A Diet for Poor Sleep and Sleep Apnea

I have struggled with insomnia and interrupted sleep for years. Have tried various remedies and cpap treatment has helped in some ways but not enough. Here's something for all poor sleepers and insomniacs to consider;

[/url]http://www.cpapsupplyusa.com/blog/post/ ... luten.aspx

Sorry, I tried but couldnt post as a link. Not tech savvy.

http://www.cpapsupplyusa.com/blog/post/ ... luten.aspx

Not eating gluten, still have sleep apnea...oh well.

Thanks Roger. Was trying to do that from an iPhone.

This fad has been around for a while now - and it's time to stop it. Certainly celiac has always been a problem for real patients who have it, but the percent of those vs the number of others now jumping on the bandwagon of gluten free everything is ridiculous and the vast majority of us do NOT have celiac disease and do NOT need gluten free diets. Some with celiac disease may also (incidentally) have apnea, but again, most do not, never have and never will. The majority of people with apnea have it because of anatomical and other 'mechanical' reasons, a small percentage due to neurological problems, but pinning apnea now on gluten is nonsense and we need to move back to reality.

There is a 'study' done for every disease out there, usually quite a few, and very many of them are in fact paid for by companies with a commercial interest in the 'cures', whether or not the ones linked here are. If you Google enough you can find something to justify everything you can dream up for and against any condition, but it doesn't make them 'right' and it doesn't mean you can go off deciding, without a degree or understanding of how your own med history features are related to each other or stuff you read in the studies. That's what doctors are for, however good or bad you may think they are.

The only upside to the gluten-free fad is that these products have become more available to people who NEED it.
There is now evidence that avoiding gluten may have bad effects for people with normal systems.
The fact is that over-consumption of ANY carbohydrate will make you sick.
(Carb craving is a common effect of diabetes)
The key is not to switch to GF food but to stop pigging out on the normal food you eat.

chunkyfrog wrote:The only upside to the gluten-free fad is that these products have become more available to people who NEED it.
There is now evidence that avoiding gluten may have bad effects for people with normal systems.
The fact is that over-consumption of ANY carbohydrate will make you sick.
(Carb craving is a common effect of diabetes)
The key is not to switch to GF food but to stop pigging out on the normal food you eat.

Oink,Oink, my way of agreeing! Jim

I've been eating a ketogenic diet for 16 months and have lost 55 pounds. No grain of any type on this diet so no gluten. My sleep apnea has not gone away one bit. Lots of benefits eating this way, but so far loss of apnea isn't one of them.

bambiying wrote:I've been eating a ketogenic diet for 16 months and have lost 55 pounds. No grain of any type on this diet so no gluten. My sleep apnea has not gone away one bit. Lots of benefits eating this way, but so far loss of apnea isn't one of them.

Yep, same here, only a little less than a year, though. And only about 40 lbs. I'm done losing weight at this point, so have increased the carbs a bit *smile*. Searching for the right balance at the moment. I think that getting regular exercise helps, as long as I don't eat more just because I'm exercising more...

Sylvia54 wrote:I have struggled with insomnia and interrupted sleep for years. Have tried various remedies and cpap treatment has helped in some ways but not enough.

There is a wealth of gut-health research being made accessible during the past few years. See Rhonda Patrick video series https://www.foundmyfitness.com/about-dr-rhonda-patrick. She interviews research leaders directly and tries to make sense of the research in practical terms. Fortunately it hasn't all been completely monetized and the best digestive practices cost nothing. Also, it's not a bunch of bloggers and "journalists" creating click-bait. Unfortunately this means the information is dense and requires time to understand.

Avoiding gluten may be the right answer but for the wrong reason (i.e., not the gluten causing digestive issues but instead how gluten binds to other molecules making the intestines unable to break down and digest the material. Instead it collects in the colon and ferments. This can lead to a digestive anomaly that eventually produces an allergic reaction). In this case gluten is not the cause but instead compromised intestinal health is at the root of the problem. AFAIK only researchers have the required tools to perform root cause analysis. Celiac disease is one very specific diagnosis in a sea of intestinal disorders. I think Gottschall "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" describes many of the relevant issues. Dietary exclusion, such as avoiding gluten, is a recommended technique but requires careful monitoring. Most doctors don't have the necessary experience.

There are plenty of direct links between sleep disorders and gut flora and thus gut health.

bambiying wrote:I've been eating a ketogenic diet for 16 months and have lost 55 pounds. No grain of any type on this diet so no gluten. My sleep apnea has not gone away one bit. Lots of benefits eating this way, but so far loss of apnea isn't one of them.

Same here. Sleep is still pretty fragmented and if I dare to fall asleep without the mask for even a few minutes I wake up struggling to breathe. So apnea is not gone.

As far as gluten-free being a fad, that's OK with me. I've lost 75 lbs, kept it off 6+ years, asthma is almost non-existent, blood sugar in a great range, and the constant joint pain I had all over is GONE (not better--GONE) unless I eat some grains. Call it a fad, call it a placebo effect, call me gullible, call me whatever you want, as long as I don't have to live in misery any longer.

To the naysayers, I'll do me, you do you.

In the short term when I try to eat low carb my AHI goes up. On the other-hand a high
carb meal an hour before bed gives me a lower AHI. I hate that, knowing that in the
long term eating lower carb and especially not eating ice cream before bed would let
me lose weight and thus lower my AHI.

I have searched the internet and come across endless comments from people who said the paleo diet or gluten free diet has greatly improved their quality of life. Whether it's chronic pain, fatigue, or poor sleep, many feel better just giving up the refined sugar or all processed foods or dairy. I don't think think the gluten free diet is all that hard to figure out but it does require planning, cooking skills, and lots of will power. I know about the willpower because I tried it once before on the advice of a naturopath doctor. She said it would especially help my hypoglycemia.

I have intestinal issues that often show up from eating foods that are harder to digest. Mainly wheat bread (loaded with gluten) cold cereal, beans and sometimes cheese. I wake up some nights with one nostril totally plugged and nothing there to blow out. My humidity is on the highest setting. Once I get up for awhile, the stuffiness clears out and I go back to sleep on my other side. Sometimes I wake up seeing that I removed the mask. Prior to cpap I battled with restless legs and jerking awake at sleep onset. I still wake up with numbness and tingling in my arms but that has lately disappeared as I gradually cut out my refined sugar and certain carb intake. I believe this is all inflammatory stuff and that the apnea may be part of it. Diet and digestion and aging being the root causes.
I've always liked having my share of bread, cold cereal, and dairy but it's time to give it up.

So this is my situation and maybe there's somebody else who can relate.
Fad is the last thing on my mind and I've never needed to lose weight.
In the end, all I want is to feel refreshed from my sleep.

Arm numbness and tingling is an orthopedic and/or neurological problem... have you had a proper going over by someone for cervical neck problems?

And no one's knocking good diets, Paleo or otherwise, but we are saying that gluten does not cause apnea, not even in those patients affected by GERD (reflux) that often accompanies apnea. And don't let naturopaths lead you down the wrong path when it comes to apnea... they may be great nutritionists, or dieticians, or whatever they do but they aren't sleep specialists and should stick to being naturopaths.

I was startled, when I gave up gluten, to find that an inflammation-related disorder that had dogged me for two decades and required a prescription to barely keep in check just vanished. Also my dry eye syndrome vanished. These two effects are enough for me to have no interest in wheat. It made no difference with apnea though. It's easy to gain weight on a gluten-free diet, though, depending on how hard you lean on the bakery substitutes.