Photo credit: princess_of_llyr
Sweet dreams are made of cheese. No, they really are, according to a study conducted by the British Cheese Board back in 2005. The findings suggest that not only will eating cheese before bed help you get a good night's sleep (cheese contains tryptophan, the amino acid largely responsible for many a Thanksgiving turkey-induced coma), but that the type of cheese you consume can determine what it is you dream about.
Given that this study took place in Britain, it makes sense that the six types of cheeses used were all British cheeses. Here's a breakdown of what they were and what kind of dreams they were said to be responsible for:
Red Leicester: Anything nostalgic, such as memories, old friends, and past homes.
Stilton: This cheese was said to induce the most vivid and absurd dreams, especially among women. If you have some and later find yourself dreaming about "soldiers fighting with each other with kittens instead of guns" or "a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children", you know what to blame.
British Brie: Women participants reported having calm, relaxing dreams while men found themselves in silly situations such as having drunken conversations with dogs.
Lancashire: Two-thirds of the participants who ate this cheese found themselves dreaming about work, although only 30% of them dreamt of their real-life occupations. Unless you love your job so much that you actually want to dream about it, it's probably best to steer clear of this cheese before turning in for the night.
Cheddar: Cheddar eaters were said to have dreamt of celebrities. One gal even found herself forming "a human pyramid under the supervision of Johnny Depp." So that explains why Cheddar is the most popular cheese in the U.K.!
Cheshire: Last and actually somewhat least, Cheshire eaters reported having few dreams, but I suppose that it matters little given that 76% of them said that they enjoyed good sleep after having a bit of Cheshire before bed.
So... talk about weird results. I unfortunately don't have any of these cheeses on me at the moment, but I do have a bit of Swiss, and I'll make sure to report back on any interesting dreams I may have. In the meantime, here's a funny piece commissioned by BBC Radio about these findings.
7 comments:
Fascinating stuff.
What happens if you start mixing cheeses? Hopefully more effect without the pesky hangover!
This is Amazing !! have never heard and imagined. " a cheese can actually help you sleep better". Would be anxious to know the result of a Swiss cheese - would check back soon ...
Keep writing such facinating blogs !!
So I guess I know what my new midnight snack should be.
Hey how come nothing new and fascinating has been posted - your blogs are quiet interesting . Even though, i'm not that big of a "cheese" fan !!
Love your blog - I'm a total cheeseaholic myself. I notice that you and I have posted about a few of the same topics. I wrote about this cheese study last fall and mac and cheese and grilled cheese are two topics I come back to fairly often as well.
I'll be sure to pop in here next time I"m going to write a cheese post to see if I can link to one of your posts.
There should be a study done for the most popular cheeses that Americans eat. I wonder what sort of results that would be like, would the American cheeses have the same affects as their British counterparts or would they result in dreams totally different. Hopefully nothing worse than the British cheeses!
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