Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese; This Side Hustle Pays $1,000

ACROSS AMERICA — Five cheese lovers have a shot at $1,000 apiece if they agree to nibble on a few bites of different varieties of cheese before they go to bed.

Wait. What?

The mattress review site Sleep Junkie plans to hire a team of “dairy dreamers” to test a theory about cheese dreams. They are an actual thing, according to a 2005 study from the British Cheese Board.

The application to become a dairy dreamer is found on Sleep Junkie’s website. Besides the $1,000 to participate in the study, dreamers will also be reimbursed for the cost of their cheese. The study starts in March and lasts for three months.

Science backs theories about cheese dreams. One of the main amino acids in cheese, tryptophan, is involved in the production of melatonin and serotonin, which play important roles in the sleep-wake cycle.

Regular bedtimes are a must. Each night at the same time before going to sleep for a week, they’ll eat a different type of cheese, whether blue cheese, hard cheese, soft-ripened cheese or processed cheese. Vegan and lactose-free cheeses are also offered within the selection.

For accuracy, dairy dreamers will take off between cheese swaps, so results can be accurately recorded. They’ll keep a log of the quality of their sleep quality through a tracker, but also provide a written account of their sleep quality, energy levels throughout the week and any feedback on dreams and nightmares.

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The study nearly a decade ago by the British Cheese Board found that different cheeses can provoke different kinds of dreams — not nightmares, the Cheese Board said, but certainly vivid dreams among the 200 participants who ate a small, 20-gram piece of cheese before bedtime.

That study was based on a variety of English cheeses, according to the Dairy Reporter, a U.K. industry publication. The wildest, most bizarre dreams came after eating Stilton blue cheese. How bizarre? One person dreamed of trading party guests for camels, and another had dreams of vegan crocodiles who were upset because they couldn’t eat children. Less dramatic, another person dreamed of talking soft toys.

Cheddar gave Stilton blue a run, though. A majority of people who ate cheddar dreamed of celebrities, with one participant reporting a dream about forming a human pyramid under the supervision of Johnny Depp.

People who ate Red Leicester, which is similar to cheddar but with a crumbly texture, seemed to produce nostalgic dreams about their childhoods and families, and those who ate Lancashire cheese reported dreams about work, including one person who dreamed of being Great Britain’s prime minister, an executive with the British Cheese Board told NPR in 2005.

Cheshire cheese was a snoozer, literally. A majority of participants reported they slept soundly after eating it, and also that they didn’t have any dreams.

Overall, the study found that about three-fourths of the participants reported sleeping well and also recalling their dreams.

Applicants for the Sleep Junkie study must be 21, own a smartwatch or fitness tracker, have a consistent sleep schedule and be able to sleep alone during the trials. People who have sleep issues or dairy or lactose intolerances shouldn’t apply.

“We are looking for people who are self-starters, honest, with good writing skills and enjoy both sleeping and eating,” Sleep Junkie said in a news release.