Eating These Foods at Night May Be Behind Your Recurring Nightmares
Eating dairy products, desserts, spicy foods, and meat at night may increase the likelihood of having nightmares and negatively affect sleep quality, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Centre for Advanced Sleep Medicine Research in Canada analyzed the relationship between food sensitivities and sleep quality in 1,082 adults. Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the researchers assessed whether certain foods directly affected participants’ dreams, whether they experienced physical symptoms after eating, and whether their sleep quality changed. Participants also completed the Nightmare Disorder Index (NDI), which evaluated the frequency and severity of nightmares, their impact on daily activities, and how long they persisted each month.
The analysis found that 40.2% of participants reported that food affected their sleep, while 24.7% said their sleep quality worsened after eating certain foods. The foods most commonly blamed for poorer sleep were desserts (22.7%), spicy foods (19.5%), and dairy products (15.7%). In contrast, the foods most often reported to improve sleep were fruit (17.6%), herbal tea (13.4%), and vegetables (11.8%).
Participants who said food affected their sleep were also more likely to report that their dreams became more vivid, strange, or anxiety-provoking. The foods most frequently associated with nightmares were sweet foods such as desserts (31%), dairy products (22%), meat (16%), and spicy foods (13%).
People with lactose intolerance were particularly likely to experience more frequent and severe nightmares than those without the condition. The researchers suggested that gastrointestinal symptoms caused by lactose intolerance, such as bloating, abdominal pain, and gas, may contribute to negative emotional states and poorer sleep quality, potentially leading to nightmares.
The timing of the last meal also appeared to affect dreaming, regardless of the type of food consumed. Participants who frequently ate dinner late at night tended to report nightmares more often. The researchers suggested that meals eaten late at night, particularly those that take longer to digest, may disrupt sleep by affecting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and increasing cortisol levels.
Dr. Tore Nielsen, who led the study, said, “Our findings suggest that gastrointestinal discomfort caused by food consumed before bedtime may contribute to sleep disruption and nightmares. For people who are particularly sensitive to certain foods, changing their eating habits may help improve sleep quality.”
The findings were recently published in Frontiers in Psychology.
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