Thread: Most Effective Lucid Dream Inducing Foods

Blue Cheese seems to be particularly potent for me, particularly Roquefort and Stilton Blue. Other cheeses (Strong, aged cheeses, such as aged Gouda) have varied effects; YMMV.

I have come to the conclusion that Curry/Cumin is a psychoactive substance, as I've had some exceptionally vivid dreams during an after-lunch nap, right after a trip to the Indian restaurant.

Eating Lamb seems to also have a bit of an effect, particularly if it's in the form of Raw Kibbe. This is basically like a Lebanese steak Tartare, which must be slaughtered shortly before a very careful preparation.

Certain Teas/Juices seem to also have an effect. Perhaps it's the vitamins, or antioxidants or something.

Mangoes they are so good and so great for dreaming!!!

I have noticed that for vividness, which lead to more enjoyment and dream recall, apple juice, banana and peach help a lot. Also I will second the Green Tea, but its a high risk/high reward because sometimes (albeit not so frequently) instead of helping me sleep it keeps me up at night as if I consumed a highly-sugared beverage.

I have had only one lucid dream and that was when I didn't even know what they were. The weird thing was that I did something I never did before sleep that night... I ate a whole grapefruit right before bed. I had a completely lucid dream that scared the living crap out of me. I thought I might be dying ! I struggled to wake up which wasn't easy and the next morning I went straight to the University bookstore to look for a text book on dreams (this was pre-internet) where I read about lucid dreams.

I haven't tried the late night Grapefruit again but now as I am trying to get lucid I think I will try it and some of the other ideas I have read here.

Noob here. I found this site researching foods that may be causing my intense dream states, not because I seek out lucid dreaming, but because I prefer to avoid the intense dreams I have at times. I am a very experienced psychonaut. I am a strong advocate of the use of ayahuasca, pharmahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, and smokable DMT for inner and outer exploration and explanation. I much prefer the more predictable and reliable psychological states associated with experiences induced by these substances to the less focused dream states I experience. That being said, what brought me here was a search for an explanation of my increasingly intense dreams over the past year that I have found to have some very reliable correlations to my diet.
I think my anecdotal experiences may be freer from bias and treatment effect than many posts here because the analysis of my diet has always been after the fact, in response to having had intense dream experiences, rather than from pre-planning a diet in an attempt to achieve them. There has never been any forethought in my dietary choices. There have been a lot of "A ha!, that makes sense" experiences upon reflecting on the prior night's experiences.
I'm not going to go into the profoundly intense nature of my dreams, other than to say that they are on the order of experience similar to a DMT/ayahuasca experience which for the uninitiated is hundreds of times stronger than LSD or psilocybin.
The foods which induce these states in me contain high levels of B vitamins and tryptophan. In order of significance for me these foods are wakame & hijiki seaweed salad with seaweed agar, dried nori seaweed, halvah(sesame seed) confection, sesame oil, and extra dark chocolate/unsweetened cocoa. Increased green tea intake combined with these foods also seems to potentiate the effect, however, I have had none in the past two months and the dreams I have had in the past few nights have been almost as intense as those I had earlier in the year when my tea intake was very high. As far as quantity of foods consumed, over the past 2 days I have consumed: approximately 16 ounces of prepared seaweed salad that is available at most asian/japanese markets or sushi bars, 2 full sheets of dried nori seaweed, 3 ounces of extra dark cocoa powder(in home made baked goods and home made ice cream), 3 ounces of sesame oil(added to seaweed salad and salmon sashimi), and 6+ ounces of halvah.
Every time I have dreams that are this intense and then go back and think about my diet, these foods are usually present in binge quantities. I have not yet experimented in trying to induce lucid dreams proactively with these foods in a systematic way. About one year ago I had my most earth shattering dream experiences with a similar combination of foods, but even more halvah plus 3 daily multivitamins(high in B vitamins) capsules plus over a gallon of green tea per day.
I hope this info is of use to someone on some level. I am interested in hearing other's experiences with these foods.

