Does Eating Before Bed Give You Nightmares?

Why do some foods affect our dreams?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and
we're the co hosts of Stuff You Missed in History Class.
We are a history podcast that tries to look at
the things that maybe we're overlooked in your history classes,
maybe not covered in as much detail, or frankly, maybe
covered in a way that was not accurate. New episodes
come out every Monday and Wednesday on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify,

(00:22):
or anywhere else that podcasts can be listened to. Welcome
to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. What's up, brain Stuff?
I'm Christian Sager and it is time for some brain stuff.
Have you ever been up alone at night scarfing down

(00:44):
some buffalo wings dipped in kim chi and vindaloo, but
you fall asleep on the couch and you start having
these terrible nightmares? What is up with that? Why does
some foods make us have such weird dreams? Well, so
far science is yet to find a direct corelation between
certain types of foods and how we dream. But an
excessive amount of rich nocturnal eating can interrupt your sleep

(01:08):
in a variety of ways. Really, any type of physical
discomfort while you're sleeping can lead to bad dreams. But
when your tummies are rumbling, that's when the monsters really
come scurrying out of that trapdoor in the back of
your head. For instance, late night snacks increase both your
body's metabolism and temperature, which makes you hot and sweaty,
especially when you have a high carbohydrate meal. Ditto if

(01:32):
you have a bunch of doughnuts or candy bars before
you pass out. A recent study shows that seven out
of ten people who eat junk food before bed are
more likely to have nightmares. These researchers hypothesized that the
high levels of sugar lead to physical sleep discomfort, which
brought the monsters out from under their beds. Another type
of upset stomach that leads to a bad night's sleep

(01:54):
is acid reflux, also known as GIRD or just plain
old heartburn. More than a third of America have this condition.
I'm one of them, where burning, acidic bile comes creeping
up your esophagus. If you've had this happened, doctors recommend
that you don't eat within three hours of bedtime, and
that you try lifting your head forty five degrees to
keep the acid down. Also, you probably shouldn't have citrus onions,

(02:18):
carbonated drinks, mint alcohol, or cigarettes before you go to sleep.
I know, I know, boring, right, but cutting down on
this stuff will keep the sleep goblins away. So it's
either be careful what you eat or back to a
pit of despair filled with evil clowns for you. Actually,
there's an interesting food connection between general anxieties and why

(02:39):
we sleep poorly. When our bodies are stressed, they flush
out the mineral magnesium, which increases our mental burden, so
we sleep poorly. You can head this off if you
eat healthy prior to enduring stressful periods. You retain some magnesium,
helping you maintain a normal sleeping pattern. And there's our
old friend, insomnia, which can be caused by a variety

(03:01):
of food and drinks. How about meat or other high
protein foods. Well, it turns out protein supplies your brain
with the amino acid tyrosine, which makes you more alert,
and food high in protein is usually also high in fat,
which digests slowly, causing a rumble in the bronx. If
you know, the bronx is what you call your belly. Plus,

(03:22):
remember how carbohydrates bring on the night sweats while they
also speed up tripped to fan and amino acid in
your brain that helps you sleep, So if you don't
eat enough carbs before bed, it's harder to get to sleep.
My recommendation a small carbohydrate snack in the evening will
promote calmness and help you catch some z's. Finally, alcohol

(03:44):
and caffeine before bed can make insomnia even worse, so
no double fisting coffee and beer, and you probably shouldn't
drink energy booze drinks like juice for loco or fusion either.
In fact, i'd recommend staying away from drinks with purposely
misspelled names. It's just you know, a general a rule.
Even the United States Food and Drug Administration called these
drinks a public health concern back in two thousand and ten,

(04:07):
and the Center for Disease Control has an entire fact
sheet about the dangers of mixing alcohol and energy drinks,
and it doesn't even get into the whole not being
able to get to sleep thing. So there you have it.
Food doesn't necessarily give us nightmares, but the uncomfortable feelings
that come with eating certain meals. Can check out the

(04:32):
brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this
and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com,