Have you ever felt like you were in your own personal Nightmare on Elm Street?You’re not alone. A new study has found a link between lactose tolerance and bad dreams.
Canadian scientists conducted the study through a survey of college students. They found that people who reported regular nightmares or poorer sleep were more likely to have food allergies including lactose sensitivity. Researchers speculate that stomach problems can cause distress in non-waking hours.
According to Ross Powell, professor emeritus and co-author of the study at MacEwan University, Edmonton, Alberta, “The results confirmed our hypothesis that milk intolerance can indeed predict nightmares and disturbed dreams,” Powell told Gizmodo.
It is not a new idea that foods, especially cheese and other dairy products, may affect our sleep. In the early 1900s American cartoonist Winsor McCay produced a popular newspaper strip, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (19459008), which featured people having nightmares or strange dream after eating something unpalatable. This trigger food was often a Welsh rarebit is a popular British dish made of cheese and toast. Powell says that this phenomenon hasn’t been studied scientifically. In a survey published a decade ago by the same team, it was found that approximately 20% of participants had bizarre dreams which they believed were linked to eating certain foods, or eating late at nights. Many blamed dairy products. Powell and his co-workers wanted to replicate their previous findings as well as dig deeper into the reasons for people’s cheese flavored nightmares.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 college students about their eating and sleeping habits (more that twice the sample size from the 2015 study). Around 40% of respondents believed that late-night eating or certain foods affected their sleep. 25% felt their diets impacted their sleep. Only 5.5% of respondents blamed food for their dreams this time. However, dairy, spicy foods and sweets were the most common culprits. Researchers also found that self reported lactose allergies and intolerance were associated with worse nightmares, poorer sleep and more severe nightmares. Lactose intolerance is associated with gastrointestinal symptoms. People who eat a less healthy diet in general tend to have nightmares and have difficulty remembering their dreams.
The findings of the team were publishedon Tuesday in Frontiers in Psychology. (Both the current study and the 2015 one directly referenceDream of the Rarebit Fiendin the title.
Anyone with lactose intolerant knows that a dairy craving is likely to cause GI discomfort and bloating. Researchers believe that these symptoms can cause people to wake up or subtly ruin dreams, an explanation that could be extended to other types of pain.
It may be that GI distress has a stronger impact on sleeping and dreams than other types of physical distress. Powell stated that menstrual cramping is another example of a condition that can cause disturbed dreams. Powell believes that because GI symptoms are often caused by poisoning, our dairy nightmares may be the body’s attempt to alert itself in case of an emergency.
Researchers would like to confirm the findings of their research in an experimental setting, such as by comparing how lactose intolerant people sleep and dreams after eating or avoiding milk. Powell thinks it would be interesting to investigate whether food sensitivities are directly responsible for some people’s night terrors.
About one-third of Americans have difficulty digesting lactose. However, not everyone feels sick when they consume it. These findings could be a further incentive to avoid late-night dairy, given the lactose intolerance that is already so annoying. I know that next time I’ll reach for the evening sorbet instead of ice cream.