I've have had some experiments with some of the more "luxury cheese", I dont know what kind of cheese every one I tried was, but I have had some lucid dreams after eating these an hour before bed. But as some one already have described in this thread, there is an special cheese that is called "Stilton" It's either blue or white. Here is the interesting part of this stilton cheese from wikipedia:

A 2005 survey carried out by the British Cheese Board reported that Stilton cheese seemed to cause unusual dreams when eaten before sleep, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing "odd and vivid" dreams after eating a 20-gram serving of the cheese half an hour prior to sleeping

And with a fat content of 35%. A 20gram intake before bed would not be a problem when it comes to calories I think. Since 20 gram of this blue cheese would be only 70 calories. The calories of one apple would be around 70 calories too. This could be a quite good natural dream booster as it seems. Well I got to get that stilton blue cheese for sure!

Interesting. I have had Stilton hundreds of times. I used to own, manage and chef at 4 different restaurants and had Stilton on a cheese list of over 50 cheeses at any one time. It is one of my favorite blue cheeses. Perhaps I will try it before bed sometime. A great and unusual(to some) way to serve it is drizzled with honey with freshly cracked black pepper over top. eat it with a small piece of french bread or a water cracker. It shoiuld be served with a nice Sauternes sweet white dessert wine. This is considered a classic food and wine pairing. I also remember reading elsewhere that some of the heavily ripened, stinky washed rind cheeses may also have some mental effects. Stilton is definitely a cheese to try if you have never had it. Enjoy.

Where do you guys buy your Stilton cheese? I can't find any in my local grocery stores, might have to try Walmart or something. I'm thinking online might be better but best I can't find seem to be very expensive.

Where do you guys buy your Stilton cheese? I can't find any in my local grocery stores, might have to try Walmart or something. I'm thinking online might be better but best I can't find seem to be very expensive.

I would recommend you to go to a market hall, and as soon as you find a market booth that specialize in cheese. Then you probably most likley find some Stilton. It doesnt need to be that expensive either, it depends on how little or much you want to buy of course. Good luck finding your cheese!

You only find real Stilton cheese in the uk, and it is produced in only three counties officially, so wiki tells me, so unless you can find a good supplier of this stuff overseas, chances of obtaining the real thing outside the UK are slim, sorry. However i can testify that stilton produces some vivid and bizarre dreams, i eat a fair bit over the christmas holidays and my dreams are always a bit mroe intense during this time, but i just thought it was an old wives tale, poppycock, i may have to reevaluate my thinking!

TheYellowOne, you certainly know your cheese facts! Well at least here in Sweden, Im able to find Stilton at many places that specialize in cheese. But maybe that's the case because UK and Sweden is pretty close to eachother. Well I got to say that the first time I tasted blue Stilton, I was very suprised how good it was. And even more suprised how vivid and good recall I had after the first try. I did get a lucid dream at the first try too. Good stuff for sure!

hehe dreamybear, the joys of living in the EU hey

Yeah, stilton has a wonderful taste, so creamy too, i love to bake potatoes in the oven for a while, then slice them in half, scoop out the insides, mix together with stilton and cherry tomatoe chunks and refill the potatoe skin and place back in the oven, it infuses the potatoes wonderfully, ideal for cold winter nights, but for a quick snack you cant beat roasting a big flat mushroom with a chunk of stilton on top, when it melts its ready

This morning before bed (i work nights) i did something out of character, i drank some beer, just 1 pint, and i woke up 2 hours later after having some of the most vivid dreams of recent weeks, too vivid for NREM sleep i think, im sure the beer must have played a part in that. I dont eat when i get home from work, maybe i should try a baked potatoe tonight! With stilton obviously!

Haha yeah that's right TheYellowOne! A bit hard to slice, but creamy for sure! That's a very good combination actually. Aaw now you made me hungy. Well, that sounds like some really delicious ideas right there! Hmm.. maybe it is a beer one should drink before sleep instead. No, but that's awesome that you had some crazy vivid night, nice!^^ Ah, that baked potatoe with some stilton got to be a good lucid meal. I say, go for it!

The most influential food that I've experienced so far on my dreams has been a cheap grocery-store pepperoni pizza. It gives me indigestion every time because of the garlic, and I know I'm not supposed to eat it, but I like it soooooo muuuuuch...

oh my goodness, there it is, the perfect dream food, Pizza!

I have had banana on a pizza before, not a whole banana, i usually eat the other half uncooked while waiting for pizza, banana on pizza is definitely an acquired taste, and i very rarely eat pizza without chilled mango chutney, but combine all this with a nice helping of rich blue veined stilton and i might end up tripping while i sleep... Will try this sometime in the week

A bit late ik but bananas(eat 2 of these guaranteed dream) I can't imagine what eating 5-10 could do