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"In the last couple of years, I have become a total spice hound. I seriously can&amp;#39;t pass up spicy foods, especially when they involve copious amounts of chile or salsa. I have also noticed that, in the last couple of years, my dreams have gotten distinctly more anxiety-filled (weirdly, they usually involve my having to take care of a clutch of kittens out in the wild somewhere!). Coincidence?\nPinterestFacebookHa, well, yes...I&amp;#39;m being dramatic, of course. But it&amp;#39;s been an old wives&amp;#39; tale for eons: eat something spicy before bed, and you&amp;#39;re setting yourself up for nightmares. But the fact is, eating anything too close to bedtime can trigger dreams, according to Dr. Charles Bae, MD, a sleep medicine doctor at Sleep Disorders Center at the Cleveland Clinic. Why? Because the late night food causes an increase in your body&amp;#39;s metabolism and temperature.\nWe only dream during periods of REM, which occur about every 90 minutes. And nightmares just happen to be quite memorable, because they&amp;#39;re usually scary enough to wake us up. So when our bodies are working to digest food, there&amp;#39;s a better chance our sleep continuity will be interrupted. That&amp;#39;s why Lisa Medalie, a clinical associate of psychiatry at University of Chicago, advises patients to avoid heavy or spicy foods within two to three hours of bedtime--to cut down on the nightmares!\nHave you ever noticed you get nightmares after eating anything in particular? (PS: lots more on healthy sleep here!)\nPhoto: CN Digital Studio"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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