Sleep Apnea and/or Severe Snoring?

Okay, what do sleep apnea and snoring have to do with an environmental/eco/vegan blog? Well.. I'll tell you.

A couple weeks ago, my husband went in for a sleep study. He only did so at my urging.

For as long as I've known him, he's been a very loud snorer. So bad, that for the last year (since our sleep schedules have been the same), one of us has to sleep on the couch.. just so we both can get some decent rest.

What worried me, though, was that he'd often wake up randomly.. coughing, or sounding like he was choking on his own tongue.

So, after much nagging from me, he made an appointment for a sleep study.

The thing is....

in the meantime, we did the vegan challenge, and decided to stay vegan. I couldn't help but notice that I could no longer hear him snoring in the living room during the night. Sure enough, his snoring has practically disappeared.

And we just got the results from his sleep study. No apnea!

I have to assume, that something that had been happening for years.. then went away after going vegan.. has to be related. Many folks throughout the years have suggested that dairy increases mucous production, or thickens the mucous present. If that's true, it definitely could affect snoring.

And as for the apnea, that I truly feel he was suffering from.. my best guess is that because he dropped 10 pounds in a month, with minimal effort (and no, he's not obese) that it opened his airways a bit.

Either way.. whether it's due to the dairy, the weight loss, or both. It might be worth a try if you're a snorer (or if the person laying next to you is). From other anecdotes I've read online, if you try cutting out all dairy for at least three weeks, you should notice a difference.