Mentioned in episode[]
This article isn't clear about whether "Lactose" was specifically mentioned, or whether this is real-life knowledge about what part of milk is responsible for it being a sedative. If it's the latter, I don't think we need this article on top of the milk article. -- Cid Highwind 18:52, September 23, 2010 (UTC)
- Yes, 31dot is correct, she used the term lactose.
- @ 31dot regarding mentioning that it is the lactose again: this is a 2 to 3 sentence article. We just mentioned that it is the lactose in the milk that aids in sleeping. There is no need to mention it again a sentence later.
- Milk, which contains lactose, was often used as a home remedy for insomnia, as the amino acid in the heated lactose was believed to act as a natural sedative.[Picard's aunt prescribed milk toddy to sleep better] She in turn prescribed one to Commander Riker to help him sleep, due to the heated lactose in the beverage.
- Do you see how this is redundant, not to mention just stylistically awkward? – Distantlycharmed 00:09, September 24, 2010 (UTC)
- It would be redundant to say "due to the heated lactose in the beverage which is a natural sedative." Just saying the first part ties the sentence to the definition to make it clearer, as it was not entirely clear before. I'm sure there are other ways to do it, if you prefer.--31dot 00:41, September 24, 2010 (UTC)
However it is worded, it should be worded in a way that "lactose" was specifically mentioned, to avoid citation requests such as this one. The latter article revision, while potentially slightly redundant, does this, while the former does not. Also, as this is a "2-3 sentence article", two sentences of which are about milk rather than about lactose, merging might be another option. -- Cid Highwind 09:50, September 24, 2010 (UTC)
- Lactose is not the same thing as milk. Good god. Do we really need to have a debate on this very fact too? She said LACTOSE in the episode. Period. I do not see a reason to merge it with anything. We are striving to be as comprehensible of an encyclopedia as possible and there are many many articles with only two or three sentences. That doesnt mean they need to be merged or that they are superfluous. It is canon, it was uttered in canon, no need to merge it. This is just getting ridiculous now, I'm sorry. – Distantlycharmed 15:20, September 24, 2010 (UTC)
Removed text[]
I removed the following sentence:
- Milk was often used as a home remedy for insomnia, as the amino acid in the heated lactose was believed to act as a natural sedative.
There are no amino acids in lactose; lactose is a carbohydrate, not an amino acid. Milk does contain some amino acids, and also contains proteins that can be utilized by the body to synthesize amino acids... but this has nothing to do with lactose. -- Renegade54 (talk) 22:17, January 13, 2015 (UTC)