Sweet dreams? Not if you eat this popular snack before bed, study says

Looking for a gouda night of sleep? You might want to steer clear of this little nibble before bed.A new study in the journal Frontiers in Psychology suggests dairy might be the grate-est villain to sweet dreams.Researchers polled 1,000 students at MacEwan University in Canada on their sleep quality and eating habits and found an un-brie-lievable link between nightmares and lactose intolerance.“Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies,” said lead study author Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal.“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!”Looks like that delectable cube of cheese could have you waking up in a cold, curdled sweat!Unsurprisingly, this is especially true if you’re sensitive to dairy — which many people unknowingly are.

“Nightmares are worse for lactose-intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,” said Nielsen.“This makes sense, because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming.”Nightmares can rob people of restful sleep, Nielsen noted, because they tend to cause the dreamer to awaken in a state of distress — and they may lead to sleep avoidance.About one-third of the study participants admitted that they regularly experience nightmares, with women significantly more likely to remember their dreams and report food allergies than men.Around 40% believed late-night snacking or eating certain foods could lead to tossing and turning all night.Most blamed sweets, spicy food and dairy for their nighttime woes.Only 5.5% of participants suspected what they snacked on seeped into their dreams, but of those, dairy reigned supreme as the dream-warping devil.Still, more research is needed before we give up on cheese Roquefort-ever.“We need to study more people of different ages...