Spicy food is the cause of nightmares
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Scientists from the University of Cleveland managed to find an unexpected pattern: too spicy food can provoke bright nightmares. Eating before bedtime in any case speeds up the metabolism in the body, and food, generously seasoned with spices - doubly. In addition, spicy food helps increase body temperature. The set of actions occurring in the body leads to increased brain activity and, as a result, to nightmares.
Nightmares arise during the period of fast sleep and are considered a non-physiological disorder of sleep. The phase of fast sleep lasts in an adult from 5 to 40 minutes, the child - from 5 to 25-30 minutes. It is during this period that a bright, realistic dream usually appears in the person's mind, which usually ends with a sharp awakening and the subsequent realization that it was a dream. Among the main causes of nightmares, physicians usually allocate stress, reaction to medications or narcotic substances, too strong mental stress.
Scientists from the state of Ohio (USA) conducted a study in which it was found that food that was eaten at least 3 hours before bedtime can have an effect on dreams. Recently, state psychologists have noted a high number of complaints about nightmares from adults. Statistics say that in adults nightmares are quite rare (in people over 35 years - no more than once every few months). In the course of the experiment, 120 adults were interviewed, who over the last year complained of anxiety caused by night visions. Usually nightmares are a bright and subconscious manifestation of those emotions that a person tries not to show in real life. The most common stories that "come" in dreams: traps, from which it is difficult to get out, fall from high floors, loss of important data or documents. Also, experts asked participants questions about the food they usually take before bed, about the amount of alcohol consumed, about favorite television programs.
In the process of analyzing the data obtained, scientists managed to establish a visible pattern: lovers of acute, in particular Mexican food, 2.5 times more often complained to psychologists of nightmares. Having examined this information, doctors do not recommend eating very sharp food several hours before bedtime. The recommendation is explained by the fact that nightmares usually occur during the fast phase of sleep (up to 1 hour from the moment of falling asleep). Acute food triggers a metabolism, resulting in increased brain activity, which is responsible for the emergence of a "picture" of what is happening in a dream.
However, doctors do not call for the refusal to eat spicy food. The action that hot pepper has on the metabolism, can promote weight loss. Capsaicin, which is contained in hot pepper, can increase the heart rate and raise the temperature of the human body. The sensation of heat that appears after a small portion of Mexican soup, for example, is not accidental. Hot pepper, which is certainly present in the composition, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, simultaneously expanding them, which favorably affects blood pressure.
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