Republished with permission from SpectraCell Laboratories
Have you noticed just how many ailments correlate with vitamin and mineral deficiencies? Sleep apnea is no different. This list of key vitamins and minerals offers significant therapeutic potential for those living with sleep apnea.
Click here to download your own copy of the Sleep Apnea Nutrient Correlation Wheel, created by SpectraCell.
Cysteine – Oral supplementation with cysteine, the precursor to glutathione, has therapeutic potential for sleep apnea. Snore time and duration were significantly reduced for patients treated with N-acetyl cysteine compared to untreated sleep apnea patients.
Antioxidant Status – It is well documented that sleep apnea patients have both reduced antioxidant capacity and higher levels of oxidative stress than controls.
Vitamin C – Improves endothelial function (blood vessel health) in sleep apnea patients to levels seen in people without sleep apnea.
Vitamin E – Mitigates the oxidative stress seen in sleep apnea patients; Works synergistically with Vitamin C.
Vitamin A – Sleep apnea patients have low retinol (vitamin A); Retinol suppresses the growth of vascular smooth muscle, a process that causes blood vessels to clog, linking low vitamin A levels to the cardiovascular complications seen in sleep apnea patients.
Vitamin D – People with sleep apnea have a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency; The worse the apnea, the more severe the deficiency; Evidence suggests low vitamin D worsens sleep apnea’s negative effect on heart disease risk.
Selenium – In one case report, selenium supplementation completely stopped snoring caused by non-obesity sleep apnea; Selenium’s role as a potent antioxidant may reduce the oxidative stress seen in sleep apnea patients.
Copper – Considered a strong predictor of oxidative stress in sleep apnea patients; Copper’s role as a key cofactor in the powerful antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) explains this; SOD is very low in apnea patients.
Minerals – The trace minerals zinc, copper; magnesium, manganese and selenium are critical cofactors for the major antioxidant enzymes, which are important in repairing cellular damage caused by hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in sleep apnea.
Glutathione – Low levels linked to sleep apnea; This powerful antioxidant helps repair liver damage caused by sleep apnea.
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