It’s a fact: most people we meet are following some kind of weight loss program. While some do it for cosmetic reasons – for looking good and to get into their old clothes, etc, the reason may also be related to health issues. A majority of people are advised weight loss as obesity has been identified as one of the main reasons behind a host of ailments affecting the mind and body.
Sleep apnea is a serious sleeping disorder, the treatment of which starts with weight loss. But how are these two related? This is a common question for most people groping for answers that establish the link between the two seemingly divergent health conditions. This site will help you find the right answers.
Sleep apnea and weight: the basics
It all starts with something that is treated as a simple intrusion in the bedroom: snoring. Whoever is snoring soon becomes the butt of family humor but gradually, the same snoring starts to cause marital issues and family problems because of the noise it generates.
Ignoring snoring could result in a more serious sleep disorder called sleep apnea, characterized by intermittent pauses in breathing. Such cessations could range between 5 and 30 times in an hour and such episodes can happen several times in the night.
Obstructive sleep apnea or OSA is a more common variety of this condition which is marked by complete cessation of breathing and collapse of the muscles and tissues involved in the breathing process.
But where does body weight feature in this scenario? Obesity is not only about putting on weight around the waistline or thighs, etc. An overweight individual would invariably have extra fat muscles around his or her neck, throat and mouth that interfere with normal breathing.
When one is asleep, the muscles and tissues of these organs get relaxed and most of the time collapse too. This causes obstruction in the air passage and what starts with snoring, gradually develops into sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a dangerous condition not only because it slows down breathing, obstructs oxygen supply to the brain and so on, but also because it is associated with a host of heart ailments like stroke, ischemic heart disease, etc., many of which could be fatal.
Therefore, when a patient visits a doctor for the treatment of sleep apnea, he or she would instantly be advised to lose weight. And this time the weight loss is not by controlling and regulating one’s diet but also by doing physical exercises and also sleep apnea exercises that focus on losing extra fat around the relevant regions causing breathe obstruction.
Natural energy boosters: its relevance to management of sleep apnea
One of the first visible signs that a patient of sleep apnea shows is day-long tiredness. After all, what can you expect from someone who is woken up repeatedly several times in the night, because of serious breathing problems?
A typical sleep apnea victim would feel fatigued, irritable and edgy all through the day, unless some additions and alterations are done to the diet plan, with foods that boost the energy levels the right way. This means that the diet plan should provide the right amount of calories but not add to the body weight.
Sleep apnea and weight loss: useful exercise tips
So now you know that you have to lose weight by doing some good meal planning and of course by doing the right kind of physical exercises. While there is no dearth of exercise tips for weight loss, which ones are right for you?
In stead of groping in the dark or even doing things which have given good results to your friends (effects of exercises could vary according to body types/age/gender) the best option could be to check with your doctor regarding the exercising schedule and the load of physical workouts that can benefit your body.
Sleep apnea and weight loss: how conversant are you with food and nutrition facts?
Most of us nod our heads when we hear about how some foods are more nutritious than others. While we know that fried foods and foods rich in saturated fats are bad for someone keen to lose weight, not many of us know more than this. How about nutrition facts of some foods?
Why do you need to have some portions of certain foods in a day? What is the amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fats that one must have, no matter what the weight loss goals are? What are macronutrients and what roles do they play in the upkeep of our health?
For someone who is trying to cope with a serious situation like sleep apnea, such information is critical. For example, what is the right portion size of the food items that you want to have? How to combat intermittent hunger pangs? Why it makes more sense to have fresh foods than processed or refrigerated foods if weight loss is your goal?
There are plenty of doubts and unanswered questions that can come between you and your weight loss program that should be answered properly, before you embark upon a weight loss program to treat the sleep apnea condition.
Sleep apnea and weight loss: importance of meal planning
One of the key distracters while following a weight loss program is the plethora of advice and tips we receive from friends and well wishers. While all of them want good things to happen to us, but at times such information overload can be very confusing.
You could be confused about how to plan your meals, now that you have to eliminate some standard foods that you are so used to; how to include more fiber in your diet plan and what foods are rich in fiber; what kind of foods you need to have for snacks; should you give up desserts completely, and so on and so forth.
Let it not happen that your meal planning takes complete control of your life! After all, your final aim is to lose weight on health grounds – curing sleep apnea, so that you can sleep and live better. You need to chalk out a meal plan that may be unique for meeting your individual calorie and nutrition needs.
Finally, how to sleep better!
For someone who is coping with sleep apnea, the importance and necessity of some good sleep need not be re-emphasized. While weight loss is topmost in his or her agenda, there are several other things can also be done to improve sleep quality and quantity?
For example, did you know that making some simple lifestyle changes can actually help you sleep better? Even the types of foods you eat at what specific times of the day or night have an important role in improving the quality of sleep.