Vitamin B6 supplements can help remember dreams: Study

There may not be anybody on earth who has had no dreams in his/her sleep. In fact, the ability to dream is a blessing on us. There are two types of dreaming, daydreaming and dreaming in one’s sleep. Daydreaming happens when we are fully conscious and dreaming in sleep happens when we are in a subconscious state in deep sleep. Daydreamers can recall their dreams and repeat the act. But many dreams what we see in our sleep remain elusive when we wake up from our sleep without even leaving a clue of what we had seen. Sometimes we are able to recollect some of them. But researchers say now it is possible to recall all dreams with consuming vitamin B6 supplements before going to bed.

A study published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills says it is possible to recall our dreams by consuming high dose of vitamin B6 before going to sleep. The study in the journal said the researchers gave 100 participants from around Australia a high-dose of vitamin B6 supplements before going to sleep for five consecutive days.

“Our results show that taking vitamin B6 improved people’s ability to recall dreams,” said research leader and author Dr Denholm Aspy. He added: “Vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness or colour of their dreams, and did not affect other aspects of their sleep patterns. 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.”
The study says the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study saw participants taking 240mg of vitamin B6 immediately before going to bed. Prior to taking the supplements, many of the participants rarely remembered their dreams, but they reported improvements by the end of the study.

“It seems as time went on my dreams were clearer and clearer and easier to remember. I also did not lose fragments as the day went on,” the study quoted one of the participants. According to another participant, “My dreams were more real. I couldn’t wait to go to bed and dream!”

“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 said.

For example, it may be possible to use lucid dreaming for overcoming nightmares, treating phobias, creative problem solving, refining motor skills and even helping with rehabilitation from physical trauma, the study said.
Whole-grain cereals, legumes, fruits (such as banana and avocado), vegetables (such as spinach and potato), milk, cheese, eggs, red meat, liver and fish are rich with vitamin B6.