How To Cure Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea or apnoea is suspension of breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes poor sleep quality due to uncontrollable pauses in breathing, taking shallow breaths during sleep and suddenly waking up startled.

During the night, someone with sleep apnea might repeatedly stop breathing up to 30 times every hour, often for very brief moments of time and without the person being aware of it at all. In fact, a scary finding is that many people with sleep apnea think that they actually get good sleep!

This is alarming it’s more than just heavy snoring — this kind of sleep disorder it’s a serious medical diagnosis, even potentially life-threatening, and can lead to various negative symptoms and a decreased quality of life. Because breaks in normal breathing cause less oxygen to make its way to the brain and elsewhere around the body, people with sleep apnea are triggered to wake up suddenly out of sleep and gasp for air in order to reopen their airways.

The entire start-and-stop breathing process associated with sleep apnea can cause symptoms, including loud snoring, choking noises, poor sleep and feelings of fatigue and anxiety during the day.

The Danger of Sleep Apnea

Missing sleep can take years off your life. Long-term complications of sleep apnea can include an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, depression, memory problems, viruses and sexual dysfunction. Sleep disturbances have also been correlated with car accidents, poor job performance, low grades in school and higher susceptibility to common colds and the flu.

Many people with sleep apnea use a breathing mask to help control symptoms, but this won’t stop the underlying problems associated with sleep apnea, including inflammation of the throat muscles.

Fortunately, sleep apnea can be treated and prevented by making lifestyle modifications, including losing weight, reducing inflammation, improving your diet and starting a regular exercise routine.

1. Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight

One reason that weight gain increases your risk for sleep apnea so much is because it makes it more likely that you’re essentially gaining weight on the inside of your neck, which affects your throat muscles and breathing capabilities.

The more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have sleep disturbances since fat deposits around your upper airway can obstruct normal breathing.

Eat a high-fiber diet

Some of the best sources of dietary fiber include fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, sprouted beans or legumes, and ancient whole grains. Aim for at least 25–30 grams daily.

Use healthy fats and eat enough protein

Coconut oil has natural fat-burning effects, plus many more benefits like improving gut health too. Other healthy fats that can help control your appetite include real olive oil, avocado, fats from grass-fed beef, nuts and seeds. Protein foods are satisfying and essential for building muscles as well. Regularly include proteins like cage-free eggs and wild-caught fish in your meals.

Utilize adaptogen herbs

Adaptogen herbs like maca, ginseng and rhodiola can help control health conditions that can make it hard to lose weight (like high amounts of stress, thyroid issues, leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, cellular toxicity and candida).

Get regular exercise

Exercise is a prescription for good sleep. It helps regulate hormones, adds muscle mass, burns calories and can break up nasal congestion. Try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, such as a brisk walk, most days of the week.

Sneak more exercise in and switch up your routine

Stand more during the day, try burst-training exercises and other forms of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to keep challenging your muscles, take group classes, add in weight training, and relax with yoga in between workouts.

Try using essential oils for weight loss

Natural oils, including grapefruit, cinnamon and ginger oil, can help control your appetite, hormones and digestive symptoms.

2. Avoid Excessive Alcohol, Smoking and Overuse of Sedatives

Alcohol has been shown to interfere with sleep quality and can also relax the throat muscles, including the uvula and palate, which are needed to help control breathing. Over-the-counter sleep aids, sedatives and prescription tranquilizers can have the same effects. This can lead to worsened snoring and other symptoms, plus more grogginess during the day.

3. Treat Acid Reflux, Congestion and Coughs

Many people suffering from sleep apnea and heavy snoring also have other medical problems that interfere with normal breathing, including acid reflux/heartburn, congestion and chronic coughs. Nasal congestion leads to difficulty breathing through the nose and can worsen symptoms or even contribute to the development of obstructive sleep apnea.

4. Humidify Your Bedroom

Some people report decreased snoring, less congestion and clearer breathing when they sleep with a humidifier in their bedrooms. A humidifier might be able to help encourage your sinuses to drain and more air to move through your airways. You can also rub essential oils such as eucalyptus oil (the same kind used to make Vicks VapoRub) on your chest before sleeping to help naturally open your airways and soothe a stuffy nose or throat.

5. Adjust Your Sleeping Position

Elevating your head while sleeping might be able to help lower snoring. It’s also a good idea to avoid sleeping on your back, which has been shown to make snoring and symptoms worse because it presses your tongue and palate tissue against the back of your throat.

6. Consider Using a Snore Guard or Sleep Device Temporarily

While you ultimately want to resolve the problems causing your sleep apnea symptoms in the first place, you can temporarily help control snoring by using an inexpensive, over-the-counter device called a snore guard that you insert into your mouth. Snore guards work by boiling the pliable device and fitting it into your mouth, so it helps bring your lower jaw forward slightly and keeps your airways more open.

Other people who suffer from chronic snoring might choose to use more expensive and permanent devices, such as a mandibular advancement device, which is inserted by a dentist into your mouth and lasts for several years.

More info about the snore guard or mouth guard.

Like, Share, or Comment on this post if you find it useful.

Sources:

Sleep Centre

Search This Blog