Vegeterian Diets --Let Me Count The Ways There are several types of vegeterians: Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat plant foods, milk, milk products and eggs, but avoid flesh foods (meat, poultry and fish). Lacto-vegetarians eat plant foods, milk and milk products, but avoid eggs and flesh foods. Ovo-vegetarians eat plant foods and eggs, but avoid milk, milk products and flesh foods. Pesco/pollo-vegetarians eat meats like seafood and chicken, but do not eat other meats, such as beef, lamb, and pork. Total vegetarians, also called vegans, eat plant foods only. Read the Source Article |
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Foods That Stop Snoring
Related Links
Stop Snoring--All the Tips That Work
Sleep Center
Snoring Tests-What Type of Snorer Are You?
Snoring Raises Risk of Stroke
Top 10 Ways to Stop Night Time Congestion
May 7, 2009
By A. J. Lee, Associate Editor and Featured Columnist
Why Do We Snore?
All the possible causes of snoring reduce down to one single cause—
crowding. When you think about it, your throat is like a train station.
There are two type of trains that go through there. One train carries
air. The other train carries food. Problem is, both trains run on tracks
lying very close to each other. Your body keeps the tracks separate –
or at least tries to—by making sure neither track gets damaged, in
which case it swells. If it swells, then, it can cause choking,
discomfort, and snoring.
To see how close the two trains are in your head, do a simple
exercise. Place your hand gently on your throat. Now hum. See where
the sound is. Touch where the sound is. That’s your larynx, your voice
box. Air has to reach there to make any sound at all. Now, swallow.
Touch where your throat moves. That’s where food tries to navigate
down the throat to your digestive track your esophagus. See how
close our food entry point is to your voice box. It’s all a very crowded
party. The whole are where food has to get through and avoid
bumping into air is only about as big as a marshmallow. Okay, maybe
two marshmallows.
Technically, snoring is caused when the soft palate –that’s the roof of
your mouth, starts to flutter when air passes over it. That’s it. That’s
what causes the sound we know as snoring. Ever see a sheet hung
out on a line to dry when the wind blows? Ever hear the sound it
makes as it flaps in the wind? That’s the same action going on in your
throat. The soft roof of your mouth relaxes, air—the wind—blows over
it, and it causes the flapping vibrating sound we know as snoring.
But, why, you may ask, does it only happen at night? Doesn’t air flow
against the roof of my mouth when I am awake? Why don’t people
snore when they are awake? The reason people only snore at night is
threefold. First, the soft palate really only relaxes too much when you
don’t think about it. It really relaxes at night of course. Second, the
throat itself starts to compress the soft palate. It doesn’t take much
pressure. Ever notice when you get hugged around the neck that it
hurts so much. The throat is delicate. It’s quite easy to compress it.
Even a child can hurt an adult’s throat by hugging you around the
throat. That’s why gaining even a little bit of weight can set off
snoring. Even a tiny bit of extra weight on the delicate throat can
compress the soft palate just enough to start you snoring. Or even
sleeping on your back, so that the whole weight of the throat pushes
down the soft palate. All of these are covered in another article on
general tips to stop snoring.
This article is about the foods you should eat to help prevent snoring.
And the foods you should avoid to stop snoring.
Many other factors also increase the incidence of snoring, and these
are covered in our Sleep Center's main article on snoring. Such factors
include obesity, the position you sleep in, lack of fitness, aging and
associated loss of general muscle tone, congestion of the throat due to
acid reflux (heartburn), and, in some cases, the effects of alcohol or
smoking.
Top 5 Foods to Help Stop Snoring
1. Soy Milk. Cow’s milk actually promotes snoring, in people who
have lactose sensitivities. The problem stems from the particular
proteins in cow’s milk, which can cause mild to severe allergic
reactions. The allergic reactions promote congestion, which closes the
nasal passages, and increases snoring. Cows milk also encourages
mucous. Using soy milk is a good alternative .
