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Yes, that is a Freddy Krueger-inspired cheese nightmare man, and he goes by the name ‘Cheddy Krueger’.

No, I will not apologise.

We all know that eating cheese before bed leads to nightmares, right? Right? I want to believe it’s true, so I can outsource the horrors that wake me up in the middle of the night, but maybe we should get some words of wisdom from the experts.

The Telegraph put a series of gut and digestion-related questions to advanced dietetic practitioner Anna Hardman and London nutritionist Lily Soutter, and let’s start with the obvious…

Does eating cheese before bedtime really give you nightmares? 

You will be pleased to know you can eat cheese before bed as there is limited evidence to suggest that it gives you nightmares. This myth came from A Christmas Carol when Ebenezer Scrooge ate a crumb of cheese and had ghostly nightmares.

It is thought the tyramine found in cheese could be linked with nightmares, however this evidence is weak and inconclusive. It is well evidenced, however, that eating rich foods high in fat such as cheese may cause indigestion, so if you are eating rich foods late at night indigestion may alter your sleeping pattern.

Those altered sleeping patterns could lead to nightmares, but you can’t pin it all on the cheese.

I would suggest that you eat as much cheese as you please, and deal with any nightmares as they arise. You only live once. #blessed.

On to another important issue:

Can food really ‘soak up’ alcohol after a night out?

Enjoying a kebab after a night out of drinking won’t ‘soak up’ the alcohol you’ve consumed. However, when you eat a meal prior or alongside to drinking, it slows the rate at which alcohol is absorbed in the small intestine.

Maybe you can combine these two and eat cheese before drinking. You’re wild like that.

Let’s tick off a few more questions while you’re here:

Do you have to chew 20 times before swallowing? 

Chewing 20 times before swallowing has historically been taught to aid digestion and reduce choking risk in children. In the mouth the food mixes with saliva to begin the process of breaking food down into a form your body can absorb. But it doesn’t matter if you chew your food five or 20 times – you just need to chew it until you are able to swallow it safely.

A question for the ages next…

Do beans really make people produce more gas than other food groups?

Everyone passes gas, it’s is a natural part of digestion. Some foods do tend to produce more gas than others and this includes beans. Gas producing foods often contain a sugar called an oligosaccharides, which can be difficult to break down and subsequently produces gas as part of the breaking down process.

I say blame the dog and/or child in the house. Works 60% of the time, every time.

Should we drink eight glasses of water a day? 

The NHS says we should drink six to eight glasses of fluid a day. However requirements can very from person to person depending on exercise levels. A good way to check if you’re dehydrated would be to assess the colour of your urine – if dark then you need to drink more water, and if a pale straw colour then you are hydrated.  Fluid includes more than just plain water, but also tea, coffee, milk and even fruit juice.

When in doubt, always remember to stay hydrated.

For the rest of those gut and digestion-related questions, you can head here.

[source:telegraph]