Sleep Apnoea and The Mediterranean Diet
Sleep apnoea sufferers who enjoy Mediterranean food such as olive oil and tomatoes will be pleased to hear that a recent study has concluded that the diet combined with regular physical exercise could help patients see a reduction in their symptoms.
Sleep apnoea is caused when a patient's muscle and tissue around the windpipe lose tone during sleep and close in on the windpipe, creating an obstruction which prevents breathing. Somewhere between 2 and 4 per cent of Western adults have this disorder, it is understood, but many suffer without realising anything is wrong.
This new study was carried out inGreeceand concentrated on measuring the effects of the typical, traditional Mediterranean diet in conjunction with a healthy amount of exercise on the condition. This study was the first of its kind.
40 obese adults with sleep apnoea took part in the study. Half of those adults were fed a normal healthy diet, asked to walk for 30 minutes per day and received CPAP treatment as they slept. This is a form of treatment very commonly prescribed for sleep apnoea, which uses pressurised air pumped through a length of plastic tubing and a face mask to hold open the airway as the patient sleeps.
The patients were monitored in an overnight sleep study at the beginning of the experiment and again six months later. The sleep study monitored eye movement and brain activity during sleep as well as snoring. Patients who followed the Mediterranean diet had fewer apnoeas, or instances of disturbed breathing, during the rapid eye movement phase of the sleep cycle. They also lost stomach fat and consumed fewer calories, losing weight. Nevertheless, the researchers conceded that overall apnoea symptoms were not reduced, so more research is needed.
The Mediterranean diet places a good deal of emphasis on vegetables, tomatoes, olives and seafood as well as nuts and whole grains. It is therefore a healthy diet to follow to encourage weight loss. Doctors agree that patients who are overweight are significantly more likely to suffer sleep apnoea and to suffer it to greater degrees of severity. The Mediterranean diet as a means of healthy weight loss may therefore be a helpful lifestyle choice for sufferers of sleep apnoea.
Sleep apnoea is caused when a patient's muscle and tissue around the windpipe lose tone during sleep and close in on the windpipe, creating an obstruction which prevents breathing. Somewhere between 2 and 4 per cent of Western adults have this disorder, it is understood, but many suffer without realising anything is wrong.
This new study was carried out inGreeceand concentrated on measuring the effects of the typical, traditional Mediterranean diet in conjunction with a healthy amount of exercise on the condition. This study was the first of its kind.
40 obese adults with sleep apnoea took part in the study. Half of those adults were fed a normal healthy diet, asked to walk for 30 minutes per day and received CPAP treatment as they slept. This is a form of treatment very commonly prescribed for sleep apnoea, which uses pressurised air pumped through a length of plastic tubing and a face mask to hold open the airway as the patient sleeps.
The patients were monitored in an overnight sleep study at the beginning of the experiment and again six months later. The sleep study monitored eye movement and brain activity during sleep as well as snoring. Patients who followed the Mediterranean diet had fewer apnoeas, or instances of disturbed breathing, during the rapid eye movement phase of the sleep cycle. They also lost stomach fat and consumed fewer calories, losing weight. Nevertheless, the researchers conceded that overall apnoea symptoms were not reduced, so more research is needed.
The Mediterranean diet places a good deal of emphasis on vegetables, tomatoes, olives and seafood as well as nuts and whole grains. It is therefore a healthy diet to follow to encourage weight loss. Doctors agree that patients who are overweight are significantly more likely to suffer sleep apnoea and to suffer it to greater degrees of severity. The Mediterranean diet as a means of healthy weight loss may therefore be a helpful lifestyle choice for sufferers of sleep apnoea.
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