2. Honey. Try using honey for snoring. Honey is an anti-
inflammatory, and an anti-microbial. During World War II, troops in
Europe used honey to bind wounds. Honey has been used as a
medicine for over 5000 years. Even Hippocrates, the father of
modern medicine, noted that honey "cleans sores and ulcers of the
lips, heals carbuncles and running sores." The swelling in the throat
that causes snoring is reduced when you eat honey. Try adding honey
to tea before you go to bed. It’s a potion used by opera singers to
relax the throat. And reduce crowding around the larynx. It works for
the rest of us as well. Honey can reduce crowding in the small area of
the throat from the soft palate to the larynx, and reduce snoring.
3. Fish. Rather, lack of red meat. Here, there is some controversy
about the exact connection between meat and snoring. Red meat is in
fact inflammatory. All meats with saturated fat causes slight spasms in
the arteries. However, the direct cause-and-effect between general
arterial inflammation and the particular inflammation of the nasal
passages which we know contributes to snoring. The research is
simply not clear or complete. Best course? Try cutting back on red,
greasy meats for a week or 2 to see if it helps.
4. Olive Oil. Or rather, no saturated oils such as butter, lard or
even margarine. Saturated oils contribute to acid reflux. That’s the
reason the hamburger you eat at lunch comes back to haunt you at
night with heartburn. The grease encourages the escape of the acids
which normally stay confined to your stomach into the upper reaches
of your esophagus, causing the burning. The resulting inflammation
can even reach your upper esophagus and contribute to snoring. Olive
oil is anti-inflammatory in general. But here we are mixing apples and
oranges somewhat Olive oil is anti-inflammatory as it acts on your
arteries. It is not directly anti-inflammatory with respect to your nasal
passages. However, in clinical studies, somewhat surprisingly, people
who suffer from acid reflux report a decrease in discomfort once they
switch to olive oil or other non-animal fat oils such as canola oil. The
scientific connection is murky but the reports from actual sufferers
would support some sort of helpful effect of olive oil on throat
swelling. Can’t hurt to replace your animal oils with olive oil, if you
want to reduce snoring.
5. Tea. The connection between tea and snoring is strong. Certain
hot teas can in fact help snoring. Teas decrease congestion and
phlegm. Chamomile tea with lemon and honey, common black tea with
lemon and honey, green tea, and white tea have all been associated
with reduction of congestion in general. Perhaps the most storied tea
when it comes to reducing snoring is mint tea. Mint is a decongestant,
which is why it is used in so many commercial decongestants. Reduce
congestion and you reduce snoring. Why? Because phlegm acts like a
kind of glue, clogging the nasal passages and the soft palate. Air
cannot force its way through the nasal passages as easily as when you
are not congested, and vibrations result. Congestion causes to
swelling of fluids within the tissues of the throat, which cause loss of
muscle tone and, encourages the soft tissues that line the airways to
flap in the wind.
These are all of the foods and drinks which research has shown have
even a marginal connection to reduced snoring. However, in addition
to changing the foods you eat, there are practices and habits you can
change which are very effective in helping many people to reduce
snoring. We have collected all the effective tips to reduce snoring, in
the following links: Stop Snoring-All the Tips That Work/ Snoring
Raises Risk of Stroke/ Snoring Tests/ Sleep Center /Cows Milk-
Health Dangers/ Top 10 Ways to Stop Night Time Congestion
Other Related Links
Snoring Increases Stroke Risk 67%
What Causes Snoring
Can't Sleep-Here's Help
Heavy Snoring Linked to Alzheimer's Risk
Child Snoring Different from Adults-Possibly An Allergic Type Disease
Snorers Cost Spouses 2 Years of Lost Sleep
UCLA Center for Sleep Research
Lose 10lbs -A Simple Plan for The Rest of Us
Why Your Dog Snores
My Heart Attack
Adrenal Fatigue-Why You Wake Up Tired
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