Posted on 09/12/2005 7:12:21 AM PDT by Mike Bates
Sweet dreams are made of cheese - or at least that is the suggestion from a new study of sleep.
Researchers set out to disprove the old wives' tale that eating cheese before going to bed gives you nightmares.
And it seems they've been successful, with cheese-munching volunteers reporting no nasty dreams after a late night snack.
But it also appears that the type of cheese you choose can affect the type of dreams you have.
The study, perhaps unsurprisingly carried out by the British Cheese Board, involved 200 volunteers in a week-long cheese-eating experiment.
After eating a 20g piece of cheese 30 minutes before going to sleep, 72% of the volunteers slept very well every night, 67% remembered their dreams and none reported nightmares.
Dr Judith Bryans, a nutrition scientist at The Dairy Council, said: "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."
It is not clear where the cheese and nightmares myth originated.
It has been linked to Charles Dickens' character Scrooge who blamed "a crumb of cheese" on his night-time visitations in A Christmas Carol.
When it came to dream type, it seemed that Stilton caused the most crazy dreams, with 75% of men and 85% of women eating Stilton experiencing odd and vivid dreams.
Examples of these mad dreams included a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children, and soldiers fighting each other with kittens rather than guns.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of volunteers eating cheddar reported dreaming about celebrities, including Jordan and Johnny Depp.
More than six out of 10 volunteers eating Red Leicester had nostalgic dreams about their past, including school days and childhood friends.
British brie tended to give women nice dreams, such as Jamie Oliver cooking dinner in their kitchen, while the men had odd dreams such as having a drunken conversation with a dog.
What's so odd about that?
Got me? Woof!?!
NeverGore :^)
What do you have to eat if you want to dream about cheese?
Eeewwwwwww... :-p
Millee, it's been so darn long since I wanted to dream about cheese that I've forgotten. Drat.
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