Sleep Apnea & Vitamin D

Sleep is important for brain health. It also helps slow the aging process. While you do need seven to eight hours of sleep per night, getting 20% of a sleep cycle in deep sleep is more important.

Sleep apnea gets in the way of quality sleep. Those with sleep apnea have an interruption to the normal breathing process. It’s sometimes caused by a physical blockage of the airway. In other cases, the brain forgets to tell your lungs to breathe.

Not only is apnea affecting oxygen levels, it’s also interrupting the production of hormones. Your sleep cycle helps clear toxins from the brain as well.

Sleep apnea is often treated with a C-PAP machine to help breathing. There are also dental devices to assist. Surgery is used in certain cases.

The biggest interruption to a good night’s sleep is vitamin D deficiency. We don’t spend enough time outside, so we aren’t all getting enough vitamin D. 

Vitamin D also allows access to your genes. This reduces the function of neurons. Cue the brain malfunctioning when telling your body to breathe.

Your body can restore itself when its vitamin D levels are restored. Boost your supplementation above 40 ng/ML. Then, you can take better advantage of vitamin D from sunlight.

Listen as Dr. Joel Gould joins Dr. Susanne Bennett to discuss the relationship between vitamin D and sleep apnea.