Questioned among scientists and avid midnight-snackers, the types of food you eat prior to sleeping do in fact affect your dreams. With an honest effort, not to sound like a science fair project, here is how it works:
Eating anything close to bedtime increases the activity of your metabolism which causes your brain to stay active, making it more likely for nightmares or vivid dreams to occur. Lucid dreams, which often occur as a result of late-night snacks, are when the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming and can consciously dictate the outcome of the dream.
Eat a bizarre combination of these foods to get a taste of what they can really do to your imagination:
1. Popcorn
Photo by Steven Baboun
Eaten before bed, popcorn increases the vividness and recall of dreams along with vitamin B-6 supplements.
2. Cheese and other dairy products
Photo by Steven Baboun
By eating cheese or dairy products late at night you will produce better overall dreams; the sharper the cheese, the sharper the dream.
3. Spicy foods such as peppers or sriracha sauce
Photo by Steven Baboun
These and other spicy foods promote nightmares and violent dreams if eaten right before you go to bed.
4. Cabbage or brussels sprouts
Photo by Steven Baboun
Cabbage-like foods can cause smellovision, which is the process of smelling whatever is in a dream.
5. Apple Cider Vinegar
Photo by Hanna Lundgren
Apple cider vinegar can cause very realistic dreams if taken in a spoonful at night. Apple cider vinegar is often a recommended remedy for sickness so this can be traced to those feverish dreams while you are ill.
Some other foods that contribute to strange dreams include bananas, ice cream, pickles, fish, chicken, soybeans, turkey, and pumpkin seeds.
I sacrificed my dignity and precious slumber for your enjoyment. Before bed, I ate a pickle, popcorn, a banana and some sriracha sauce to see if my dreams would be as loopy as WebMD said they would be. Throughout the course of the night I had two dreams.
In one of my dreams, I was casually invited by my celebrity girl crush, Bethany Joy Lenz, to join her for a fun day on her yacht in the Caribbean. We had great laughs and I found out we had a lot in common. She followed me on all forms of social media and recommended my blog to all of her fans who then followed me. Needless to say, it was a dream come true to befriend such a remarkable woman. But that’s all it was, so thank you weird food for dangling that in front of me.
The second dream was even more bizarre. A group of mob bosses and strippers broke into my dad’s office and began to cause trouble. Soon, swat teams surrounded the building and they tried to take control of the situation. Next thing I knew, I was sneaking away from my family who was trapped in a mall and I was dodging bombs and bullets, escaping and rescuing my family from danger.
Now, I am not saying that every food on this list will turn you into a traveling celebrity or a crime-fighting hero, but it apparently can work some sort of magic.
Disclaimer: watch what you eat before bed because you may end up divulging an embarrassing experience on the Internet for the education of others like I have.