Does Eating Cheese Before Bed Really Give You Nightmares?

You’ve likely heard about cheese fuelling nightmares or even just increasing your chances of bizarre and vivid dreams. It’s a topic that has intrigued both cheese connoisseurs and sleep specialists, so, we’ve uncovered whether it really does give you nightmares or whether it’s perfectly acceptable to add to your midnight snack rotation…

How does cheese affect sleep?

Eating cheese before bedtime does have an effect on sleep and the dreams you have. In 2005, The British Cheese Board carried out a study in which several people were given a 3-ounce (about 20g) piece of cheese to eat just before bedtime.

Different people were given various types of cheese followed by analysis of their sleep patterns, dreams, and nightmares.

Overall, 75% of the participants said they slept pretty well each night, with no nightmares. However, most did have dreams and could clearly remember them too.

This led to the conclusion that the essential amino acid in milk (and therefore cheese), tryptophan, affected cheese eaters by stabilising their sleep patterns, reducing stress levels, and potentially increasing the likelihood of dreams.

So, research seems clear: Cheese can affect your sleep, whether to help you get a better night’s rest or influence your dreams.

How different cheeses affect dreams

One of the study’s most interesting findings was that different types of cheese resulted in different types of dreams — all of which seem to be fairly memorable.

Put simply, if you like to dream and want to do it more often, cheese for supper might do the trick. However, if you don’t like the idea of dreaming about Coronation Street or going to work, there are some cheeses you should avoid!

Cheddar cheese tended to produce dreams about celebrities, including sitting in a pub with Katie Price and playing football with Paul Gascoigne. Cast members from popular soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale also made appearances in cheddar-induced dreams.
Red Leicester caused nostalgic dreams often related to childhood.
Lancashire cheese produced dreams about work, which could arguably be termed a nightmare for some people.
Stilton cheese produced the most strange and vivid dreams. These included talking soft toys, lifts that move sideways, and soldiers fighting each other with kittens instead of guns. Not nightmares, but certainly very off-the-wall! Perhaps a great choice if you work in a creative environment and require some story fuel?
Of all the cheeses eaten, Cheshire cheese led to the most peaceful night’s sleep without any dreams at all. So, if no interruptions or crazy visuals during your sleep are key, this is the cheese for you.

While a fun takeaway, this part of the study wasn’t explored further and can’t be used to scientifically state eating cheese before bed lets you control your dream’s narrative. But feel free to give it a try and make your own mind up!

Does cheese give you nightmares?

The rumour goes that eating cheese at night will give you weird dreams and studies have shown that eating certain cheeses will affect your dreams. But if you’re wondering if eating cheese before bed will give you nightmares? No, it won’t.

Eating cheese at night may only give you more vivid, unusual dreams. In fact, according to the study by the Cheese Board, eating cheese might prevent nightmares and improve sleep quality.

While there’s no clear evidence that cheese causes nightmares, not much proves that that theory is wrong, either. But it’s prevalent that eating cheese definitely influences your dreams.

How reliable are these findings?

Neil Stanley, PhD director of sleep research at the University of Surrey, said in the initial press release:

The cheese and dream study is the first study of its kind and suggests that eating cheese before you go to bed may actually aid a good night’s sleep.

However, it seems fairly obvious that a company called the British Cheese Board is likely to publish biased information favouring cheese. So, are there any scientific facts that could back their findings up?

Does cheese help you sleep?

Cheese contains tryptophan, an amino acid that is required for growing and helping your body produce and maintain proteins, muscles, enzymes, and neurotransmitters. So, what’s this got to do with sleep?

Well, tryptophan is used by your body to produce serotonin (the hormone that makes you feel happy), which significantly impacts sleep. A study found that “tryptophan-enriched cereal intake improves nocturnal sleep, melatonin, serotonin, and total antioxidant capacity levels and mood in humans”.

Dr Judith Bryans, Nutrition Scientist at The Dairy Council, stated:

One of the amino acids in cheese – tryptophan – has been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep so cheese may actually help you have a good night’s sleep.

On top of this, cheese is high in B vitamins. Vitamin B6 can also improve your quality of sleep and apparently leads to vivid dreams. Dr Lisa Medalie also explains that vitamin B6 increases the level of serotonin in your body, which will cause your dreams to be more vivid and improve your memory, helping you remember your dreams.

So, there may be more work to conclusively link cheese to good sleep, but if you’re struggling, maybe ending your evening with some cheese can be the key for you…

Which cheese should I eat before bed?

We’ve already explored the possible effects of different cheeses on your dreams, but what kind will help you nod off?

Exercise caution if you’re considering testing the theory that eating cheese before bed enhances dreams. Cheese is rich in fat, which is the slowest macronutrient to digest. Consequently, while your mind may be ready to drift into dreamland, your body might still be working hard to digest the cheese, potentially disrupting your sleep.

We recommend opting for a low-fat cheese. Reduced-fat mozzarella or cottage cheese is always popular and can help you avoid discomfort overnight.