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Tom's Guide
04-07-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Cheese really could be giving you nightmares, new study says — here's why
If you've ever blamed a wild dream or horrifying nightmare on a cheese plate before bed, the latest research into food and dreams indicates you might be on to something. A new Canadian study has found that eating dairy (including cheese) is associated with nightmares. However, their research indicates that cheese-induced bad dreams are connected to one group in particular: those with lactose intolerance. Here, we're looking into the study findings, how exactly cheese might be contributing to nightmares for some people, and, because we know that diet can also impact our sleep for the better, we're sharing some foods you might want to consider for a healthy nighttime snack. (Hint: none of them are cheese!) While the theory of "cheese dreams" or nightmares induced by cheese has been around for a while, researchers behind a new study into the effect of food on our dreams note that there isn't a huge amount of research into the topic. While anecdotal accounts have long existed (like, they say, the spicy melted cheese toast causing nightmares in cartoonist Winsor McCay's early 20th Century drawings), real evidence was lacking. So, to further explore the relationship between what we eat, sleep and dreams a new study published in Frontiers in Psychology surveyed 1,082 psychology students at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada about their eating habits and sleep, and their perceptions of how they are connected. The researchers were hoping to discover "whether specific foods influence dreams directly (food-specific effects), through physiological symptoms (food distress), or via altered sleep quality (sleep effects)." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. In the study, 40% of participants reported that particular foods had an impact on their sleep, with around 25% saying certain foods made their sleep worse, and around 20% saying specific foods improved their sleep. Perceived culprits of bad sleep were: "Desserts/Sweets (22.7%), Spicy food (19.5%), and Dairy (15.7%)." Only 5.5% of participants reported that certain foods or eating late affected their dreams — which the researchers call "food dependent dreaming (FDD)." And, according to the results, "the perceived effect of food on dreams was associated with higher nightmare recall and Nightmare Disorder Index scores." Researchers looked at how particular foods affected dreams, and found that the respondents blamed desserts and sweets (31%) and dairy (22%) for disturbing changes to their dreams. Lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms and nightmares While that indicates a slice of chocolate cake before bed might be worse than a chunk of cheese when it comes to nightmares, researchers also looked at the relationship between those with food allergies and the reports of bad sleep and disturbing dreams. They discovered that lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms and nightmares, as well as poorer sleep. Additionally, researchers also found that healthy eating, including not eating at night, "predicted higher dream recall," while unhealthy eating "predicted nightmares and dream negativity." According to this study? It's people who are lactose intolerant that may find that eating dairy has the most significant negative impact on their dreams. Among the 5.5% of participants who said that foods affected their dreams, dairy came in second after sweets as the perceived cause of bad dreams, with participants claiming it induced "disturbing (22%) and bizarre (27%) dreams." However when they explored what participants had reported about food intolerances, bad sleep and nightmares in relation to one another, they found that "food sensitivities, particularly Lactose Intolerance" were contributors to the prevelance of nightmares. The study's results showed that the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms (which are commonly indigestion, bloating, heartburn or constipation) in those that were lactose intolerant, impacted nightmares. Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people However, it's not because dairy (like cheese) itself is directly causing nightmares. Instead, the results of the study suggest "dairy-induced gastrointestinal symptoms as one plausible basis for bizarre or disturbing dreams." 'Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,' said the lead author of the research, Dr Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal. While it's generally best to leave a few hours between eating and sleeping, there are some foods with melatonin and tryptophan that can aid your slumber. Here are three evening snacks to consider if you can't resist a late night bite. A handful of almonds in the evening could do wonders for your sleep. That's because they're rich in melatonin (the sleepy hormone), according to Northwestern Medicine. And, according to California Almonds, a 1oz serving provides 76mg of magnesium, (which can support deep, restorative sleep). One study even showed that sweet almonds reduced insomnia in students who ate 10 a day for two weeks. One benefit of warmer weather is the seasonal fruits it brings, and luckily, the likes of berries, kiwis and pineapple can all help with your sleep. Natural treats like strawberries and blueberries are sources of melatonin, while research has shown kiwis "may improve sleep onset, duration, and efficiency in adults with self-reported sleep disturbances." Pineapple also contains melatonin, as well as vitamin C, fiber and magnesium, meaning a few chunks are a welcome addition to an evening fruit salad. Oats, quinoa, brown rice, breads, tortillas and cereals are all healthy wholegrains that work for a healthy nighttime snack. While we wouldn't suggest having a heavy dish, consider something like a few wholegrain tortilla chips or oatcakes, or even some popcorn if you have a hunger pang in the evening. Why? Because wholegrains are "are a good source of phytonutrients, melatonin, and tryptophan. These nutrients have been shown to be important for quality sleep," Shelley Balls, MDA, RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian and nutritionist for Consumer Health Digest previously explained to us.
