aid. However, though it’s mainly thought of as a bedtime drink, moon milk serves as a great drink for reducing anxiety, balancing hormones, and boosting your immune system. While it’s calming, you can enjoy the calming properties of moon milk any time of the day. Below, we overview the calming properties of each element in moon milk.
Warm Milk
The milk and added fat in this recipe are key to helping your body absorb the nutrients from the herbs. Milk will capture the fat and water-soluble compounds in each of the herbs to make them more bioavailable to your body. Enjoying a warm cup of moon milk encourages the body to absorb the medicinal qualities of the herbs, allowing you to reap the maximum benefits from each cup.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg has amazing benefits for your brain. Along with improving concentration, nutmeg has a calming effect that improves the onset and quality of sleep.
Ashwagandha
This root has long been used as a sleep aid in Ayurvedic practices, and modern science has confirmed its benefits for sleep hygiene. Ashwagandha helps you both fall asleep and stay asleep!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon offers a wealth of benefits from improving digestion to lowering cholesterol. One of cinnamon’s offerings is to reduce anxiety. Its calming effects bring a warm energy to this sleepy time drink.
Cardamom
Cardamom pods are excellent for digestive health. In moon milk, cardamom helps settle your stomach as you prepare for sleep. The pods also help with mood management by reducing stress and depressive symptoms.
Turmeric
Turmeric offers anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting, and calming properties.
Honey
Honey is included in our moon milk recipe as an optional sweetener, but it has soothing effects of its own. Raw honey has antimicrobial benefits that can support a healthy immune system and it also contains Tryptophan which is associated with melatonin production.
How to Make Moon Milk
There’s nothing quite like a warm cup of moon milk to help you drift off to dreamland. This soothing, creamy drink has been gaining popularity in recent years for its medicinal properties and calming taste. Making moon milk is an easy and fun process that you can do at home with just a few ingredients. We’ve provided a simple recipe below, and some inspiration to spice up your moon milk with diverse flavors and herbs. Here’s how to make your own moon milk for a peaceful night’s sleep.
⇒ A Before-Bed Recipe to Sleep Like a Baby Again (Video)
What Type of Milk to Use
Traditionally, ksheerapaaka is made with cow’s milk, but many modern takes have adapted the recipe to a dairy-free diet. We use oat milk in our recipe and add a bit of fat with coconut oil for a vegan take. If you just want to be lactose-free, ghee is another great option to add some richness and extract fat-soluble nutrients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Oat Milk
- ¼ tsp. Ashwagandha
- ½ tsp. Cinnamon
- ½ tsp. Turmeric (plus a pinch of black pepper)
- Pinch of Nutmeg
- Pinch of Cardamom
- 1 tsp. Coconut Oil or Ghee
- 1 tsp. Honey or another sweetener
If you want to mix up the flavor profile, try making moon milk with other calming herbs like saffron, chamomile, rosemary, lavender, and rose petals.
Step 1: Bring milk to a simmer. In a small saucepan, slowly bring the cup of milk to a simmer.
Step 2: Add the herbs. Whisk in the ashwagandha, cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, and cardamom until there are no clumps. 
Step 3: Reduce heat. Reduce the heat to low and add a teaspoon of ghee (or oil), and cook slowly for 5-10 minutes until your desired potency has been reached. The longer you cook the herbs, the stronger the moon milk will be.
Step 4: Add sweetener. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the honey.
Step 5. Your Moon Milk is ready. Pour into a mug, and let the calm wash over you.
Watch the Video Recipe
Takeaway
Moon milk is an ancient herbal remedy that supports sleep health. It combines milk and warming spices to have a calming and soothing effect. By taking the time to prepare and enjoy a cup of moon milk before bed, you can relax and prepare for a good night’s sleep.
Could I make this with almond milk instead?
Hi Cathy,
Thank you for your interest in this recipe!
Yes, you can use almond milk instead.
Many blessings and good health!
Can you add black pepper to this as it helps with the Turmeric.
Hi Rose,
Yes, you can add a pinch of black pepper. Combining the piperine in black pepper with the curcumin in turmeric enhances curcumin absorption.
Many blessings and good health!
Hello, I’m an Ayurvedic practitioner and holistic nutritionist so I appreciate your piece on the Moon milk recipe, but I must let you know, the correct spelling is Vata dosha. Also, adding a little black pepper helps increase the absorbability of the turmeric (3:1 ratio / turmeric : black pepper).
Hi Tracyann,
Thank you for taking the time to write this. We really appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We have corrected the article accordingly.
Many blessings and good health!
Hello, would this moon milk be good for me with type 2 diabetes?
Hello Rozario,
Thank you for your comment! It is recommended to do extensive research on each herb to check whether they’re safe for you, before using this remedy. Some herbs interact with medications. Also, it is always best to start with small doses.
Many blessings and good health!
Is there a good source online for herbs and spices? Basically ingredients for this recipe and others. At present I am unable to grow my own and getting fresh around here is not a viable option.
Hi Don,
You can source the herbs in most health stores, or online on Amazon or Etsy. You can also search on Google to find a shop that delivers to your location.
Many blessings and good health!
Thank you for the recipe for Moon Milk. I have just a little note of advise on this. There are 15 known adverse side effects from Ashwagandha and some can cause death. This covers people that are pregnant, have immune disorders, causes liver failure and the list goes on. Please, to protect yourself, make a statement that personnel research is necessary for each person. I have 2 autoimmune disorders and literally went through Hell and back when I tried Ashwagandha a few years back. So protect yourself and make a statement on all your herbal advise! Thank you for your contribution to all of us. Kind Regards, Charlotte
Wow! Thanks for that info, Charlotte! I was about to make this.
Good advice Charlotte to checking not only ashwagandha, but every herb we put in our bodies. Every body is different with different tolerances and it is prudent for every person to do personal research to protect their own body’s ability to handle the herbs. One can also check their own body for alternatives that would work as well if one herb is something one can’t handle. That to get to the point of this post. Word usage corrections: advice is spelled with a c, not an s. The word advise does not fit in the sentence you used, not the way it is stated. You might want to look up the difference in the meaning of the two words. Also personnel means multiple employees/persons in a corporation, not one person doing personal research to protect their personal body’s ability to handle ashwagondha or any other herb. Knowledge of the definition of the words being used would be prudent.
Ellen,
I am dismayed by your response to Charlotte. Correcting her grammar? Really?
Rather petty and defensive on your part. She offered legitimate and valuable information to your readers regarding ashwagandha. Shame on you.
Agree!
Your response to good feedback was rather tart. Were your feelings hurt?
I agree with Michelle. No need to be rude!
I tried the recipe and when I added ashwaghanda, i had terrible heartburn and an awful restless night, feeling unwell and breathless.
Could this be made with raw goat milk?
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your interest in this article! For this recipe, you can choose any type of milk you prefer, including raw goat milk.
Many blessings and good health!
I shall try, thank you for sharing the recipe. I love your website, you write many helpful articles 🙂
Hi Jola,
Thank you so much for your heartwarming words! We really appreciate your comment!
Many blessings and good health!
Above, under the sections stating to use 1 cup oak milk, is simply says 1/4 teaspoon ( of what? ) thank you