Sleep Apnea Mouth Guard

An estimated 18 million Americans live with sleep apnea. From that figure alone, this is clearly a national disaster. It may appear as just one of those sleeping disorders that one can put up with, but make no mistake about it. Its consequences are fatal and life threatening. In addition to reducing and interrupting your sleep, it makes you susceptible to:

• Stroke
• Heart failure
• Heart attack
• Sudden death syndrome
• Diabetes

Unlike other sleeping disorders, sleep apnea has a number of treatment options. This may include use of dental appliances, breathing machines, lifestyle changes and medications. Sounds surprising but watching what you eat and completely quitting some habits like smoking, use of sedatives and excess alcohol consumption can get rid of sleep apnea and other sleeping disorders for good. So which are these foods that you need to avoid?

• Bananas

Though it is a valuable source of nutrients and fiber, bananas increase mucus production. This exacerbates breathing problems often associated with sleep apnea. For this reason, avoid bananas and other mucus producing for at least two weeks so as to determine whether the fruit directly contributes to your symptoms. Should the symptoms improve, eliminate bananas from your diet for as long as you can. This could be the only thing you need to do to avoid using your sleep apnea mouth guard.

• High Fat Dairy Products

Heavy fat dairy products like whole milk, high fat cheeses and heavy cream are more or less like bananas. They trigger and even worsen mucus production. Note that these products are also rich sources of saturated fat responsible for more complicated sleeping disorders and heart diseases. Consume more calorie controlled diets, limited in saturated fat sources and dairy fats.

Like your health provider will tell you, there is a positive correlation between keeping off these foods, improved sleeping patterns and a generally improved lifestyle. For potentially similar benefits, avoid or limit your consumption of high fat dairy products and foods. Avoid too beverages prepared with high fat dairy products like:

• Pasta
• Cheesecake
• Nachos
• Ice cream
• Cheese topped pizza

• High Fat Meat

High fat meat also supplies rich amounts of saturated fat. This means that it also increases one’s chances of getting cardiovascular diseases and some inflammatory complications. With that in mind, replace your saturated fat sources with healthier alternatives.

Salmon for example, can improve your heart health and reduce inflammation. Keep off high fat meat meals like pork chops, bacon, top sirloin steak, sausage, fried chicken and bacon. Introduce the healthy alternatives to your children at an early stage. That way, sleeping disorders in children will only be a thing you hear about from others.

• Refined Carbohydrates

These are foods that are high in added sugars like honey, corn syrup, enriched flour or cane sugar. Unlike complex and sophisticated varieties like starchy vegetables and whole grains, refined carbohydrates offer just a handful of dietary benefits and healthy calories. You can simply do without them. They are highly glycemic, which means that they provide little satiation. They also disrupt blood sugar and energy levels, which are factors that contribute to weight gain and sleep apnea.

For best results, limit or just avoid candies, processed snaked foods, cupcakes, pie and pastries. Notice that these are foods that toddlers can consume in small amounts. This goes a long way to explain why sleeping disorders in toddlers are so rampant these days. Remember to check on the food packaging when buying cereals, bread, rice dishes or pasta. Ensure that what you are buying is not rich in enriched grains but whole grains.

Treating sleep apnea

It is easy to treat sleep apnea just by watching what you eat. Just be on the lookout for sleeping disorders symptoms. Then take your time to examine your diet. That could be after all, where the problem lies.