Diet and dreams

[Athena]

Does anyone have experience with a change in diet that led to a change in the quality of their dreams?

I am phasing into a vegan diet, and find that on days that I eat clean, only plant foods, my dreams are ALWAYS sweet and sunny.

On days that I have ANY meat in my diet, especially at dinner or before I go to sleep, I have uncharacteristically violent or gory dreams.

=
There aren't any conscious thought precursors- like I don't think about the animal's life or violence or anything during the day or after I have those meals. Consciously, I am neutral to plant or animal food, originally planned to switch to vegetarian simply for optimization. And I've noticed this happening just this year, when now most of my diet is vegan (occasionally have meat dishes when dining out or when sharing meals with the family on holidays), feels almost as though my overall vibration is higher and I'm now more sensitive to certain things.

It might simply be biochemical. Or is there a metaphysical explanation? does the memory of the brutal life of the animal get encoded in the cells, then released in my body and into my subconscious?
I also noticed that the dreams are often environmentally related- for instance, after a meal of fish, I had dreams of drowning; after I had duck, I dreamed I was on a farm on burnt grass being chased by some kind of impending doom; after chicken, of being in a crowded, dark room, etc.

Consciously,
I also notice very subtly, that my thoughts tend toward the anxious/fearful side in the hours after I have a meal with meat. Much different from after I have a vegan raw meal, where following I feel more spiritually energized.


Any ideas or similar experience about what causes this change?

[Antarananda]

According to the Upanishads, the subtlest essence of digested food goes to form the mind. Meat is laden with the vibration of fear and suffering which the animal experienced just prior to slaughter (biochemically this could be explained as the body secreting a flood of stress hormones which enter muscle tissue). So, essentially, you imbibe that consciousness when you eat meat.

[Athena]

ah I see! Thanks for the explanation, Antarananda. If this is entirely biochemical, then I guess the stress hormones are preserved in form even after meat is cooked, and they can have the same effect on our bodies as the animal's?

[Antarananda]

Yes, but since the hormones break down in minutes in the muscle, and cooking at high temperatures creates further toxic byproducts, it's a lot different from the hormone in its "clean" form acting on the receptors in our bodies. Ingestion of hormones is more toxic than natural production in the body.

But fundamentally, and this is from a metaphysical perspective, the ill-effects of meat on the mind are primarily because you are ingesting food which is absent in prana, or vital energy (known as qi in Chinese philosophy). Foods highest in prana (for example sprouts) are life-sustaining, and lead to spiritual clarity, but foods with zero prana are life-damaging. So, while meat creates much muscular bulk, it hampers clarity in the mind.

A simple experiment can illustrate the presence or absence of prana in foods: take three plates, one with a slice of raw meat, one with a slice of bread, and a third with some unsprouted grains. Sprinkle water on each dish, and observe every day. The meat will decompose within hours (because it is dead tissue), the bread will get moldy after a few days, whereas the grains will sprout into a very nutritionally dense food.

[Cron]

It is a fairly common and time honored folk observation ( backed up by a bit of medical science ) that eating close to bed time can cause disturbing dreams.

Keep going vegan

[Athena]

Thanks, Antarananda! That makes sense now. It also helps to understand how live foods feel so much better and more energizing-- there's definitely more to it than just calories and nutrients, and I can definitely feel the factor of the live energy of the food.


Cron, nope, it's not a meal timing issue, I always leave at least 3 hours before bed. The only variable here was the quality of the meal.

And yea, it's definitely really easy now to stay with clean and natural foods!



Thanks again

[Sheehan]

I believe that sleep patterns affect dreams much, much more than diet, but what you eat before sleeping certainly has an effect. I can correlate this because I keep a dream journal and also a food log.

'Soft' foods - foods which give a sense of relaxation after eating them seem to be great in triggering lucid dreams. Fresh, green vegetables are good examples of this. And the less you cook vegetables, the better they are to eat.

I've also noticed that consuming fish oil positively affects dreams, i.e., the level of lucidity and the overall vividness increases. Your mileage may vary.

[Athena]

That's interesting. Though I feel energized after eating fresh vegetables, still see what you mean with the clarity and vividness of dreams.


I am tempted to say that nightmares may not be a normal phenomenon. It seems, they are avoided completely when the mind and body are clean.

[cookie lee]

I am doing a research proposal paper in psychology and was wondering if anyone has found any interesting information regarding the correllation between diet and dreams. I have tried to surf the internet but keep finding dream interpretation stuff, I want something more like a study or research or hypotheses. Anyone know?

It would be extremely helpful, thank you!!

[Andrew Brunelle]

I experiened quite a sharp increase in the vividity and lucidity of my dreams after changing my diet to "almost vegan." I find it fascinating that every night I remember anywhere from 1 to 6 separate dreams and all of them are fascinating in nature. A couple of lucid dreams so far as well. Most of the dreams are not violent, although recently I did experience a violent dream and it was a day when I did consume meat products. Strange, but true. I can also say I had peaceful dreams when I did consume meat products, too, so I cannot really say one way or the other how diet affects dreams, except in the rememberance and vividity categories.