Another link between high fat diets and sleep apnea

Interesting that you mention fasting, Julie.

Ever since my diagnosis I'm very aware of diabetes because I've read that OSA and diabetes go hand in hand. Even though my NP tells me that my fasting glucose is excellent, the prospect of decreased insulin sensitivity is looming with OSA, only a matter of time, I suspect.

Probably most here have heard about intermittent or even longer term fasting that is being recommended to help with diabetes .... and a fast once or twice a week (or severely restricting calories for two days a week) seems logical for those of us with OSA hoping to stave off pre diabetes or full blown diabetes ...? I'd think carefully counting carbs would be logical too.

Arlene1963 wrote:Interesting that you mention fasting, Julie.

Ever since my diagnosis I'm very aware of diabetes because I've read that OSA and diabetes go hand in hand. Even though my NP tells me that my fasting glucose is excellent, the prospect of decreased insulin sensitivity is looming with OSA, only a matter of time, I suspect.

Probably most here have heard about intermittent or even longer term fasting that is being recommended to help with diabetes .... and a fast once or twice a week (or severely restricting calories for two days a week) seems logical for those of us with OSA hoping to stave off pre diabetes or full blown diabetes ...? I'd think carefully counting carbs would be logical too.

If you are using your cpap machine effectively then you basically don't have OSA - you are like "normal" people. You can drop all those worries and focus on what is still a real issue.

Before starting fasting while having diabetes you need to consult a real diabetes specialist who knows your specific issues. It is why diabetics are excused from all religious fasts.

That's good to know, BlackSpinner.

I've been around and around on these issues. It's true that some people report having trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep on a ketogenic (low-carb high fat) diet. I suspect that age and amount of time on the diet may be major variables. It takes time to achieve "keto-adaptation", the state in which the body (and especially the brain) has fully adapted to using minimal glucose for fuel and is burning ketones instead. Before this adaptation is complete, the body is still hungry for glucose, and its response to this is to secrete cortisol to tell the liver to release stored glycogen. Cortisol is not a sleep-friendly chemical.

Phinney found that it took trained endurance athletes three weeks to adapt fully. Those of us who are older and not so trained might take longer, I suspect. For this reason, a lot of people may well give up on this kind of diet. That edgy feeling from cortisol and adrenalin isn't pleasant.

Similar problems are associated with fasting. A few weeks ago, I decided to have another go at Intermittent Fasting (two days a week, no food). After the first day, my blood pressure was extremely elevated; so much so that I phoned the doctor's office. I did some searching and found that this isn't that uncommon, and some people continue to have high blood pressure even after months of IF -- even though one of the benefits of fasting is supposed to be reduced or normalized BP. But I suppose if the diet between fasts is normal, i.e., not-ketogenic, then one never really adapts completely to glucose starvation. And as always, it's likely to be older people who have the most trouble.

My AHI after the fast day wasn't super high. Only a little over 5. But the ASV had to work harder to keep me there. I had about 600 Timed Breaths (machine-triggered) that night, more than double my usual.