# Do you eat in dreams? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290 "2013-10-26T07:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/21 "2013-10-27T00:18:54Z")
The only things I remember eating in dreams were fictional foods - for example, some kind of fist-sized purple fruits that were like a very soft plum (the skin wrinkled like an old balloon when they were handled) - inside, they were filled with soft, lurid mauve juicy flesh that had an intense and delicious aromatic flavour I can’t properly describe (but if forced to, I would compare it to purple grape juice, passionfruit, pear and alpine strawberry) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/22 "2013-10-27T01:14:23Z")
Often! And I usually wake up with my pillow absolutely drenched with saliva! Ew! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/23 "2013-10-27T13:45:33Z")
No. When I dream about food, I never get a chance to actually eat it. Sometimes this gets frustrating because the reasons why generally are so illogical. But I don’t really recall ever successfully eating in a dream. **TBG** , it’s not that you can’t read in your dreams as much as read coherently in dreams. Most people can read signs and stuff, but do you ever try to reread in a dream, or read something long? That stuff either changes from what it was the first time, or becomes incoherent after a couple of sentences. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/24 "2013-10-27T18:53:17Z")
I’m 63 and never even thought about it until seeing this thread. No, I never dream about eating, and am almost certain that I never have. Very interesting, because my one and only vice is overeating. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/25 "2013-10-27T20:16:16Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I don’t eat in my dreams, but I often have to pee really bad – yet can never find a good place to go! I have those, too. When I do find a good place (or even a bad one) in the dream, I _can’t_ go . . . so far . . . thank the FSM! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/26 "2013-10-27T20:48:13Z")
I do everything in dreams that I do awake, including walking and dancing. I also dream of needing to pee and either I can’t find a working bathroom or there is np privacy. I also dream of renting ahouse or flat, and the floorplans are strange, or really interesting and i would be interested in living there in real life. I really wish I could discover thedrink i was having in a dream once-sweet tart, the perfect balance of fruit juices and rum but never one i have been able to get in bars when awake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/27 "2013-10-27T21:40:56Z")
I have the same problems mentioned above with peeing. Sometimes though, I do find a place to go, but then what happens, no matter how long I stand there and pee, I can never seem to finish. I can recall a couple of times I overflowed the toilet! Thankfully, I haven’t woke up in any puddles. I don’t recall eating in my dreams, although I’m sure it’s happened. I do recall cooking though. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/28 "2013-10-27T22:34:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > \ > **TBG** , it’s not that you can’t read in your dreams as much as read coherently in dreams. Most people can read signs and stuff, but do you ever try to reread in a dream, or read something long? That stuff either changes from what it was the first time, or becomes incoherent after a couple of sentences. That’s what I find - I can occasionally read a sentence or a couple of words, but not anything long. Strangely, it seems I can do math better in my dreams than read, which is the exact opposite of my waking world. I think it is related to the halves of the brain involved in reading, math, and dreaming. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/29 "2013-10-27T23:11:13Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > The only time I have eaten in my dreams is when I have been on a strict diet where certain foods are not allowed. Like an elimination diet to see if something is causing problems or allergies. The I am usually dreaming that I ate foods I shouldn’t and therefore screwed everything up. I spent about 25 years on a series of weight loss diets, and I had binge dreams constantly. I just remember being so relieved to wake up and realize that I hadn’t just eaten an entire chocolate cake. As for peeing, I frequently dream that I have to pee, and can only find a disgusting, unacceptable toilet. Sometimes I end up in a giant warehouse filled with broken, discarded toilets; other times its a public bathroom filled with filthy, overflowing toilets. My gross toilet dreams are so common that they’re a pretty standard dream category for me. Fortunately I haven’t wet the bed since I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/30 "2013-10-28T01:03:50Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > … Sometimes I wake up laughing from dreaming about funny stuff. … that has never happened to me. how [del]sane[/del] sad is that? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/31 "2013-10-28T18:07:00Z")
Yes, and the food is always bland. The pasta sauce needs salt, the fries are soggy, the coconut cream pie is all whipped cream and no coconut – it’s like the world’s most disappointing restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/32 "2013-10-28T18:15:24Z")
This was a common dream when I was anorexic. I would dream about eating food that actually scared me in real life. One of the most common were these lime green cookies with neon orange icing. I use to wake up feeling full and wondering if dream food could make me fat. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/33 "2013-10-28T18:18:56Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I know I eat in my sleep. Several years ago I woke up and found a box of matches on the kitchen table, several of them were soggy from being dunked in milk and then chewed up and discarded. That was kind of a wake up call for me. I’m a recovering drinker, and I’ve had similar experiences during benders. One dream involved thinking small, round, wrapped hotel soaps were Babybels (the similarly shaped cheeses). I had completely blacked the experience out, and was only able to piece together the dream with the taste in my mouth, after I found the soaps with clear teeth marks in them. A second time I disassembled part of a photo album while asleep, poured salad dressing on the pictures, and tried eating more than a few. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/34 "2013-10-28T19:11:39Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I’m pretty sure no one ever does. I don’t think I ever have, and I’ve heard others say they never do. I had a dream once that was triggered by IRL indigestion, but I don’t think I ate the dream-food; I think just looked at it, and segued into “I shouldn’t have eaten that, ugh.” I can see how chewing and swallowing would be too physical for a dream. Does anyone ever experience taste, though? I had a very vivid dream where I was in a house where the walls were made of sugar cookies and I was eating the walls. Tasted great! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/35 "2013-10-28T19:16:23Z")
There once was a man from Walloon Who dreamed he ingested the moon He awoke with a lurch And after a search Could not seem to find his spitoon ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/36 "2013-10-28T21:45:17Z")
I most definitely eat in my dreams. When I was in the Peace Corps, I was stationed in a country with incredibly bland food and we didn’t get much of that. My favorite reading was cook books. And oh, the dreams I would have of eating wonderful foods. They were very vivid dreams about the most delightful foods. I would wake up wrapped in my mosquito netting because I would be reaching for the different foods. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/37 "2013-10-28T21:54:29Z")
Yeah. I have definitely dreamed about eating recently, because just a month or two ago the doctor told me to give up gluten. I’ve dreamed that I was cheating, and eating \*regular \*bread and \*regular \*pizza. My life is sad, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/38 "2013-10-30T01:34:19Z")
My friend dreamed that I found a “huge 15 inch across butterfly that was metallic and multi-colored” and apparently walked up to it and said, “Oh neat,” and ate it. So I only have eaten in OTHER people’s dreams. I have died a lot in my dreams though, and usually when I die, I wake up. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/39 "2013-10-30T08:56:35Z")
When I had my wisdom teeth removed, I couldn’t eat solid food for four days. About three days into it, I had a really vivid dream about eating a huge turkey drumstick. ---
**Author:** ![LiliesOfTheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@LiliesOfTheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiliesOfTheField)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290/40 "2013-10-30T09:56:07Z")
I began to eat the most amazing delicious food in my dreams after a medication change. I also began waking up with intractable, violent migraines. After an unfortunate tongue injury, I discovered that my medication was causing bruxism, which was likely the cause of the delicious dreams. I now wear a splint to protect my teeth and I can have harmless calorie-free dreams of whatever I like all night. I woke up this morning eating “peanut butter fudge,” and violently gnawing on my splint. I go through them very quickly. Some of you sleep eaters may wish to investigate whether you are harming your teeth. I also often dream of reading, especially if I am reading my kindle before sleep. Sometimes I even turn the pages, but in my dreams, what I am reading bears no resemblance to the actual book. It’s extra fun to go back in the book to figure out where I fell asleep. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-in-dreams/672290.md?page=3)