Taking a vitamin found in bananas, tuna and avocado could help people to recall their dreams, scientists claim.
New research from the University of Adelaide, published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, analysed the effects of taking high-dose vitamin B6 supplements on 100 participants from around Australia.
Half of the participants took 240mg of vitamin B6 – the equivalent of 558 bananas – immediately before bed for five consecutive nights, while the other half were given a placebo.
The results showed that those who took B6 recalled 64.1 per cent more dream content, reported better sleep quality and significantly lower tiredness on waking.
“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,” one participant said.
Another added: ”My dreams were more real, I couldn’t wait to go to bed and dream!“
Interestingly, the intake of vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness or colour of people’s dreams.
”The average person spends around six years of their lives dreaming,” said Dr Denholm Aspy, of the University of Adelaide’s School of Psychology, Australia.
“If we are able to become lucid and control our dreams, we can then use our dreaming time more productively.
”Lucid dreaming, where you know that you are dreaming while the dream is still happening, has many potential benefits.
“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.”
According to the NHS, vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, can be found in various foods including whole grain cereals, fruits such as banana and avocado, vegetables such as spinach and potato, milk, cheese, eggs, red meat, liver, and fish.
It suggests that the daily amount of vitamin B6 adults aged 19 to 64 need is 1.4mg for men and 1.2mg for women, which can be acquired from a normal diet.
Despite the study’s findings, the NHS adds that taking doses of 10-200mg a day for short periods may not cause any harm but could lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs, known as peripheral neuropathy, overtime.
As such, people should not take the supplement over 10mg unless advised by a doctor.
