Food vs. Therapy

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:54 am

I'm terribly inept at finding what I want through "search" buttons. Never know quite what to ask, so I never get the answer I'm after.............so if this question has been answered to the point of irritating everyone, please tell me to go to my room.

I'm really working hard at being pro-active with my therapy. I'm going through all the piles of things to come up with a working combination for a good and effective program. But where does food come into the chain? Is there any kind of "rule of thumb" about how soon after the last meal of the day a person can effectively go under the mask for good therapy? I'm finding that if I try to go to bed any sooner than 3 or 4 hours after eating a dinner meal, I'm wasting my time. (especially if it's a large meal) My AHI figure shoots "way" up. I say "way", but for some people it might be nothing.................but the point is it pushes my numbers up higher than I want them to be. I already know that alcohol too close to bedtime is a no-no, for me at least. What about you? Have you figured out the relationship between ingestion and therapy?

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:31 am

For me it depends on when I eat, what I eat and how much I eat. I've gotten into the habit of eating just lightly at supper at least 5 hours before bedtime. I like eating though, and too often I disregard my own guidelines and suffer for it.

One thing I stumbled across is that eating a kiwi late in the evening works wonders for me. I have no idea why.

Regards,
Bill

Bonnie · Post by **Bonnie** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:42 am

I get home from work anywhere between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. I graze at my office during work, having an array of healthy stuff to munch on every couple of hours. Coming home from work I am always looking for that bed time snack. What I do have is usually peanut butter toast, a chicken sandwich, a bowl of soup, etc. My AHI is always under 1. What I have found is if I have anything with sugar it will increase. I seldom have anything with sugar but for example last week we had a retirement party and I had a piece of cake (2 hours before bedtime) and the next day I had a AHI of 2. Last night I had a couple of home made Valentines cookies (2 1/2hours before bedtime) and this morning my AHI was 1.9. In tracking my therapy I've found that anything with sugar will give me a higher AHI the next morning. I have coffee at work about 7-8 PM which doesn't affect my numbers at all and I am also able to have wine on the weekend with no rise in numbers. For me sugar is the thing I need to stay away from. Early on in my therapy I found I couldn't take my vitamins late at night. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the reasons for any of this but I do know changing to a morning routine made a big difference.

There are many factors contributing to AHI numbers but I believe part of anyone's therapy should looking at what is consumed in the hours before bedtime. When you find out what works for you, stick with it! (kind of like a mask)

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:49 am

Sugar................hmmmmmm, interesting.

Bonnie · Post by **Bonnie** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:32 am

Bill,
I was going to mention my grapefruit snack, 3 times I had a 0.1 AHI and had grapefruit the night before. I didn't mention it because I need to do more testing.

Also I forgot to mention that the sugar I refer to in my previous is refined not anything with sugar in it naturally, like fruit, etc.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:38 am

I have a little snack before bed, I sleep better, I like food too much it's a comfort thing. When i'm comfortable I sleep better. Jim

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:41 am

Ahhhh, yes, refined sugar. Evil stuff.........I love it! But, honestly, it is my downfall.

The grapefruit angle is a good one. Might check that out myself.........although I'm on medication for high Cholesterol and they mention not to eat grapefruit while taking that particular medication. Hmmmmm! Of course, if this therapy works the way I'm hoping, high Cholesterol and high blood pressure will both be diminished.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:46 am

Bonnie wrote:Bill,
I was going to mention my grapefruit snack, 3 times I had a 0.1 AHI and had grapefruit the night before.

That's interesting, Bonnie. I wonder what the connection is.

Both kiwi and grapefruit are acidic. My first thought was that with GERD, that would make things worse. Oh well . . ., maybe it's the natural enzymes.

Regards,
Bill

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:01 am

I know there's a connection in mine.....sometimes it's consistent.....sometimes not.
I know of two meals that'll send my numbers higher.......hamburger soup and salmon patties.....those ARE consistent.
Eating lean meat.....steaks, hamburgers, turkey, chicken, etc. with a small potato and vegetable usually result in lower numbers.
Also, somewhat spicy (like Mexican) foods (with salsa) will result in lower numbers. (I found out years ago that when I had acid indigestion, eating Mexican foods cleared it up)

I usually eat at least three hours before going to bed.....and coffee doesn't bother me a bit. The supper meal is a variable, but the other food consumption during the day is pretty consistent.

Still trying to figure it out after almost 2 years.

Den

ZZZzzz · Post by **ZZZzzz** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:05 am

I agree with Bonnie!

ANYTHING you can do to reduce the sugar/high fructose corn syrup/carbohydrates in your diet is a good thing.
Many with OSA have higher blood sugar levels anyway so you don't want to add to that number. I try not to eat up to 4 hours before bedtime. If I do this and control my sugar intake, I don't have to take perscription strength heartburn medication.

Your body will always metabolize the most readily available glucose supply first- - that's the stuff in your veins that you eat and drink. There's only one way for your body to process sugars and carbs and that's to release insulin. You want your body to burn stored fat.

Don't give fats and proteins a bad rap...your body needs these Amino acids and Essential Fatty Acids. There's no such thing as an Essential Sugar Acid.
It's just not true that eating fat makes you fat.
(Anymore than drinking gasoline will give gas or having a piano will make you a pianist.)

When I found out I had OSA I noticed that my fasting blood sugar went up to 99; borderline high. I'll get restested as soon as I can. Good luck*** -Bev

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:15 am

I have virtually no problems with acid reflux, so that' not a consideration. I'm just trying to figure out the "cause and effect" of food on my numbers. I'm learning some things here I've not heard before, so keep posting!!!!!

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:37 am

I try not to eat within about 4-hours of getting inflated by the PAP machine. As with Bill, I too suffer when I don't follow my guidelines.

As for refined sugars, I'm learning more about my body's reaction to food almost everyday it seems. Over the past month or two I have mostly weaned myself off refined carbs but on a couple of occasions I have slipped back and my body lets me know right away.

A couple of weeks ago I had a long hard day and was too tired to go home and make dinner so I stopped at the evil fast food drive-by (I've noticed that Wendys doesn't prompt me to get supper-sized like they used to). I got what I thought might be a not too unhealthy selection (grilled chicken sandwich with fries and DP ... with the new "small size" option) and before I even got half-way done with it, I felt my stomach and upper intestines start gurgling and cramping and just down-right rebelling against what I had just gave them to process. I experienced upper and lower GI pains for most of the night.

Taught me a lesson ... so I thought. Then yesterday I fell off the wagon again and had a doughnut and a cup of coffee since I was running late to work. Same dang thing happened. So it appears my body has gotten used to not having to deal with refined carbs.

Like with OSA, I find it amazing how my body had functioned and dealt with all my abuse for so long ... then I treat it nice for a realatively short time and now it won't accept anything less.

LoriD · Post by **LoriD** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:35 am

I usually try to stop eating and drinking at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, being I have gastric reflux. Between this and the CPAP therapy, I have found that I have had less trouble with acid recently, therefore, having to rely less on Zantac. Of course, I won't complain there!

Food vs. Therapy

Food vs. Therapy

Bonnie's sugar theory