Cheese in the evening can ruin sleep and cause nightmares

Eating cheeses In the evening, it's not a good idea, and not so much because they can lead to difficult and complicated digestion, but for another effect demonstrated by recent scientific research: they can ruin sleep and cause nightmares.

Already in the nineteenth century there was talk of this possible effect and even in the pages of a book of Charles DickensNight vision is attributed to "a piece of poorly digested cheese." Furthermore, eating high-fat foods leads to an increase in body temperature, which makes sleep lighter, REM sleep more fragmented, and dreams more vivid.

The news comes from a Canadian research, published on Frontiers in Psychology,  which explored the connection between cheese/dairy and nightmaresHere are the key points of the research that involved  1.082 university students in Canada on diet, sleep quality, eating habits, and dreams and nightmares. It was discovered that for some people, especially those who suffer from lactose intolerance or digestive disorders, eating cheese or other dairy products may be associated with disturbed sleep and more intense nightmares, likely due to physical discomfort interfering with sleep. The strongest link isn't the "cheese" itself, but the physical discomfort: gas, bloating, and abdominal pain during sleep can disrupt rest and make dreams more vivid or unpleasant.

 Researchers suggest that simple dietary changes, particularly eliminating cheese eaten late at night, could transform a dreadful sleep into a sweet one, although further experiments are needed to decode the connection between the gut and dreams.“Poor nutrition has been associated with more nightmares and, in general, more negative dreams,” said Tore Nielsen, lead author and director of the Dreams and Nightmares Laboratory at the University of Montreal.