Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Vitamins and sleep apnea

In today’s health conscious society taking vitamins have become a daily routine. While taking vitamins have been around for a long time it is especially essential for an older growing population. Vitamins and supplements are a billion dollar industry. Vitamins also are found to help with sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia. The B vitamins in particular are found useful to promote sleep.


What vitamins are beneficial to sleep disorders?

  • Vitamin B6 – It has been suggested that B6 helps produce serotonin which triggers the hormone melatonin which helps you get to sleep. 
  • Vitamin B5 – helps with stress and anxiety which in turn helps you sleep 
  • Vitamin B1 – This is good for sleep apnea patients who have memory loss 
  • Vitamin C – also helps reduce stress

 There are also supplements and minerals that make sleeping easier. Calcium is one of them. A deficiency of calcium in the body makes us restless. That is why you hear so many people say that drinking a glass of milk, which contains calcium; before bed will help you get to sleep. Magnesium, like calcium, causes sleep problems when there is a deficiency in the body. There are plenty of food that has magnesium in it like wheat bran and cashews.


What is Tryptophan?

Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps to create serotonin in the brain. Like calcium it is found in milk. Another food that has it is turkey, which might explain why everyone is sleepy after the thanksgiving meal.



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5 comments:

  1. Hello David;
    I found you on squidoo and wanted to checkout your blog. This is very beneficial info.
    Thanks for a great blog.
    Mark

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  2. I'm trying N-acetylcystein (NAC) for my sleep apnea. I read about a successful phase II clinical trial using NAC for sleep apnea. Also, I put a humidifier in my bedroom because I found that I can sleep well without CPAP in San Diego and Hawaii, both much more humid than where I live in Northern Calif. I've slept somewhat better the last week since making these two changes.

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