Vancouver Sun
02-07-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Snacking on cheese late at night may haunt your dreams, Canadian study finds
A new Canadian study has found that a late-night cheese snack could lead to nightmares. The study, published in psychology journal Frontiers on June 30, looked at the link between food, sleep quality and dreams. It revealed that just over 40 per cent of participants said eating certain foods affected their sleep, with nearly a quarter saying some foods worsened sleep. A small group of participants, 5.5 per cent of them, said food even affected their dreams. The culprit for both pleasant and disturbing dreams? Dairy. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. It was most frequently identified as the food category with the most influence. When it came to nightmares, researchers found that a contributing factor was lactose intolerance. That could explain why munching on cheese before catching some Zs led to bizarre, disturbing dreams for some. According to the study, it's possible that gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms increase nightmares by 'increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression,' which can also impact sleep quality. As well as dairy, other types of foods linked to nightmares were sweets, meat and spicy foods. The belief that food can affect dreams goes back centuries, based on old tales and anecdotal evidence, the study explained. One such example, cited in the study, is a cartoon by artist Winsor McCay , showing a character that blames eating cheese before bed for bizarre dreams and nightmares. We certainly weren't expecting to see the relationship to nightmares to be so robust 'Although we had predicted that lactose intolerance might be related to dreaming… we were a bit skeptical and we certainly weren't expecting to see the relationship to nightmares to be so robust,' the study's lead author Dr. Tore Nielsen told National Post over email on Wednesday. Nielsen said, in a Frontiers news release , that it makes sense for lactose intolerant people who suffer from GI symptoms and disrupted sleep to have worse nightmares 'because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming.' 'Nightmares can be very disruptive,' he said, 'especially if they occur often, because they tend to awaken people from sleep in a dysphoric state. They might also produce sleep avoidance behaviours. Both symptoms can rob you of restful sleep.' Nielsen, a University of Montreal psychiatry professor and director of the Dreams and Nightmares Laboratory, told National Post that researchers also didn't expect to see a link between food allergies and nightmares. Participants with food allergies and gluten Intolerance were more likely to report that food affects dreaming, while those with lactose intolerance were more likely to report that food causes worse sleep, per the study. Those with food allergies may be 'more sensitive and attuned to what they eat,' the authors wrote, making them more likely to attribute dream changes to diet. Meanwhile, having pleasant dreams was linked to eating fruits and vegetables and drinking herbal tea, as well as desserts and dairy. Researchers linked an unhealthy diet, in general, to nightmares. 'An unhealthy diet included eating in the evening before bed and not paying attention to internal cues about being hungry or full in deciding when or how much to eat,' Nielsen told National Post. 'It is possible that people with nightmares could find some relief not only by checking on their lactose intolerance and food allergy status and dosing their intake of the problematic foods accordingly, but by following a healthier diet.' Although the study's authors said that they still 'lack substantive evidence that these participant observations for food and dreaming are, in fact, accurate, there is some suggestive evidence for their accuracy.' The study's findings show how diet could inform interventions for sleep disturbances that don't rely on medication. Although the latest findings uncovered some answers, there is still a need for more research, including studies to find out if people can truly detect the effects of specific foods on dreams, Nielsen said in a Frontiers news release . There were 1,082 participants in the study, who were all undergraduate students at MacEwan University. The data was collected online from January to April 2023. The study's authors noted that those who took part could have been biased due to having academic exposure to related topics that influenced how they interpreted or reported the perceived effects of food on sleep and dreaming. One study published in 2022 in the International Journal of Dream Research observed whether or not substances and foods had any effects on dreams and lucid dreams (the person is aware they are dreaming). It found that eating fruits correlated to dream recall, while eating fish correlated with the frequency of lucid dreams. However, it determined that research on the topic is 'scarce' and more testing is needed. In 2005, the British Cheese Board said that different kinds of cheese can influence dreams based on the group's own research. In an interview with NPR , the board's secretary Nigel White said that although some people had 'wacky' dreams, none of the volunteers who took part in the survey had nightmares. As well as Nielsen, researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton co-authored the study.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Is Cheese Giving You Nightmares?
