Lucid dreams when I don't eat protein before bed

Ben

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RP recommended that high protein meals be consumed in the morning, and high fat/sugar at night before bed (like ice cream). It was very noticeable that when I didn't eat cheese before bed, if I was too lazy to get up and eat some, I would have lucid dreams all night long. It's a very consistent result.

So I'm not sure if this is a good effect or a bad effect. I enjoy the lucid dreams, and I can't recall them ever being nightmares. They are interesting, usually about parties, school, and other public social gatherings. I had a couple experiences in which it appeared my dreams mimicked my physiological state. I had a nightmare when I ate something bad and was about to puke. After I tried some psychoactive substance, my dreams were weird for days after, and three days after I dreamed about a waterfall, then woke up realizing I was peeing. So logically, since the dreams are interesting and even sometimes interesting, it could reflect a good physiological state. If the lack of protein caused buildup of estrogen and serotonin because the liver doesn't have enough amino acids to metabolize and excrete them, I would expect it to cause nightmares.

Lucid dreaming could reflect increased REM sleep, or reduced depth of sleep causing more wakefulness. It would help to hear of the experiences of more people to determine whether it's positive or negative. I wonder if RP has an opinion on lucid dreaming as well.
 

Stilgar

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When you say lucid dreaming, do you mean true lucid dreaming where you can control your dreams or just very vivid dreams?
 
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Ben

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Usually I recall several dreams when I don't eat protein before bed. I'm not aware that I'm dreaming, but I can actually think in my dreams. For example, in a dream last night I pondered on whether I should put a person's name and city of residence on my phone, or put something memorable about them so I remember them. They are indeed vivid. They aren't fantastical, but include novel social situations, so maybe that's why I mistake them for reality.
 

Stilgar

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I think it depends. For me, when I dream vividly, especially when it doesn't seem to stop all night, I tend to feel more tired the next day. It never feels really positive. I am not sure I believe in the idea that dreams are for processing or analysing behaviour for some future end. My brain feels over stimulated in this state. It is worse if I wake up a lot - jolted up by the stressful dreams. Mild, pleasant dreaming, however, is lovely for me.

The times I have lucid dreamed and fully controlled things and "become awake" in my dream, I have woken quite exhausted and it puts me in a very contemplative mood. I like it, though. I guess I just find it intellectually awesome, as I do with some of the intense dreaming.

So with protein idea, do you think that when you don't eat it, your blood sugar is more balanced at night and the compensatory stress hormones lower, so your brain is, in effect, more conscious in the dream state and able to recall? It is definitely interesting and I will be more attentive of that.

Maybe it is worth noting that I tend to lucid dream when I take Piracetam, a nootropic smart drug. I think it is connected by improving acetylcholine based neurotransmitters, connected to memory and recall. Is there a connection with this system and sugar or stress? Doesn't seem far fetched.
 

paper_clips43

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Thats interesting about the protein before bed. I noticed when I was Paleo I would always have stressful sleeping and dreams if I had a lot of meat before bed.

I had cherries, an ounce of cheese, some coco oil and a soda last night before bed and had some rather pleasant dreams. I might try keeping out the cheese for a couple nights and see the effects.

I have a tendency towards bad dreams and have all my life. I am not sure if it is more than the average person although it does feel like it. They mostly consists of stressful situations and fighting people.

They seemed to have improved since I have started Peating though.

Have you heard of or read Carlos Castanadas book The Art of Dreaming?

I haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet although my roommate has and has told me a lot about it. I have also been implementing some of his techniques to induce lucid dreaming. I can report back if I get any positive results.
 
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Ben

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Stilgar said:
I think it depends. For me, when I dream vividly, especially when it doesn't seem to stop all night, I tend to feel more tired the next day. It never feels really positive. I am not sure I believe in the idea that dreams are for processing or analysing behaviour for some future end. My brain feels over stimulated in this state. It is worse if I wake up a lot - jolted up by the stressful dreams. Mild, pleasant dreaming, however, is lovely for me.

The times I have lucid dreamed and fully controlled things and "become awake" in my dream, I have woken quite exhausted and it puts me in a very contemplative mood. I like it, though. I guess I just find it intellectually awesome, as I do with some of the intense dreaming.

So with protein idea, do you think that when you don't eat it, your blood sugar is more balanced at night and the compensatory stress hormones lower, so your brain is, in effect, more conscious in the dream state and able to recall? It is definitely interesting and I will be more attentive of that.

Maybe it is worth noting that I tend to lucid dream when I take Piracetam, a nootropic smart drug. I think it is connected by improving acetylcholine based neurotransmitters, connected to memory and recall. Is there a connection with this system and sugar or stress? Doesn't seem far fetched.
Just looked up "lucid dreaming" on a search engine. I thought "lucid" meant vivid, so the title is inaccurate.

I think lucid dreaming is caused by incomplete inactivation of the area of the brain responsible for initiating conscious concentration, action, and some other executive functions. When a person is dreaming, they are in a state of observation and intuitive action.

This brain area is located above the far left side of the forehead. An electromagnetic phone coil could be connected to an mp3 player with a fast-wave track to deliver fast faves to this area, but I'm not sure if the signal would be strong enough to cause actual lucid dreaming. Maybe I'll try it. Since my dreams are predictably vivid when I don't eat protein, the only thing missing would be lucidity.

Protein causing low blood sugar is definitely a possibility. Acetylcholine is greatly involved in REM sleep, and its release in the cortex is highest during REM sleep and wakefulness, so that's how piracetam achieves this effect. Anticholinergics achieve a dreamlike state with little executive functions preserved, and this is responsible for the terrible experiences that people have had with them.
 

Parsifal

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It is said that the pineal gland can produce DMT a molecule very lose to LSD and you can find it in the chamanic drug Ayahuasca, I guess it has something to do in dreaming, out of body experiences, hallucinations, etc.

I guess that serotoninergic neurones/melatonin have to do something with it, even though I don't have clues about the connexion, if that is close to LSD it may be anti-serotoninergic or present when you have less serotonin/inflammation and meaning that you have low inflammation/stress, so following a Peat diet might help?
Though it would not explain why acetylcholine helps to activate vivid/lucid dreaming if that is a stress hormone according to RP.

I wondered if you guys had some tips to improve vizualisation/imagination/memory (short and long term) skills as well following a Peat diet? I have poor vizualisation skills lately (would like to develop it for drawing) and since my health issues and my dreams are really less vivid as well.
 

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