I definitely experience what Sylvia has-- one of the first things I noticed when I began Zoning was the reduction (if not elimination) of disturbing dreams. My wife, who is more aware of what she eats as opposed to a strict Zoner, used to wake up panicked pretty regularly--in the past five years we have been following the Zone advice she probably has experienced only a half-dozen episodes. Of course, whenever I stray to far from the Zone, the disturbing dreams return. Perhaps the dramatic reduction in stress I feel when I Zone contributes to this phenomena.

all I can say is wow. what an interesting thought. stress and the effects of cortisol on dreams.No one has responded.....but while the dream part isn't a problem for me ...insomnia is and I found this theory interesting. I can't say for me because I've been having trouble staying in the zone what with the holidays...but trying!

I find the idea fascinating too. Sleep has several stages and dreaming is just one of them. I could see several reasons your disturbing dreams could decrease but none of them would have scienific data to support them. This would make an excellent experiment for sleep researchers. Kindest regards, Andrew Cavanagh