2023-11-06 16:35:12
We know it only too well: food and sleep are closely linked: whether you are looking to sleep better or avoid insomnia, it can be interesting to take a little closer look at your plate! From there to looking for a link between nightmares and what we swallow…
What is the link between sleep and nutrition?
It will not have escaped anyone’s notice: what we eat, particularly at dinner, has an impact on the way we sleep during the night that follows. Eating too early, eating too late, eating too much or eating too little, eating too fatty, too sweet… these are all parameters that can explain bad nights! There is even a diet that promotes quality sleep; it focuses in particular on:
What if certain foods had the power to give us nightmares?! It’s far from being a crazy idea and certain foods stand out: following eating them for dinner, you would be more prone to nightmares…
A British study, carried out by the British Cheese Board1thus highlighted the fact that eat cheese in the evening would cause nightmares, or at least very strange dreams. And not all cheeses are equal. According to the study, Stilton Cheese (an English blue-veined cow’s milk cheese resembling Roquefort and which the English nickname “the king of cheeses”) would generate delusional dreams, sometimes frightening like nightmares… where Red Leicester (a raw, pressed, uncooked cow’s milk cheese resembling Cheddar) is associated with calmer, more moving dreams!
Looking at the influence of food on disturbing and bizarre dreams, a study found that in 43.8%2 of the respondents, the fact of eat dairy products in the evening was linked to disturbing dreams! And cheese is not the only culprit! Ice cream, milk, hot milk, or even yogurt are also singled out… Note that, according to this study, candies and chocolates are regularly cited as causing bizarre dreams (by 30.8%) but less frequently mentioned for disturbing dreams (12.5%).
For 18.8% of respondents2spicy foods and spices can cause distressing nightmares
Same sad observation for starch (pasta, noodles, etc.) accused by 15.6% of respondents2 to be linked to disturbing nightmares.
It’s proven : drink alcohol in the evening promotes nightmares! Indeed, although it can cause relaxation, for a certain time, the sedative effect of alcohol gradually dissipates, giving way to fragmented sleep phases and nightmares.3.
Do late meals cause nightmares?
Eating late is not a good habit. And for good reason, when you eat shortly before going to bed, the digestion process is not optimal since the insulin peak will arrive when you are already in bed, when the body temperature body will increase, as will brain activity… and in this agitation, it is not incongruous that we are more likely to have nightmares. It was also found that 9.5% of people had nightmares following indulging in a late meal.2 … Still, the link between late dinner and nightmare is not scientifically proven.
1. Relayed in a BBC article, Does cheese give you nightmares?.
2. Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: food and diet as instigators of bizarre and disturbing dreams, Tore Nielsen, Russell A Powell study conducted with 400 students over two weeks in which each student had to keep a record of their dreams while indicating what he had eaten before.
3. Why You Should Limit Alcohol Before Bed for Better Sleep, Cleveland Clinic.
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#link #diet #nightmares
