Reduce sleep apnea symptoms with better daytime habits

Reduce sleep apnea symptoms with better daytime habits


If sleep apnea is ruining your nights and causing sleepy days, consider a dose of self-help. A growing body of evidence suggests a trio of daytime tactics can reduce the effects of sleep apnea — and perhaps even eliminate the need for a CPAP machine.

First, try cutting out ultra-processed foods such as breakfast cereal, sweetened yogurt and soft drinks. Then, cut back on alcohol and increase your number of daily steps. Every 2,000 steps not only reduces sleep apnea symptoms, it can lower the overall risk of premature death by 8 to 11%.

Sleep apnea, a pause in breathing that leads to snoring and abrupt awakenings, can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Recent findings by researchers in Spain focused on about 100 overweight men with sleep apnea. Half of them made diet, exercise and lifestyle changes that included healthier foods and eliminating processed foods. They cut back on nighttime drinking and walked 15% more every week. The second group made no lifestyle changes. Both groups continued using CPAP machines.

In eight weeks, the group that started healthier habits had 51% fewer sleep apnea episodes per hour than those who made no changes. Fifteen percent of the healthy-habits group no longer had sleep apnea and 45% no longer needed CPAP machines. Those in the healthy-habits group lost an average of 16 pounds.

The results were sustainable: After six months, lost weight stayed off. Sleep apnea remission reached 30% and nearly two-thirds of the group no longer needed a CPAP machine.

Taking a few simple steps can help you breathe easier — especially at night.

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