Credit - Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Images: Khosrork/Getty Images, Azure-Dragon/Getty Images, Timothy Tanuwidjaya—Getty Images) For centuries, folklore and popular wisdom have linked poor eating habits and indigestion to nightmares and restless sleep. In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge at first dismisses the ghosts that torment him as mere dietary disturbances: 'You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato,' he says to one spectral visitor. 'There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" Earlier, Benjamin Franklin lamented that '[I]ndolence, with full feeding, occasions nightmares and horrors inexpressible; we fall from precipices, are assaulted by wild beasts, murderers, and demons, and experience every variety of distress.' In the early 20th century, cartoonist Winsor McCay made his name with his 'Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend' series, in which his protagonists suffers bizarre dreams and nightmares which they attributed to eating Welsh rarebit—a delicacy of spiced cheese on toast. A modest body of contemporary research has sought to explore the link between food and nightmares more empirically. The latest is a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology—finding that if you want to get your z's, you'd best limit the cheese. To conduct the current study, Tore Nielsen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, and his colleagues surveyed 1,082 students at MacEwan University in Alberta. All of them completed a questionnaire about their diet, food sensitivities, sleep habits, dream recall, and more. The students reported how late in the evening they eat, whether they regularly snack without feeling hungry, and if they have any gastrointestinal symptoms, food allergies, or diet-related conditions such as lactose intolerance. They also reported how well they sleep and how often their sleep is disturbed by nightmares. Read More: What Doctors Really Think of Sleepmaxxing About 25% of people said that eating certain foods before bed seemed to worsen their sleep, while just over 20% said that some foods improved their sleep. Of the people who reported having more nightmares after eating certain foods, 31% attributed the bad dreams to consumption of desserts and other sweets, 22% pointed to dairy, 16% cited meats, and 13% blamed spicy foods. The most commonly cited medical condition linked to sleep quality was lactose intolerance—lending legitimacy to Scrooge's 'crumb of cheese' charge. Of the people who believed their diet was related to worse sleep overall, 30% were lactose intolerant. 'Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,' said Nielsen in a statement that accompanied the release of the study. 'This makes sense because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming.' One 2024 meta-analysis, for example, found that all manner of sensory experiences—including sounds, smells, flashing lights, physical pressure, and pain—can be incorporated into dreams when people are sleeping and investigators provide the stimulus. Food-related nightmares might also be linked to depression and anxiety, the researchers say; lactose-intolerance symptoms like bloating, cramping, and gas directly affect mood, which can carry over into sleep, powering bad dreams. The paper cites an earlier 2005 study by Nielsen showing that 'dreaming is more emotionally intense and conflictual when abdominal cramping is at its worst,' including during menstruation. Read More: What's the Least Amount of Sleep You Need to Get? When people eat can make a difference as well. Eating late in the evening or snacking up until bedtime is linked to an 'eveningness chronotype'—essentially the state of being a night owl—which by itself has been associated with nightmares in earlier cited studies. Nielsen and his colleagues concede that their current work does not establish causation, with at least the possibility existing that bad dreams and poor sleep may lead to equally poor dietary habits, rather than the other way around. 'Direction of causality in many studies of food and sleep remains unclear,' the authors write. Not all foods, of course, are linked to nightmares and sleep disruption, and some may even support better sleep. Close to 18% of people who regularly eat fruits reported better sleep, along with 12% of people who consume a lot of vegetables, and 13% of people who drink herbal tea. Nielsen does not believe the current research remotely closes the book on the food and sleep and dreaming link, seeing a need for a lot of future work. 'We need to study more people of different ages, from different walks of life,' he said in the statement. 'Experimental studies are also needed to determine if people can truly detect the effects of specific foods on dreams. We would like to run a study in which we ask people to ingest cheese products versus some control food before sleep to see if this alters their sleep or dreams.' Write to Jeffrey Kluger at
