21 replies to this topic

[Professor T]

Interesting artical I found.

http://www.disinfo.c...ce-your-dreams/

Quote

A double-blind study revealed that participants who took a daily 250mg B6 supplement reported a significant increase in dream content – as measured in dream vividness, bizarreness, emotionality and color. One of the roles of vitamin B6 is to convert the essential amino acid tryptophan into serotonin and niacin. This helps the body regulate appetite, sleep patterns and mood. Low levels of tryptophan are also linked with poor dream recall.
When you’re ready to begin the dream-intensity challenge, take your vitamin B6 supplement and then fuel the fire with plenty of tryptophan-rich foods such as:

Chicken (4 oz) gives 0.41g tryptophan
Soybeans (1 cup) gives 0.39g tryptophan
Turkey (4 oz) gives 0.38g tryptophan
Tuna (4 oz) gives 0.38g tryptophan
Venison (4 oz) gives 0.36g tryptophan
Lamb (4 oz) gives 0.35g tryptophan
Salmon (4 oz) gives 0.35g tryptophan
Halibut (4 oz) gives 0.34g tryptophan
Shrimp (4 oz) gives 0.33g tryptophan
Cod (4 oz) gives 0.29g tryptophan

I realize that list is a little meat-heavy, and if you’re a vegetarian it doesn’t give many options. So here are five more veggie-friendly foods:

Kidney Beans (1 cup) gives 0.18g tryptophan
Pumpkin Seeds (0.25 cup) gives 0.17g tryptophan
Tofu (4 oz) gives 0.14g tryptophan
Cheese (1 oz) gives 0.09g tryptophan
Soy Sauce (1 tbsp) gives 0.03g tryptophan

[Hilander]

Now I know how to avoid it.

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

Interesting - food does play a part, i believe that. Not just with dreaming but since this thread is about dreaming and a particular study I won't go to far off topic.

Out of these foods i eat very regularly:

chicken
tuna
lamb (less often)
salmon
shrimp
cheese addicted to cheese.

What i have found is the more sugar, starchy and heavy carb food i eat the more dull and dense i get and feel. The more protein and less of everything else, including a couple of intermittent fasting days a week, the lighter, sharper, more aware i get and feel.

Edited by bLu3 de 3n3rgy, 29 September 2012 - 12:29 AM.

[SpectralEdge]

The only two times I had lucid dreams was when we had bought 5 different types of cheese to try (everything from Smoked Cheddar to Gouda) I ate *so* much cheese that week. It cause my only two lucid dreams out of the blue and it actually started my reading about it. I didn't figure out it was the cheese that did it till weeks later, and when I tried it again I couldn't quite replicate it.

I then got pregnant with my son and sound sleep became more important than experimenting with Lucid dreaming. I would still love to lucid dream. It would be a great gateway to Astral Projection. Some say it is easier, for me it seems harder.

Actually if you go here http://nutritiondata...0000000000.html

It shows there are many foods higher in tryptophan in the list. Like egg whites and spinach. Which is odd because I actually had egg salad on spinach twice this week and don't remember my dreams being any more interesting. Perhaps the proximity to bed time is important.

Edited by SpectralEdge, 29 September 2012 - 12:23 PM.

[Professor T]

I think there is deffinately something to it. I've had a drought of dream recall, 1 dream in 12 days. So I've acually changed my diet combined with a bit of UM community wisdom from... think it was Ever Learning... that stomach acid production can hinder dream recall and dull the experience..
My diet has been quite stodgy lately, so for the last two days I've eaten a lot of chicken/good stuff, plus I've drunk some Lemon juice  before bed so slow or prevent somach acid production.. The result has been much clearer visions though meditation & three dreams just last night that were pretty vivid & full of details that I usually forget on waking..

[None of the above]

When I was a kid, it was always said: "Don't eat cheese before you got to bed or you'll have bad dreams".
Personally I quite like bad dreams

Setting an alarm for during the night and sleeping with a note pad by your bed to record your dreams might also help.

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

Atlantia, on 30 September 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

When I was a kid, it was always said: "Don't eat cheese before you got to bed or you'll have bad dreams".
Personally I quite like bad dreams

Setting an alarm for during the night and sleeping with a note pad by your bed to record your dreams might also help.

I do seem to get nightmares when I have eaten a lot of cheese and I remember my mum telling me don't eat cheese before you go to bed.

[None of the above]

CRIPTIC CHAMELEON, on 30 September 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

I do seem to get nightmares when I have eaten a lot of cheese and I remember my mum telling me don't eat cheese before you go to bed.

I think it really speaks to the human condition CC, as you get older it's the really vivid nightmares that you remember. Not the nice dreams.
I used to watch 'the Invaders' when I was a kid, so I've always had dreams about conspiracies, aliens, demons and the like.
Apparently 'the invaders' was responsible for a veritable epidemic of nightmares among kids in the 60s.

But it's the really dark dreams that stick with you, the really scary ones. Looking back I enjoyed them all. Waking up scared is a great feeling.
Not the sad dreams about loss, just the really scarey ones like you are living a horror movie.

[SpectralEdge]

I cant find the article again, but someone did a study on cheese somewhere in Europe to test the theory of cheese causing bad dreams. What they found was actually fairly surprising. They recorded what type of cheese the participants ate, and how much of it. Usually between 2-4oz before bed. All kinds of varieties and they found that cheese did increase dream recall exponentially, but also different types of cheese seemed to change the type of dreams. Apparently cheddar makes you dream about celebrities

I think it is the harder cheeses that invoke the best dream recall. Which is unfortunate for me, all I have is string cheese.

