You must have often seen people with vivid memories of their dreams, which left you wondering why you don't remember yours. In fact, some people remember the next day all they dreamt, almost every night. And, all you got is some flashes, maybe, but nothing concrete. If you also wish to remember your dreams better, this article might help you. A recently conducted study claims that consuming vitamin B6 in adequate amounts may build up your eidetic memory and help you retain all your dreams in your brain and recall them the next morning. The findings of the study were published in the journal - Perceptual and Motor Skills.
Research author Dr Denholm Aspy, from the University's School of Psychology, said, "This is the first time that such a study into the effects of vitamin B6 and other B vitamins on dreams has been carried out on a large and diverse group of people," Our results show that taking vitamin B6 improved people's ability to recall dreams as compared to a placebo."
A total number of 100 participants from in and around Australia were employed for the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. They were given high-dose of vitamin B6 supplements (240mg) at bedtime for five consecutive days.
By the end of the study, many participants revealed that they rarely remembered their dreams before starting with the high vitamin B6 intake; but after taking in the nutrient regularly, they experienced a lot of improvement. It was also found that Vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness or colour of their dreams, and also did not affect their sleep patterns.
(Also Read: Deficiency In B Vitamins Linked To Mental Illnesses In Adolescents)
B vitamins can be obtained from multiple food sources
"The average person spends around six years of their lives dreaming. If we are able to become lucid and control our dreams, we can then use our dreaming time more productively," Dr Aspy added.
To memorise your dreams and recall them later, you can have the following foods that contain vitamin B6 in abundance –
- Whole-grain cereals
- Legumes
- Fruits (such as banana and avocado)
- Vegetables (such as spinach and potato)
- Milk
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Red meat
- Liver
- Fish
(Also Read: 5 Healthy Bedtime Drinks To Get A Good Night's Sleep)
Vitamin B6 occurs naturally in these foods and enriching your diet with these foods which might help you in picturing, capturing and memorising your dreams more clearly.