Dealing with snoring can be a bothersome experience for everyone involved, whether it’s falling asleep on a public bus or waking a loved one. Researchers may have found the best diet to combat this issue.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common condition that puts people at risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. This is because OSA causes multiple disruptions during sleep due to loud snoring and interruptions in breathing.
The solution may lie in a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, as suggested by a new study published in the journal ERJ Open Research. This diet may help prevent or treat OSA.
In order to test this theory, researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, used data from 14,210 participants in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were asked to list everything they had consumed in the past 24 hours, and the research team categorized their responses into three dietary patterns: a healthy plant-based diet, an unhealthy plant-based diet, and a diet high in animal products.
The “unhealthy” plant-based diet included high amounts of refined carbohydrates, potatoes, sugary drinks, sweets, desserts, and salty foods.
Additionally, participants completed a sleep questionnaire to determine the likelihood of having OSA. The researchers found that people with diets high in plant foods were 19% less likely to suffer from snoring caused by OSA. On the other hand, those who consumed an unhealthy plant-based diet were 22% more likely to have OSA.
Researchers believe that a healthy plant-based diet may be important due to its anti-inflammatory components and antioxidants, which can impact fat mass, inflammation, and muscle tone, thereby affecting a person’s OSA risk.
Dr. Johannes Melak, the chief researcher, emphasized that diet quality is important in managing the risk of OSA, and that a healthy plant-based diet may reduce inflammation and obesity.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
