Hi. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and we're the co hosts of Stuff You Missed in History Class. We are a history podcast that tries to look at the things that maybe we're overlooked in your history classes, maybe not covered in as much detail, or frankly, maybe covered in a way that was not accurate. New episodes come out every Monday and Wednesday on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or anywhere else that podcasts can be listened to. Welcome
to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. What's up, brain Stuff? I'm Christian Sager and it is time for some brain stuff. Have you ever been up alone at night scarfing down some buffalo wings dipped in kim chi and vindaloo, but you fall asleep on the couch and you start having these terrible nightmares? What is up with that? Why does some foods make us have such weird dreams? Well, so far science is yet to find a direct corelation between
certain types of foods and how we dream. But an excessive amount of rich nocturnal eating can interrupt your sleep in a variety of ways. Really, any type of physical discomfort while you're sleeping can lead to bad dreams. But when your tummies are rumbling, that's when the monsters really come scurrying out of that trapdoor in the back of your head. For instance, late night snacks increase both your body's metabolism and temperature, which makes you hot and sweaty,
especially when you have a high carbohydrate meal. Ditto if you have a bunch of doughnuts or candy bars before you pass out. A recent study shows that seven out of ten people who eat junk food before bed are more likely to have nightmares. These researchers hypothesized that the high levels of sugar lead to physical sleep discomfort, which
brought the monsters out from under their beds. Another type of upset stomach that leads to a bad night's sleep is acid reflux, also known as GIRD or just plain old heartburn. More than a third of America have this condition. I'm one of them, where burning, acidic bile comes creeping up your esophagus. If you've had this happened, doctors recommend that you don't eat within three hours of bedtime, and that you try lifting your head forty five degrees to
keep the acid down. Also, you probably shouldn't have citrus onions, carbonated drinks, mint alcohol, or cigarettes before you go to sleep. I know, I know, boring, right, but cutting down on this stuff will keep the sleep goblins away. So it's either be careful what you eat or back to a pit of despair filled with evil clowns for you. Actually, there's an interesting food connection between general anxieties and why
we sleep poorly. When our bodies are stressed, they flush out the mineral magnesium, which increases our mental burden, so we sleep poorly. You can head this off if you eat healthy prior to enduring stressful periods. You retain some magnesium, helping you maintain a normal sleeping pattern. And there's our old friend, insomnia, which can be caused by a variety of food and drinks. How about meat or other high
protein foods. Well, it turns out protein supplies your brain with the amino acid tyrosine, which makes you more alert, and food high in protein is usually also high in fat, which digests slowly, causing a rumble in the bronx. If
you know, the bronx is what you call your belly. Plus, remember how carbohydrates bring on the night sweats while they also speed up tripped to fan and amino acid in your brain that helps you sleep, So if you don't eat enough carbs before bed, it's harder to get to sleep. My recommendation a small carbohydrate snack in the evening will
promote calmness and help you catch some z's. Finally, alcohol and caffeine before bed can make insomnia even worse, so no double fisting coffee and beer, and you probably shouldn't drink energy booze drinks like juice for loco or fusion either. In fact, i'd recommend staying away from drinks with purposely misspelled names. It's just you know, a general a rule.
Even the United States Food and Drug Administration called these drinks a public health concern back in two thousand and ten, and the Center for Disease Control has an entire fact sheet about the dangers of mixing alcohol and energy drinks, and it doesn't even get into the whole not being able to get to sleep thing. So there you have it. Food doesn't necessarily give us nightmares, but the uncomfortable feelings
that come with eating certain meals. Can check out the brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com,