Foods That Stop Snoring
Related Links
Stop Snoring--All the Tips That Work
Exercises to Stop Snoring
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, last updated March 5, 2012
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
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