Vitamin B6 supplements could help you remember your dreams, study claims

Participants also reported better sleep quality and lower tiredness on waking

Sarah Jones
Monday 30 April 2018 04:38 EDT
Comments
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

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

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in