Insomnia: Onion or Ovaltine?

Insomnia might be too strong a word. But I think using it is permissible to make a point.

Whether you can get by on three hours or seven, sound sleep is essential to our health.

The last few years, especially with the stress of corporate responsibilities, I have had periods being sleep challenged. Working in Australia at the time one of my colleagues suggested placing a sliced onion bedside. It helped him, he averred.

Well, I never tried it. The wafting of the scent of raw onions while sleeping would have been more of a disruption in my case. It would cause my stomach to think about a bag full of White Castles or Krystal’s, no ketchup or mustard, extra onions please. And since that craving couldn’t be satisfied down under, I put this nostrum aside. Imagine having to admit to real insomnia caused by a lack of sliders?

Back home in Texas, without that company thorn, I still have the occasional lack of zzzzz’s, but it is from a positive source: I awake at three in the morning with my brain pinging with things to write about, like this article.

Therefore, my recommendation for a healthy road to restful sleep is All-American: two tablespoons of Ovaltine in a generous cup of warm milk. Yes, they still make it. Ovaltine, that is. And even the container has been redesigned.

You might want to give it a try, unless you have the good fortune to live next door to a Krystal.