Against sleep apnea, diet can play an important role

Frequent awakenings, daily fatigue, irritability… Snoring prevents millions of French people from sleeping every day. Beyond the noise annoyance, this snoring could hide obstructive sleep apnea, the cause of more serious health problems. A recent study highlights the link between diet quality and the risk of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea should not be neglected

Sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome (OSAS) corresponds to a more or less prolonged interruption of breathing during sleep. Patients’ breathing speeds up and then stops repeatedly throughout the night. They may wake up several times, which increases their state of fatigue, but also leads to an increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

But how do you know if you have sleep apnea? In many cases, the first thing we notice is severe snoring. If your partner complains about your nighttime grumbling, it might be important to check to make sure you’re not affected.

A plant-based diet reduces risk

Dr Yohannes Melaku from Flinders University in Adelaide wanted to study the link between plant-based diets and the risk of sleep apnea. To do this, he relied on data from 14,210 people who participated in the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

They were asked to write down everything they had eaten over the past 24 hours. The researchers classified this information based on their diet: fairly healthy plant-based (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, tea and coffee) or rich in animal foods (animal fats, dairy products, eggs , fish or seafood and meat). The researchers also wanted to know if the participants ate an “unhealthy” plant-based diet (refined grains, potatoes, sugary drinks, sweets, desserts and salty foods). On the other hand, the respondents answered a questionnaire to determine if they were likely to suffer from sleep apnea.

Results :

• People whose diets were richest in plant-based foods had a 19% lower risk of suffering from sleep apnea, compared to those whose diets were richer in animal-based foods.
• Those with a predominantly vegetarian diet also had a lower risk (-16%);
• In contrast, people who had a diet high in unhealthy plant foods had a 22% higher risk than people with a diet low in plant foods.

A risk linked to diet and not sex

Finally, researchers found differences in adherence to these diets based on gender. Women are more likely to follow a plant-based diet, but men are more likely to follow a healthy plant-based diet than women, who are more likely to adopt a rather “unhealthy” green diet.

Differences in risk between the two sexes, independent of the diets followed, have not been identified by the researchers.

Management should include dietary advice

After completing the study, researchers suggested that a healthy plant-based diet would help prevent or treat OSA.

According to study director Dr. Melaku: “These results highlight the importance of the quality of our diet in managing the risk of sleep apnea. We must also take into account differences between the sexes, emphasizing the need to personalize diets for each patient “.

Although the research in question doesn’t explain why diet is important, Dr. Melaku thinks “that a healthy plant-based diet could reduce inflammation and obesity”, risk factors for sleep apnea. Diets rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components could then reduce fat mass, inflammation and increase muscle tone. To explore this hypothesis, researchers plan to study the effects of consuming ultra-processed foods on this disease.

According to Professor Sophia Schiza, head of the European Society of Breathing Assembly on Sleep Disordered Breathing, “Sleep apnea is a common disease and too many people are unaware that they have it”. However, she points out that there are effective treatments and that patients can also take certain measures to improve their condition, such as “refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and stay physically active”.