Gaby
If you grew up hearing your grandmother warn against cheese before bed, you’re not alone. But is there any truth to that old advice?
A study by British firm The Odd Company set out to settle whether cheese really causes nightmares, and the findings may make you rethink late-night snacking.
What Did the Experts Discover?
The research team enlisted 30 volunteers who ate four popular cheeses—brie, cheddar, mozzarella, and Stilton (an English semi-soft blue cheese)—on four different evenings.
The researchers found that eating 30 grams of cheese before bedtime raised the odds of having nightmares by an average of 93 percent.
Participants reported that their dreams during the study grew darker, more stressful, and creepier. Some volunteers dreamed of betrayal, running into an ex, being forgotten on their birthday, friends being attacked by robots, and being scolded by a teacher during a salsa lesson.
Brie was the biggest culprit, triggering bad dreams in 68 percent of participants. Stilton affected 63 percent, cheddar caused nightmares in 56 percent, and mozzarella in 40 percent.
The study also found that half of the volunteers lost sleep after eating cheese at night—an average of one hour and seven minutes. Women lost about five minutes more sleep on average than men, according to the Daily Mail.
How Can We Explain the Connection Between Cheese and Dreams?
Australian dietitian Amy Alexander commented on the results: “Cheese can affect the quality and duration of sleep depending on its nutritional composition. It contains saturated fats and proteins that take a long time to digest and can raise body temperature. If your digestive system is still working hours after snacking on cheese at midnight, it can interfere with deep, restorative sleep.”
Alexander pointed to another possible link: tryptophan. This amino acid helps make serotonin and melatonin—hormones that regulate mood, sleep, and circadian rhythms.
Higher serotonin levels can influence the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, when we have the most vivid dreams.
“Cheese contains a natural compound called tyramine, especially in aged cheeses like Parmesan, Gouda, and Roquefort. Tyramine is believed to trigger the release of norepinephrine—a stimulant that raises heart and brain activity. This can lead to more intense dreams or more awakenings during REM sleep in sensitive people, which can make unpleasant or vivid dreams easier to recall,” Alexander added. Tyramine can also provoke migraine attacks.
Specialists at the Mayo Clinic say that aged artisanal cheeses typically have high levels of tyramine. Cheddar and Stilton have particularly high tyramine content, and brie also contains a significant amount.
By contrast, mozzarella—an unaged cheese usually made from pasteurized milk—contains much less tyramine. That may explain why mozzarella ranked lowest among the cheeses linked to nightmares. Researchers recommend enjoying cheese at least two to four hours before bedtime.
