- Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder that has been linked directly to cardiovascular issues, and indirectly to cancer, diabetes, and dementia due to loss of healthy sleep.
- A new study finds that eating a healthy plant-based diet can significantly reduce the risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea.
- The study also indicates that consuming an unhealthy plant-based diet heavy in refined grains, sugar, and salt, as well as too many animal-based foods, significantly raises the chances of developing obstructive sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs at a time least likely to be detected by a person who has it — while they are sleeping. Nonetheless, it is a serious condition. There is a range of factors that may cause it. A new study investigates the effect of a plant-based diet on the likelihood of developing OSA.
While the study finds eating a plant-centric diet can help one avoid OSA, it also finds that the quality of that diet is critically important.
The study found that people who adhered most closely to a healthy plant-based diet (hPDI) lowered their risk of OSA by 19%, and people who were pro-vegetarian (largely vegetarian) also saw a significant reduction in risk. However, eating an unhealthy plant-based diet (uHPDI) can significantly raise one’s risk of OSA, by 22%.
The culprits in an unhealthy plant diet are the usual suspects that have been linked to a range of health issues: refined grains, high sugar, and salt, as well as heavily processed foods, which often contain all three.
The study is the first to investigate plant-based diets of different qualities as they might affect the likelihood of developing OSA. The Australian study analyzed cross-sectional data from 14,210 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. All participants reported the foods they consumed over the previous 24 hours.
To assess the risk of OSA, the researchers used the STOP-BANG questionnaire, an acronym for Snoring, Tired,…
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