WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Does Eating Before Bed Give You Nightmares?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogebam here with another classic episode from our former host,

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sagar. Today's topic gets to the bottom of an

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<v Speaker 1>old wives tale. Well, eating before bed really give you nightmares?

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<v Speaker 1>What's up, brain stuff? I'm Christian Sagar and it is

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<v Speaker 1>time for some brain stuff. Have you ever been up

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<v Speaker 1>alone at night scarfing down some buffalo wings dipped in

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<v Speaker 1>kim chee and vindaloo, but you fall asleep on the

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<v Speaker 1>couch and you start having these terrible nightmares? What is

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<v Speaker 1>up with that? Why does some foods make us have

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<v Speaker 1>such weird dreams? Well, so far science is yet to

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<v Speaker 1>find a direct correlation between certain types of foods and

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<v Speaker 1>how we dream. But an excessive amount of rich nocturnal

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<v Speaker 1>eating can interrupt your sleep in a variety of ways. Really,

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<v Speaker 1>any type of physical discomfort while you're sleeping can lead

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<v Speaker 1>to bad dreams. But when your tummies are rumbling, that's

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<v Speaker 1>when the monsters really come scurrying out of that trapdoor

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<v Speaker 1>in the back of your head. For instance, late night

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<v Speaker 1>snacks increase both your body's metabolism and temperature, which makes

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<v Speaker 1>you hot and sweaty, especially when you have a high

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<v Speaker 1>carbohydrate meal. Ditto if you have a bunch of doughnuts

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<v Speaker 1>or candy bars before you pass out. A recent study

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<v Speaker 1>shows that seven out of ten people who eat junk

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<v Speaker 1>food before bed are more likely to have nightmares. These

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<v Speaker 1>researchers hypothesized that the high levels of sugar lead to

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<v Speaker 1>physical sleep discomfort, which brought the monsters out from under

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<v Speaker 1>their beds. Another type of upset stomach that leads to

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<v Speaker 1>a bad night's sleep is acid reflux, also known as

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<v Speaker 1>GIRD or just plain old heartburn. More than a third

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<v Speaker 1>of Americans have this condition. I'm one of them, where

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<v Speaker 1>burning acidic bile comes creeping up your esophagus. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>had this happened, doctors recommend that you don't eat within

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<v Speaker 1>three hours of bedtime, and that you try lifting your

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<v Speaker 1>head forty five degrees to keep the acid down. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>you probably shouldn't have citrus onions, carbonated drinks, mint alcohol,

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<v Speaker 1>or cigarettes before you go to sleep. I know, I know, boring, right,

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<v Speaker 1>but cutting down on this stuff will keep the sleep

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<v Speaker 1>goblins away. So it's either be careful what you eat

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<v Speaker 1>or back to a pit of despair filled with evil

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<v Speaker 1>clowns for you. Actually there's an interesting food connection between

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<v Speaker 1>general anxieties and why we sleep poorly. When our bodies

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<v Speaker 1>are stressed, they flush out the mineral magnesium, which increases

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<v Speaker 1>our mental burden, so we sleep poorly. You can head

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<v Speaker 1>this off if you eat healthy prior to enduring stressful periods.

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<v Speaker 1>You retain some magnesium, helping you maintain a normal sleeping pattern.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's our old friend, insomnia, which can be caused

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<v Speaker 1>by a variety of food and drinks. How about meat

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<v Speaker 1>or other high protein foods. Well, it turns out protein

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<v Speaker 1>supplies your brain with the amino acid tyrosine, which makes

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<v Speaker 1>you more alert, and food high in protein is usually

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<v Speaker 1>also high in fat, which digests slowly, causing a rumble

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<v Speaker 1>in the bronx. If you know, the bronx is what

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<v Speaker 1>you call your belly. Plus, remember how carbohydrates bring on

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<v Speaker 1>the night sweats while they also speed up tripped to

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<v Speaker 1>fan and amino acid in your brain that helps you sleep.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you don't eat enough carbs before bed, it's

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<v Speaker 1>harder to get to sleep. My recommendation a small carbohydrate

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<v Speaker 1>snack in the evening will promote calmness and help you

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<v Speaker 1>catch some zs. Finally, alcohol and caffeine before bed can

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<v Speaker 1>make insomnia even worse. So no double fisting coffee and beer,

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<v Speaker 1>and you probably shouldn't drink energy booze drinks like juice

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<v Speaker 1>for loco or fusion either. In fact, i'd recommend staying

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<v Speaker 1>away from drinks with purposely misspelled names. It's just, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a general rule. Even the United States Food and Drug

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<v Speaker 1>Administration called these drinks a public health concern back in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and ten. In the Center for Disease Control

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<v Speaker 1>has an entire fact sheet about the dangers of mixing

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<v Speaker 1>alcohol and energy drinks, and it doesn't even get into

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<v Speaker 1>the whole not being able to get to sleep thing.

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<v Speaker 1>So there you have it. Food doesn't necessarily give us nightmares,

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<v Speaker 1>but the uncomfortable feelings that come with eating certain meals can.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Christian and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>If you missed Christian, check out his pop culture podcast

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<v Speaker 1>super Context, available wherever you listen to podcasts, and of course,

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<v Speaker 1>for more on this and lots of other topics that

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<v Speaker 1>will have you sleep in better, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot com.