Wednesday 13 July 2011

The Stilton Factor


Sweet dreams are made of cheese

For decades parents have warned their children not to have cheese before bedtime to prevent bad dreams. But researchers have disproved this old wife's tale and found that cheese could actually aid sleep.

The study by the British Cheese Board, involved 200 volunteers in a week-long experiment. The cheese-munching volunteers reported no nasty dreams after a late night snack.

After eating a 20g piece of cheese 30 minutes before going to sleep, 72 per cent of the volunteers slept very well every night, just over two thirds remembered their dreams and none reported nightmares.

Dr Judith Bryans, a nutrition scientist at The Dairy Council, said: "One of the amino acids in cheese - tryptophan - has been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep so cheese may actually help you have a good night's sleep."

Type of cheese eaten affects dreams

But they reported that the type of cheese you choose can affect the dreams you have.

When it came to dream type, it seemed that Stilton caused the most crazy dreams, with 75 per cent of men and 85 per cent of women eating Stilton experiencing odd and vivid dreams.

Examples of these mad dreams included a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children, and soldiers fighting each other with kittens rather than guns.

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