Cheese lovers offered the chance to take part in dreamy UK sleep study

New research has found that while nearly a third of Brits say cheese is one of their favourite foods, almost a quarter of Brits have avoided eating cheese for fear it’ll give them nightmares or vivid dreams. Out of people who reported they’ve had vivid dreams or nightmares after eating cheese, 70% said it was cheddar they’d been eating, 40% said Mozzarella and 35% said Brie. 

To test whether this old wives’ tale is true, sleep company, Emma, is inviting Brits to join a new sleep-science experiment in which they’ll get the chance to eat their favourite cheeses for 15  days, to test the effects on sleep and dreams. 

Teaming up with cheesegeek, Emma will send selected participants a hamper consisting of three types of delicious British festive cheeses, along with a guide on how much cheese to eat before going to bed - they’ll then record their dreams to be analysed by the Emma sleep research team.

Theresa Schnorbach, Sleep Scientist at Emma says, “When it comes to cheese, we know there are elements at work that can have both a positive and negative impact on our sleep - from increasing your REM sleep density to inducing hormone production which aids in regulating your body clock. Through this experiment we’ll explore the extent of these elements, and put this old wives’ tale to the test.”

With Christmas (and cheese board season) fast approaching, the research also found that 32% Brits eat more cheese over the festive period compared to any other time of year. Just over 1 in 7 Brits said that they find they get less sleep over the Christmas period; over a quarter (27%) admit their sleep lessening around the festive period could be linked to their cheese intake at the time. 

The types of festive cheeses provided in the experiment were all found to be some of the most popularly consumed around Christmas - with nearly half of Brits opting for Cheddar and almost a quarter for Brie - so participants will be testing the key suspects in this ‘old wives’ tale’. 

Brits can sign up for the chance to take part by heading here to submit their details. Entrants will be selected in December 2022.