Can Garlic Cause Nightmares?

Can Garlic Cause Nightmares? (Answered!)

by
Garlic isn’t ordinarily named as a food that can cause nightmares. That said, any food that causes nightmares mostly does so by disrupting your sleep, resulting in higher dream recall. This could happen with garlic for anyone who was sensitive enough to it.

 

So, the simple answer is yes, it could.

The more complex answer, though, is that garlic is just one of many foods which could cause disruption to your sleep, and result in bad dreams or nightmares.

Anything that causes your sleep not to be as deep as it ought to be, stands a chance of doing this.

Can Garlic Cause Nightmares?

 

Does garlic give you nightmares?

We will get into exactly what causes dreams shortly, but let me first just say that there is nothing chemically innate in garlic that causes the brain to dream more, or have bad dreams.

That said, eating garlic, or at least a lot of garlic, shortly before bed can indeed cause nightmares.

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that this would be true of many foods.

Food itself, even the blandest food, stands a chance of doing this. something like garlic, with a complex flavor profile, stands an even higher chance of upsetting your stomach, which can lead to nightmares and bad dreams.

It’s largely going to depend on the person, then.

If you often have digestive trouble after eating a lot of garlic, then the likelihood of it causing nightmares when you try to sleep are increased. For someone without a sensitive stomach, it may not be as much of an issue.

The most important thing, though, is going to be how soon after eating it that you try to sleep.

Let’s look into why garlic can give you nightmares, then.

 

Why does garlic give you nightmares?

So, as I’ve so far suggested, most of the problem comes from the fact that garlic can be a bit much for sensitive stomachs.

It’s all to do with how and why we dream and remember our dreams in the first place.

It’s an issue of sleep cycles.

Each night, our sleep goes through a number of cycles, some deeper than others.

Most dreaming occurs in REM sleep, the deepest stage of sleep.

For many of us, how much we feel we dreamt the night before revolves around how much of our dreams we remember.

When you have eaten something like garlic before bed, which can upset your stomach, this disrupts your REM sleep.

If you are more active in this cycle of your sleep, you will have higher dream recall.

Your stomach being upset or in pain could cause the dreams to take on a more uncomfortable mood.

So, as you can see, the thing about garlic that might cause nightmares are the same in many foods.

How to stop them, then, is the next question.

 

How to stop nightmares from garlic

The first thing to do is to try and create a large gap between eating anything and going to sleep.

You certainly should avoid strong, flavorful foods like garlic right before bed.

This is your best shot—just eat 3-4 hours, at least, before you go to bed.

Other than that, you can try to establish a more well-rounded bedtime routine that should help calm your mind and prepare your body for bed.

Basic relaxation techniques, such as meditation and aromatherapy, go a long way to establishing a good baseline for getting a good night’s rest.

Preparing yourself for bed should really take around 30-45 minutes, for your routine to be properly preparatory.

The best thing you can do when it comes to garlic, though, is to just stop eating it right before bed.

Like I said, 3-4 hours is a good rule of thumb, but longer would be better.

 

Can garlic cause night terrors?

Night terrors are another question entirely.

The simple answer is garlic is very unlikely to cause night terrors in anyone who isn’t already predisposed to nightmares.

Children tend to have a much higher proclivity for night terrors than adults.

For those people, garlic consumption shortly before bed could well make the situation worse.

So, again, for a child who already has problems with night terrors, eating a complex food like garlic right before bed is indeed quite likely to make the issue worse.

It’s unlikely to cause them otherwise, though.

 

 

So, garlic is a fairly complex food, then.

It’s extremely flavorful, and will keep you pretty stimulated if you eat it right before bed.

As with more or less any food, eating it before bed can be bad news.

Garlic itself does not cause nightmares in a way that other foods do not, but any food can realistically cause nightmares if eaten too soon before bed.

There are steps you can take to ensure you get a deeper, more comfortable sleep.

 

More in nightmares

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

Leave a Comment