So, how does eating cheese at night affect you? What we do know is that our brains and sleeping patterns are affected by a wide variety of hormones. Cheese plays host to its very own hormone — an amino acid called tryptophan. Scientists also believe that tryptophan helps to promote the production of serotonin in your brain, which is the chemical that helps to improve your quality of sleep by making you feel comfortable and relaxed.
Getting a hefty dose of tryptophan and serotonin at nighttime can induce a more valuable, deeper quality of sleep — where dreams are a lot more likely. In other words, scientifically, cheese, and dreams are connected. So, based on what we know about cheese, tryptophan, and serotonin, is it okay to eat cheese at night, or should you be avoiding it at all costs?
The lack of research into cheese and sleep problems means that most of the suggestions we could make about your dairy habits would just be guessing. The only real source of scientific research we can look at come from a somewhat unreliable source — the British Cheese Board.
The company investigated this in , where participants were asked to consume about 3 ounces of cheese before bed each night. Although the study had a wide range of respondents to work with — there was no baseline. However, it did give us some basic insights into the repercussions of eating cheese before bed.
The Cheese Board took the results to mean that the tryptophan in cheese was having a significant impact on the people eating it before bed, by helping to reduce stress levels and enhancing sleeping patterns. In other words, the Cheese Board believed that eating cheese before you sleep will actually help to improve your sleeping patterns.
One thing that made this study into cheese and insomnia so interesting, is that during an interview with the National Public Radio , the Secretary of the Cheese Board went deeper into the findings. Secretary Nigel White said that certain cheeses were more likely to contribute to different kinds of dreams for participants of the study.
White also mentioned that people eating typical cheddar before bed were more likely to have dreams about celebrities — which is an exciting development. Cheshire cheese was most likely to contribute to a relaxing and dreamless sleep, while Red Leicester produced nostalgic dreams based on memories from childhood. For those who often suffer from sleep anxiety and stress caused by work worries, Lancashire cheese was the one most closely connected with nightmares.
According to the report, this kind of cheese caused dreams about work — which is about as close to nightmare fuel as the report got. Ultimately, though the rumours about cheese and insomnia suggest that indulging in a few crackers before bed will leave you tossing and turning to the morning — this may be a myth. The nutrients and vitamins in cheese actually have the potential to make a positive difference to your sleeping pattern.
Low-fat cheese, in particular, are high in tryptophan and calcium, which both have an impact on your nerve and stress levels, helping you to relax in time for bed. Eating cheese or any snack for that matter before bed could also prevent uncomfortable tossing and turning caused by unsatisfied hunger. Cheese and crackers before you go to sleep will give you a great dose of carbohydrates and protein, which keeps the appetite properly satisfied until morning.
The National Sleep Foundation even goes as far as to recommend cottage cheese as a go-to nighttime snack, thanks to its higher than usual tryptophan content. One report published by the British Journal of Nutrition found that eating two tablespoons of the low-fat cheese before bedtime speeds up your metabolism while you sleep.
It suggests that cheese before bed not only boosts your sleeping quality but also protects you from the nightmare of an exhausting weight loss routine too. The limited research available into eating cheese at night suggests that there is some connection between cheese and dreams. At a top-level, the connection is caused by an amino acid called tryptophan which supports the creation of serotonin and melatonin.
Both melatonin and serotonin are crucial in helping you get to sleep, so an extra dose of tryptophan really can go a long way before bed-time. Tryptamine is related to tryptophan, and it is also one of the substances that you can find in mild hallucinogenic medications. That might be why there are so many rumours floating around that eating cheese before you sleep will cause more vivid dreams or nightmares.
Crucially, tryptamine appears more often in blue cheeses. The bacteria in those super-smelly cheeses that connoisseurs love may interact with the chemicals in your body to create more memorable, bizarre, or convoluted dreams. The reason that these substances have such a significant impact on your sleeping habits and dreams, is that the bacteria and fungus that you ingest with mouldy cheeses introduce different substances into your biological system.
When the mould breaks down, it creates compounds that are more likely to cause hallucinogenic responses. Low-fat, high-protein cheeses like cottage cheese are fantastic for packing your body full of relaxation-inducing substances like tryptophan, melatonin, and serotonin. Eating cheese before bed has long been associated with us having nightmares. But why is that? What is it about chomping down on a lovely block of Red Leicester or Gouda before bed that causes such crazy cheese dreams?
And the answer? She says the link between cheese and nightmares is all to do with cheese being a tricky food to digest at that time of day. You stay in the REM rapid eye movement state of sleep for longer, which is where you have lots more vivid dreams. We associate cheese with one of the things that causes weird dreams because we might be more likely to eat it late at night. Other foods that are hard to digest, and would have a similar effect are things like meat.
How so? Well, when you wake up more throughout the night you have a higher chance of remembering any bad dreams that you may have had. Another substance found in cheese that may affect brain function and the possibility of experiencing sleep problems is tryptophan.
Although tryptophan is sometimes used successfully to treat insomnia, the increase in serotonin levels that it causes can lead to a reduction in REM sleep, insomnia and very vivid, lifelike dreams.
Increased serotonin levels have also been associated with more frequent nightmares in certain individuals. MAOs are drugs that were commonly used in the s to treat depression but they are much less common today due to the development of antidepressants with fewer side effects.
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