“Eating cheese before bed gives you nightmares.”

The notion that consuming cheese before bed leads to unsettling dreams has a rich history, largely popularized in Western culture through literature and early media. Charles Dickens famously contributed to this idea in "A Christmas Carol" (1843), where Ebenezer Scrooge attributed his ghostly visions to "a crumb of cheese" among other indigestible foods. Later, the early 20th-century comic strip "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend" by Winsor McCay further cemented this association, depicting characters experiencing bizarre nightmares after eating Welsh rarebit, a melted cheese dish. These cultural references helped embed the belief into common folklore.

Despite its enduring presence in popular belief, scientific evidence directly linking cheese to nightmares is not robust. In fact, cheese contains tryptophan, an amino acid that the body uses to produce serotonin and melatonin, hormones crucial for regulating sleep and promoting relaxation. Therefore, in moderation, cheese is more likely to support restful sleep rather than disrupt it. However, recent research suggests a nuanced connection: a 2025 study found an association between dairy consumption and nightmares, particularly for individuals with lactose intolerance. The digestive discomfort, such as gas or stomach pain, caused by lactose intolerance can disrupt sleep quality and indirectly influence dream content, leading to more vivid or disturbing dreams.

People commonly believe this myth due to a combination of cultural reinforcement and personal experience. When a belief is widely circulated, individuals are more prone to notice and remember instances that seem to confirm it, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. Additionally, eating any heavy or fatty food late at night, including some cheeses, can lead to indigestion and discomfort, which can indeed disturb sleep and make dreams more memorable or unpleasant. For those with undiagnosed food sensitivities like lactose intolerance, the physical symptoms experienced during the night can easily be misinterpreted as the cheese itself causing nightmares, rather than the underlying digestive issue.