There are some weird and wonderful old wives tales and one which surfaces on a regular basis is the question, does eating cheese give you nightmares? Interestingly there have been a number of surveys carried out on this particular issue and some of the findings are very interesting to say the least.
The British Cheese Board investigation 2005
The British Cheese Board carried out an investigation into whether eating cheese gives you nightmares in 2005 and the results were very interesting to say the least. Each of the participants was given 3 ounces of cheese to eat every night before bed time and asked to keep a diary of their dreams and nightmares to see if there were any patterns emerging.
Result number one
Unfortunately for those looking for some real gossip and scientific confirmation, 75% of those volunteers who joined the investigation reported sleeping very well each and every night that they ate their cheese. It seems that the contents of the cheese had the effect of normalising sleep patterns and thankfully reducing the stress levels of the participants. However, result number two is a little more interesting!
Result number two
Interestingly the board found that those involved in the investigation reported specific types of dreams, although no nightmares, when taking specific cheeses. We hereby listed a number of the findings which are very interesting indeed.
Blue stilton cheese
Those who ate blue stilton cheese before going to sleep reported an increase in the amount of very vivid dreams which had relatively wacky content although were not necessary nightmares. It is thought that something in the blue stilton cheese encourages a certain area of the brain to become active and vivid dreams to flow.
Cheddar cheese
For some bizarre reason it was found that Cheddar cheese tended to prompt more dreams about celebrities although whether this is related to stories and content which the participants read before going to sleep is unclear.
Cheshire cheese
It seems that if you want a relatively dream free sleep and nice comfortable sleep then Cheshire cheese is the one for you because those who ate Cheshire cheese before sleeping reported a lack of dreams they could remember but a very good night sleep.
Red Leicester cheese
It seems as though something in the ingredients of Red Leicester cheese prompts nostalgic thoughts with many of the participants reporting dreams of their childhood and their very early days. Quite why this is the case remains something of a mystery.
Lancashire cheese
If you want to dream about work, although who would want to dream about work, then it seems that Lancashire cheese is the one you. Many of the participants reported very vivid dreams about their work which could have the effect of making you tired of work before you even wake up!
Conclusion
While this investigation perhaps needs to be taken one step further and introduced into the scientific arena there is no doubt that eating cheese does have at least an impact upon the type of sleep you have and potentially the type dreams you dream. It would be interesting to see a full-scale scientific investigation to see exactly why this seems to be the case.