For People with an APPETITE for LIFE!

Welcome to THE MAIN INGREDIENT a place where Food News, Food Politics, Food Culture, Food Fashion & Food Humour meet. Each week you can preview topical foodie matter from my 'Gourmet Lifestyle' radio show called (wait for it) THE MAIN INGREDIENT. Food for the belly & the brain, I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me. Regards Kel

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese

How the hell did I miss this? It's Moldy Cheese Day! Only problem is I’m not sure if it’s a national thing in America or an International event, but who cares? I LOVE cheese. The great thing about Moldy Cheese Day is that it gives me an excuse to give you some interesting cheese facts. Did you know that eating cheese just before bedtime can not only aid a good nights sleep but the type of cheese you choose will affect the type of dreams that you have? A few years ago and in-depth cheese and dreams study was carried out by the British Cheese Board and the study results were quite astonishing. Many people still believe that eating cheese before bedtime will give them nightmares when in fact of the 200 volunteers who participated in the week-long study, 72% slept well every night, 67% remembered their dreams and none recorded experiencing nightmares after eating a 20g piece of cheese half an hour before going to sleep. Cheese contains an amino acid called tryptophan which has been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep so perhaps a late night cheesy snack is not such a bad idea after all. Although you might like to choose your bedtime cheese carefully. 85% of females who ate Stilton had some of the most unusual dreams of the whole study. 65% of people eating Cheddar dreamt about celebrities, over 65% of participants eating Red Leicester revisited their schooldays, all female participants who ate British Brie had nice relaxing dreams whereas male participants had cryptic dreams, two thirds of all those who ate Lancashire had a dream about work and over half of Cheshire eaters had a dreamless sleep. The Cheese and Dreams study was the first study of its kind and the study results suggest that eating cheese before going to bed could turn sleep into a whole new adventure!

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