A charcuterie board favorite; a fondue staple; and the perfect pasta topping: cheese may just be the most versatile – and delicious – food.
But while it’s tempting to give into every craving, scientists say you could be setting yourself up for a horrible nights sleep, and even worse, cognitive decline as you age.
Scientists from Canada found eating dairy before bed could cause vivid and disturbing nightmares, which can disrupt sleep – and a lack of sufficient quality sleep has been linked to obesity, mood disorders and impaired cognitive function, including memory issues and even an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The team found a ‘strong association’ between nightmares, food allergies and lactose intolerance, potentially because gas and stomach pain during the night affects people’s dreams.
The researchers surveyed about 1,000 people asking them about their sleep time and quality, and their dreams and nightmares. They also asked them if they believed there was any association between dreams and certain foods.
About 40 percent of people believed that eating late at night or eating specific foods affected their sleep, while 25 percent thought certain foods negatively impacted their sleep.
Results revealed that people who ate less healthy diets were more likely to have bad dreams and less likely to remember them.
Dr Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal and lead author of the article, said: ‘Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies. These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares. They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams.’
Dairy is one of the biggest culprits of stealing sleep as it contains lactase and other nutrients that trigger metabolic activity telling the body to stay alert and active
Researchers looked at the survey answers from 1,082 students at MacEwan University. Nearly 25 percent said certain foods worsened their sleep and 20 percent said certain foods improved sleep.
Approximately 5.5 percent of respondents reported food affected their dreams.
About 31 percent of people blamed disturbing dream changes on desserts and sweets and 22 percent blamed foods that contain dairy, according to the paper published in the journal Frontiers.
While people with food allergies and gluten intolerance reported poor sleep, worse sleep perceptions were tied to lactose intolerance.
It’s known that late-night snacking disrupts shut eye. By eating foods close to bedtime, it causes your digestive system to continue to be active while the rest of your body is trying to sleep, which leads to a night of tossing and turning.
Dairy is one of the biggest culprits of stealing sleep as it contains lactase and other nutrients that trigger metabolic activity telling the body to stay alert and active.
In doing so, this disrupts REM sleep – rapid eye movement sleep, which is when deep sleep and dreams occur – making brain function and memory worsen if the cycle continues.
The idea that cheese – or dairy in general – causes nightmares has been investigated before, as those who are lactose-intolerant and eat dairy products at night have reported being awakened by gastrointestinal issues that cause discomfort and cramps while sleeping.
Dairy also contains large amounts of tryptophan, which actually makes people more tired, but this drowsiness increases the likelihood for vivid and nightmare-like dreams.
And frightening nightmares then lead to disrupted sleep, anxiety, fear and even PTSD.
“Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,” said Dr Neilson.
‘This makes sense because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming. Nightmares can be very disruptive, especially if they occur often, because they tend to awaken people from sleep in a dysphoric state. They might also produce sleep avoidance behaviors. Both symptoms can rob you of restful sleep.’
Experimental psychology expert Dr Dana Smith said there is limited data on how cheese specifically affects dreams and nightmares but, writing for Nature’s blog Mind Read, posited that bacteria found in blue cheeses is similar to those found in magic mushrooms and may have similar psychoactive effects.
Scientists from Canada found eating dairy before bed could cause vivid and disturbing nightmares, which can disrupt sleep
Sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, memory loss, diabetes, heart disease, heightened and unstable emotions, impaired ability to learn and a reduced immune response, leaving you vulnerable to disease
These include tyramine and tryptamine. Tyramine aids in releasing neurotransmitters like adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine, all of which can cause unconscious excitement and disturbance while sleeping.
And tryptamine is a common precursor to serotonin, which may be associated with hallucinogenic effects of magic mushrooms.
However, it is still up for debate how much of these are actually in cheese to cause symptoms.
The general guideline is seven to nine hours of quality sleep and a lack of or interrupted sleep can have serious side effects down the line.
In 2024 research, scientists at Yale School of Medicine examined the brains of 40,000 adults to understand how sleep affects brain health.
They found that poor sleep is ‘significantly correlated with’ brain injuries that doctors know foreshadow stroke and dementia years before their onset.
Poor sleep can also increase the risk of heart disease, obesity, dementia and depression.
To avoid dairy-induced nightmares and sleep chaos, experts advise cutting down on late night snacking, and indulging in dairy or food consumption two hours prior to climbing into bed.
