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Expert Interview: Healthy Eating For Sleep Apnea With Maria Alexandra Bella

In this Expert Interview, dietician Maria Alexandra Bella will talk to us about Good Nutrition for Sleep Apnea. We’ll discuss:

1.Ways to avoid becoming hungry if you stop eating  within 3-4 hours of bedtime.

2. Why is it important to eat a good breakfast?

3. Some common myths and misconceptions about food choices and nutrition

4. Practical tips on choosing healthy ingredients without paying too much?

5. Nutritional pitfalls to avoid during the holiday season.

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Mental or Dental? The Holistic Explanation for Sleep Apnea

Orthodontists and physicians naturally assume that the size of our jaws is determined by our genes. Most modern humans now have at least some degree of dental crowding; some have significant dental crowding. Hundreds of years ago, this wasn't the case, which shows that for the most part, it isn't genetic. In his classic book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Weston Price showed the price we paid for modernization. It's pretty clear that modern, Western diets have affected our facial structures and that many of our modern diseases are a direct result of these anatomic changes.

 

I recently came across an excellent article by Dr. Raymond Silkman, a holistic dentist, who talks about these issues from a dental perspective. I strongly recommend you read it. The principles he points out is very much in line with what I describe in my book, Sleep, Interrupted. 

 

I've always stated that our jaws are too small for our normally sized soft tissues, and Dr. Silkman elaborates on this issue even further. Think about a long tube that's draped with fabric on the inside and the outside. If you somehow shrink the structure (the tube), then the fabric that covers the tube on the outside will shrivel up and develop many grooves (and wrinkles). On the inside, the same thing happens, but also takes up more space within the space inside the tube, thus narrowing the internal passageways. If you constantly apply negative pressure within the tube, the fabric will collapse inwards little by little, leading to more obstruction.

 

Dr. Price describes why the structural aspects of our facial skeletons are smaller. In my book, I describe what happens when you have narrowing of your breathing passageways.

 

This implications of these concepts are enormous. What's your opinion on this? Please enter your comments in the text box below.

Beat the Sugar Habit (Before It Beats You)

Expert Interview with Peter Lappin

 

Dr. Park Interviews an immensely knowledgeable health counselor and top-notch nutrition expert, Mr. Peter Lappin on how to beat the sugar addiction. During this 57 minute call, Peter shares his eye-opening insights on how pervasive sugar has become in all our foods and how to avoid it without depriving yourself.

 

Learn how to:

• Gain control over your sugar cravings
• Conquer the sugar blues that leave you feeling listless
• Satisfy your sweet tooth with natural, wholesome foods without feeling deprived
• How to avoid the hidden sugar in so many supermarket foods
• Improve your own and your family’s health by cutting some sugar out of your diets

 

What to Eat When You’re Sick and Tired

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How did you find out about this recording? *	Please select a referral source Patient (received an email) Dr. Park’s newsletter On-line article Book: Sleep Interrupted SleepGuide.com Facebook Twitter Referred by a Friend Other/Not Sure
*By clicking ‘submit’ above, you are agreeing to receive ongoing communications from Dr. Park including monthly newsletters, events alerts, and other such written correspondences. Your e-mail will remain strictly confidential and will not be disclosed to any third parties without your prior written consent. You may unsubscribe to any or all portions of our e-mail correspondences at any time. Thank you for your understanding.

Nutritional Lessons From Africa

 

Traditional cultures in certain parts of the world practice contraception by breast-feeding. Most doctors will tell you that breast-feeding is not a reliable form of birth control. However, the way a woman breast-feeds is vastly different in the developed areas versus underdeveloped parts of Africa. 

 

In the US, most women who breast-feed on demand begin to taper off to intermittent feedings after a few months or at most 1-2 years, either supplementing with solid foods, or pumping and giving the milk through a bottle. I’ve written about how bottle-feeding is thought to aggravate dental crowding and malocclusion. 

 

In certain parts of Africa (such as in Batswana), women breast-feed on demand, with the child strapped in slings to the mother’s chest, feeding on demand until he or she becomes too heavy or becomes more independent. Typically, this lasts about 2-3 years. My patient confirmed that women would typically have 3-4 children evenly spaced over a span of 10-12 years. Repeated, short bursts of breast-feeding promotes prolactin release, which is an effective form of contraception. In developed countries, the interval between feedings lengthen over the first year, increasing the odds that pregnancy may occur.

 

He also noted that for the most part, the natives are very healthy, with few stresses, and they generally eat off the land, without too much processed foods or refined sugars. He even feels stronger and healthier when he lives and eats there. The main health problems that he sees are mainly infectious: malaria and HIV. 

 

Dr. Brian Palmer, a dentist that has spent his entire career researching the link between bottle-feeding and obstructive sleep apnea, has stated that in some areas of the world, people can’t afford infant formula, let alone regular food. The only source of nutrition for infants and toddlers is breast milk. Notice that despite the fact that the children are stick thin, they all have nice smiles and bright teeth.

 

Compare this with pictures of young children (in Dr. Weston Price’s book) who eat lots of sweets and processed foods—you’ll see crooked, stained teeth with lots of cavities, along with narrowed jaws and faces.

 

Take note of a native rural African’s jaw structure, and compare the facial width and jaw structures against multiple generation African-American faces. It’s a pretty stark difference.

10 Tips For Healthy Holiday Eating

Many patients find that the holidays are often incompatible with their diet and exercise regiments. But before you sabotage in two short weeks what you’ve worked so hard to maintain the previous 11 months, take heed of the following advice from expert holistic nutritional counselor, Peter Lappin.  These tips not only can help you avoid your penchant for overindulging this season (and regretting it later), they’ll help you enjoy many more holidays to come in the future.

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1. Don’t go to a holiday meal starving.  A lot of people under-eat in anticipation of a big meal, and then fill up on fat-laden crackers, cheese, nuts, and dip before the turkey gets carved.  Eat sensibly and don’t skip meals on feast day.

2. If you’re going elsewhere to eat, resist the invitation to take home leftovers. It isn’t just the sweets that are a potential problem, it’s anything associated with holiday eating — turkey, side dishes, etc. — that are not part of your regular diet.  Politely decline the offer and you won’t have the food around to tempt you. 

How Many Calories Are In Your Burger?

After my interview with health counselor and nutritional expert, Peter Lappin a few nights ago, I began to look more closely at food labels on grocery products as well as in convenience and fast food stores. I wondered if people eating in fast food restaurants will actually make healthier choices now that they know exactly how many calories are in everything they eat. My opinion is no, that their habits won’t change. The only benefit that will come from this is that the fast food industry (as well as the general food industry) will use this as a disclaimer, similar to all the other legal disclaimers that you see everywhere (like the Surgeon General’s warning about smoking). The next time someone takes legal action against one of the fast food chains, they can argue that the customer was given full disclosure about the ingredients and the number of calories. In a perverse way, these labels and disclaimers may end up somewhat legitimizing people’s poor eating or smoking habits.

What this goes to show is that anytime the government takes action with genuinely good intentions, there always seems to be negative consequences. Helping people with bad eating habits to count more calories won’t make a dent in our obesity epidemic. What needs to be stressed is a holistic model, where the person’s nutritional, exercise, emotional, spiritual, socioeconomic, and family support factors are all accounted for and properly addressed. I’m highly skeptical of anything that touts one thing only, whether it’s counting calories, restricting one food group, eating lots of one mineral, etc. 

What’s your take on this? Do you think these labels in fast food restaurants will change peoples’ eating habits?

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