Is it true that eating cheese at bedtime makes you have nightmares at night?

There has always been an idea that cheese consumed at dinner affects the nightmares we see at night. In fact, no other food has as strong a connection to dreams as cheese.

But what effect does cheese have on our dreams and is there any scientific confirmation of this fact?

Surprisingly, not much research has been done on this topic, but a study was conducted in 2005 in Britain by the British Cheese Board. The first finding of the study was that no, eating cheese before bed did not increase the chances of having nightmares.

The British Cheese Board tested this by giving 100 male and 100 female participants 20 grams of cheese half an hour before going to bed. This was done over the course of a week and each participant was assigned one of six types of British cheese - Stilton, Cheddar, Red Leicester, British Brie, Lancashire and Cheshire. Participants were asked to record everything they remembered about the night dreams and how well they slept.

The team reported that 67% of participants remembered their dreams, but no one remembered having had nightmares.

"Në fakt, ekziston një aminoacid thelbësor në qumësht i quajtur triptofan. Triptofani është i dobishëm për normalizimin e gjumit dhe uljen e niveleve të stresit. Por diçka e çuditshme që u vu re ishte se lloji i djathit që njerëzit hanin dukej se i bënte ata të shihnin lloje të ndryshme ëndrrash," -tha sekretari i British Cheese Board, Nigel White.

Studimi zbuloi gjithashtu se rreth 85% e pjesëmarrësve femra të cilave iu dha lloji i djathit Stilton para shtratit, raportuan se kishin ëndrra super të çmendura, të gjalla dhe jorealiste.

Ata që konsumuan Red Leicester, rezultuan se kishin bërë një gjumë të mirë gjatë natës. Gjithashtu 60% e tyre ëndërronin për kujtime të dashura të fëmijërisë.

Ndërsa ata që konsumuan Cheddar shihnin ëndrra me njerëz të famshëm.

This is the first study of its kind and found that eating cheese before going to bed can really affect the night’s sleep as well as the nature of the dreams you see, but it has nothing to do with nightmares, at least as far as belongs to those types of cheese that were studied.