Might be buying some cheese this week..in the name of science of course.

[Professor T]

lol. I worked in a cheese factory for 16 years! I smelled like cheese, I ate a lot of processed cheeses though, but also some very good natural cheeses on the job...  You can't beat Vintage or Epicure.. Those years saw the lest ammount of dreams in my life, possibly due to shift work..

I think this might be a likely candidate for the study on cheese dreams..
I wouldn't put much faith in the study though because it was done by the British Cheese board. (bit of a conflict in interest perhaps)

• Red Leicester proved to be brilliant for helping participants to get a good night’s sleep – one quarter slept well every single night of the study, and 83% of all nights under the influence of Red Leicester were good sleep experiences. As for dreams, Red Leicester is the cheese to choose if you are feeling nostalgic about your past – over 60% of participants eating this cheese revisited their schooldays, or long-lost childhood friends, or previous family homes and hometowns.
  
• Stilton -eating participants enjoyed their sleep too – over two thirds had good sleep experiences during five out of the seven nights. However, if you want some vivid or crazy dreams, the King of British cheeses is the one for you – particularly if you are female. While 75% of men in this category experienced odd and vivid dreams, a massive 85% of females who ate Stilton had some of the most bizarre dreams of the whole study – although none were described as bad experiences. Highlights included talking soft toys, lifts that move sideways, a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children, dinner party guests being traded for camels, soldiers fighting with each other with kittens instead of guns and a party in a lunatic asylum.
  
• British Brie caused all participants to sleep very well, but dreams varied between males and females; women tended to experience very nice dreams, such as Jamie Oliver cooking dinner in their kitchens, or relaxing on a sunny beach. By contrast, the men who ate Brie experienced rather odd, obscure dreams, such as driving against a battleship, or having a drunken conversation with a dog.
  
• If you are thinking of changing career, or just suspect there could be a slightly more ideal job out there, snack on a lump of creamy Lancashire before bed and you might get some guidance; two thirds of all Lancashire participants had a dream about work – but only 30% of these involved the participants’ real-life occupations. One ambitious dreamer saw herself as a successful Prime Minister - one of her popular reforms involved teaching useful finance in schools, including how to choose the right mortgage.
  
• Cheddar -eating participants tended to dream of celebrities, ranging from the participant’s family sitting in a pub with Jordan, to a Glaswegian old firm football match with Gazza and Ally McCoist. Ashley from Coronation Street also featured, as did the cast of Emmerdale - and one lucky girl helped to form a human pyramid under the supervision of Johnny Depp.

Edited to add.. Don't buy processed cheese.. I know what goes in it.. Get the real thing.. If you like Vintage but cant afford it, just get some mild or tasty and leave it on a shelf for a few months.. It will age into Vintage..

Edited by Professor T, 01 October 2012 - 08:29 AM.

[Habitat]

Don't know about cheese, but I can vouch for fish stimulating dreams.

[Seeker79]

Well ill tell you this. A strong tea of prickly lettuce and california poppy before bed. And you are in for one hell of a night. Dont say i did not warn you. But i just had one of those epic movie dreams that i have ocasioaly and i had pizza, so there might be somethng to cheese.

[Professor T]

Seeker79, on 01 October 2012 - 11:07 AM, said:

Well ill tell you this. A strong tea of prickly lettuce and california poppy before bed. And you are in for one hell of a night. Dont say i did not warn you. But i just had one of those epic movie dreams that i have ocasioaly and i had pizza, so there might be somethng to cheese.

Thanks. I might try that.. When I run out of lemon juice..
Will need to find the right dosage though, as it looks like prickly lettuce can be dangerous.

Prickly Lettuce.
Medicinal uses: http://montana.plant...tuca_serrio.htm

Quote

The whole plant is rich in a milky sap. This sap hardens and dries when in contact with the air. The sap contains lactucarium, which is an agent that has been used in medicine for its properties of being mildly pain-relieving, antispasmodic, digestive, urination-inducing, hypnotic, narcotic and sedative. Lactucarium has effects of a mild opium, but without its tendency to cause digestive upsets. It is not addictive either. It has been taken internally in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, neuroses, hyperactivity in children, dry coughs, whooping cough, rheumatic pain etc. The sap has also been applied externally for treatment of warts. Concentrations of lactucarium are highest when the plant flowers. Prickly lettuce should be used with caution, and never without the supervision of a skilled practitioner because of its mild narcotic properties. Even normal doses can cause drowsiness, excess doses cause restlessness, and overdoses can cause death through cardiac arrest.

[little_dreamer]

Try having some extra spicy Mexican food right before bed if you want nightmares...

[Seeker79]

Professor T, on 01 October 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Thanks. I might try that.. When I run out of lemon juice..
Will need to find the right dosage though, as it looks like prickly lettuce can be dangerous.

Prickly Lettuce.
Medicinal uses: http://montana.plant...tuca_serrio.htm

Naaaa 3 or 4 leaves is harmless. It's just the the original form of lettuce. it's completely harmless. It's great in salads and stews, and is a well known edible. Just don't eat pounds and pounds of the stuff. You would have to concentrate massive amounts of sap to even get a narcotic effect.  You could poison yourself easier on raw beats. now add your lemon juice to the tea