Does apple juice make your dreams more vivid

Have you heard of ‘apple juice dreams’? If you haven’t and you’re into your fruit juices you may have experienced apple juice lucid dreaming before. Or…you may not. Safe to say there’s a lot of conflict between fact and fiction regarding this topic. Let’s take a deep drive and discover whether drinking apple juice before bed actually triggers apple juice dreams, or if this is just an internet myth!

What is Lucid Dreaming?

Before we delve into the science of apple products and the potential of apple juice lucid dreaming, let’s first clarify what lucid dreaming actually is. Lucid dreaming is thought to be experienced by 77% of people and occurs during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. In normal dreams, the person dreaming isn’t aware that their experiences are a dream. In lucid dreaming, however, the person dreaming is aware their experiences are a dream and can impact upon or change their dream experiences.

This experience can be unsettling at first, especially when the dream in question is intense or disturbing. With practice, however, some people find they can slip into a lucid dream state on command and can learn more about their inner psyche by doing so. And whey they wake up in the morning, they feel refreshed.

The Science Behind Apple Juice Dreams

The thought that drinking apple juice before bed is largely assumed to be an internet myth or old wives’ tale. However, there is some scientific evidence to back up these suspicions. A 2006 study examined apple products including apple juice and their effects upon the brain. Apple products were found to boost acetylcholine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that helps with memory function and contributes to REM sleep.

The study was conducted as part of Alzheimer’s research and found that apple products may help slow memory loss experienced in dementia patients, so where did the link to lucid dreaming come from?

Acetylcholine and REM Sleep

We can only speculate about the origins of ‘apple juice dreams’. But it is not too far-fetched to guess that the idea came from the link between acetylcholine and REM sleep. As we learned earlier in this article REM sleep is the time when lucid dreaming is most likely to occur, and if acetylcholine is proven to increase occurrences of REM sleep then logic may suppose that apple products may increase the likelihood of intense or lucid dreams.

However as of yet, this has not been proven or disproven by scientific study, so largely will remain as something which some swear by and others dispute.

Vitamin B6?

Some mass-market brands add extra minerals and vitamins to their products. One such example which can be found in apple juice is vitamin B6. Interestingly, vitamin B6 has been shown to aid dream recall and increase the vividness of dreams and the likelihood of lucid dreaming. So, one potential explanation for why some people swear by the power of apple juice upon their dreams, whilst others don’t, could be down to the brand in which people imbibe, as not all brands will add Vitamin B6 to their juices.

Who knows, maybe the combination of acetylcholine and vitamin B6 is enough to spark lucid dreams in individuals who’ve not been able to experience them previously? Either way, we’ll need to wait upon a scientific study to confirm or deny this.

Apple Juice and the Placebo Effect

In the age of the internet when we’re more connected than ever, more and more myths can be explained away by the placebo effect. The placebo effect refers to a scientific phenomenon where individuals feel health benefits from medicine or therapy with no beneficial ingredients in, simply because they are told by another, usually a medical professional that said medicine will benefit them in certain ways. Placebos are used within medical testing as a benchmark to compare and contrast the effectiveness of a new drug. But how can this be applied to our theory of apple juice lucid dreaming?

Well, influence is a powerful thing. So, when we’re told something by an individual in a position of authority or from a large group of people, we tend to believe it. Therefore, when reading about the benefits of apple juice a person may find out about the fruit’s supposed ability to trigger vivid dreams and try it for themselves. Because they’re hoping and looking for a specific thing to happen the mind tends to trick the person into thinking they had the same experience and thus the myth grows in scale.

A Food Fluke

There are many foods such as those high in sugar which can impact how we sleep. They do it either by keeping us awake or triggering a lighter sleep. It’s not just apple juice which is believed to increase dream activity or cause lucid dreaming. Other food items such as cheese and dairy, spicy foods, caffeinated beverages, Valerian root, and cherries, have all been suggested as causing intense dream experiences. While there are snippets of evidence or testimony here or there for the validity of these claims. Whether or not you experience more vivid dreams seems to be more likely to be a fluke than a triggered occurrence.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. While there is some scattered evidence for the existence of lucid dreams triggered by drinking apple juice before bed, there’s also a wealth of evidence to disprove this. One thing is for certain, however, as they contain acetylcholine which is proven to be excellent for your memory.

There is little harm and a lot to gain from consuming apple products before bed or throughout the day! While it may be possible to increase the time you spend in REM sleep through the food you eat, there is little to no guarantee that you’ll slip into a lucid dream state. It seems that for now, the mystery of this sleep phenomenon will remain as it is. And some of us will be achieving lucid dream state and others not. One thing is for certain though, the humble apple isn’t the key to unlocking the mysteries of your mind!

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