Another link between high fat diets and sleep apnea

[stienman]

Thought a few people here would be interested in yet another study:

http://www.psypost.org/2016/04/fatty-di ... inds-42446

[Jay Aitchsee]

Well, this article doesn't tell us much. We need to see the whole study. I wouldn't doubt the high fat consumers with apnea of this study also consumed large amounts of highly processed foods including highly refined carbohydrates as well.

Edit: Here's the study http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/4/207/htm
Edit II: And here's a sample type of the questionnaire used to determine the dietary intake of the participants http://www.cancervic.org.au/downloads/c ... t_2015.pdf

[stienman]

Two clicks from the article you'll find the full study:

http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/4/207/htm

I linked the article because it provides a decent overview for those interested in only the high level overview and has links to the actual paper. Hopefully this additional link meets your needs better.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Hi stienman. Thanks for that second link to the actual study... that's what we needed to see. I personally think that research into the Androgen Inflammation levels in men are going to throw some light on high fat diets and their inherent risks.

[BlackSpinner]

And a different view
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/201 ... t=20160418

A new study finds the dairy fats found in milk, yogurt and cheese may help protect against Type 2 diabetes.

The research, published in the journal Circulation, included 3,333 adults. Beginning in the late 1980s, researchers took blood samples from the participants and measured circulating levels of biomarkers of dairy fat in their blood. Then, over the next two decades, the researchers tracked who among the participants developed diabetes.

"People who had the most dairy fat in their diet had about a 50 percent lower risk of diabetes" compared with people who consumed the least dairy fat, says Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, who is also an author of the study.

[Janknitz]

Looking at the FFQ, there's very little that distinguishes one type of fat from another or parses out foods that have 2 or 3 macronutrients. The charts make it seem they must have been predicating the data on total fat intake as reported in the FFQ, and that doesn't give you any sense of quality and types of fat consumed. Do high saturated fat diet results differ from high processed fat, or from primarily dairy fat?

I will say that when I am eating more ketogenic I do have a bit more trouble sleeping. This is frequently reported among other ketogenic dieters. I don't see any difference in my AHI (overall treated average is 0.2), but I wouldn't expect to because my APAP takes care of that--it might be interesting to see if people who use a fixed CPAP pressure see any change at all.

I was on the bandwagon of "hearthealthyha" low fat for decades as I grew fatter and sicker and my apnea became worse and worse. So I'm not going to lose any sleep now (pun intended) over the high fat diet that has improved my health and weight 1000%.

[SewTired]

One of the reasons why I can't follow a strict Atkins plan is because I tend to get really hot which has been much worse since I hit menopause. This, in turn, makes my RLS much worse and I get no sleep. Still, when I'm having a lot of blood sugar problems, I try to follow the first month of Atkins as religiously as possible and then it gets back under control (which is why he designed the diet in the first place). What I don't see is how the fat would cause Sleep Apnea other than a tendency to hold onto weight and edema (which has more to do with carbs usually).

[Goofproof]

I can hardly wait, every 5 to 10 years knowledge reverses 180 degrees, meaning a high fat diet will cure Sleep apnea, people never learn. Jim

[chunkyfrog]

So far, moderation is the least blamed for whatever happens, good or bad.

[Janknitz]

I went through menopause like a breeze because whenever I had clusters of hot flashes I found that increasing fat really tamped them down. Not everyone's metabolism responds the same way.

I was never under any illusion that a high fat diet would cure apnea. But this is what it did:
Lost 75 pounds eating cream, butter, cheese, nuts, avocados, coconut oil, etc
Lowered blood pressure
Reduced lower extremity edema
Eliminated skeletal pain
Reduced asthma symptoms
Reduced LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, increased HDL
Reduced HsCRP
Restored mobility
Etc.

[Arlene1963]

When I was diagnosed last year I thought OSA was just a simple matter of my throat collapsing during my sleep due to either excess weight (my BMI was 25 when diagnosed) or structural abnormalities that had deteriorated/altered with age.

Now that I've been researching this I realise that it is so much more complicated that I ever dreamed it to be, and study after study I read trying to figure out "my disease" yields conflicting results.

So I wonder if doctors have the faintest clue why some of us, and we are a minority, develop OSA and yet the majority of folks don't.

Is OSA caused by insulin resistance or does it cause insulin resistance? (Studies show conflicting results)
Does CPAP improve insulin sensitivity? (Studies show conflicting results)
Does losing weight help OSA or make it worse or have no effect at all (studies show conflicting results)
Does CPAP help with weight loss or hinder it? (studies show conflicting results)
Does estrogen or progesterone have any effect on OSA in post menopausal women (studies show conflicting results)
Does OSA represent the tip of a metabolic disorder or does it cause the disorder. (the jury is out)

etc etc etc ....

SOoooooo confused I could just tear my hair out.

BTW, I too have lost weight using a LCHF diet, and love the way of eating, my BMI is now 22 and I feel great.

A bit troubling to read that it might be making my AHI worse, even though I am sleeping very well, much better than when first diagnosed.

I go for a follow up overnight sleep study on May 29th, so look forward to seeing if there has been an improvement or deterioration in AHI.

[Julie]

I think you're putting way too much 'influence' of OSA and/or Cpap on many other complex systems. OSA may in many cases be a result of anatomical differences (jaw, throat, etc) and/or some tiny neurological glitches or genetic cardio related ones that tracing in any given person may be impossible to reasonably do. It may be a latent possibility that only shows up with some weight gain following menopause - or not - and you 'll make yourself cuckoo trying to nail down what did it for you. You may lose weight while on Cpap, and that could be due to more energy, but you can't make a direct connection otherwise by saying that Cpap (or a certain diet or the weather on some day) is cause of weight loss on its own vs the effects of the added 02 it helps add to your whole system, including your endocrine/hormonal ones. Cpap is no more or less than a delivery for a relatively tiny bit of room air to help prop open your airway better... highly, remotely unlikely to cause half of the things people would like to attribute to it!

[Arlene1963]

Julie, so true, I could well drive myself cuckoo trying to figure this out. Maybe I already have, actually!

[DreamStalker]

So the diet wars continue ...

The effects of a high fat diet can protect those at risk of hypoxia ...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16594134

DARPA and US DOD are also funding biochemical research studies on the benefits of ketosis for use by Navy Seals and Special Forces. Similar biochemical studies are also suggesting that ketosis protects against radiation poisoning and cancer -- and can also reduce and/or eliminate Alzheimers and ALS symptoms. It's been known for quite a while that ketosis is also the only standard of health available to those with drug resistant brain seizures. Don't write off high fat diets based on silly psychology questionaires .... listen to the leading biochemical researchers instead.

[Julie]

In other words, fasting is good.

I have seen some of this recently and do believe they're on to something - Dr. Atkins knew about it, though went off on a side road to push his diet, but others have been doing it since forever, whether one day a week or just generally eating less (whatever they may or may not eat).