Is your bed companion’s snoring keeping you up at night? Or are you waking yourself up with snoring? This can be incredibly frustrating, and loud snoring can mean that you lose out on important restorative sleep.

Even though it is important to check for more serious issues such as sleep apnoea, don’t underestimate the effect diet choices can make on snoring. The food and drink we consume can directly influence our sleep quality and snoring.

If your loved one’s snoring is becoming a big friction between you or you are now sleeping in separate bedrooms due to the terrible snoring, then it is time to take a closer look at your partner’s nutrition. Or if you co-sleep with a snoring kid, then look at your child’s diet. It just might be the root cause of their snoring issues and not only improve their sleep but your own too.

Snoring is the loud or harsh sound produced when air flows past relaxed tissues in the throat, causing those tissues to vibrate as you breathe. Snoring happens when the upper airway is obstructed during sleep as the muscles relax.

Enlarged adenoids, found at the back of the nose, can contribute to snoring in children. When the adenoids become enlarged, they can obstruct the airway, making it difficult to breathe through the nose. This often leads to mouth breathing, which can be the cause of the snoring.

In some cases, snoring and enlarged adenoids can also result in sleep apnoea, which is a serious sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. So, it is important to have this ruled out if the snoring is really bad.

Sometimes, we don’t even realise that we snore until it’s pointed out to us. However, if you wake up exhausted or feel sleepy during the day, then these could be clues that snoring is affecting your sleep quality.

Easy tips to try

If simple things like lying on your side, rather than on your back has not made enough difference to the snoring, then have a look at my tips below to find out what might be causing the loud snoring and how diet tweaks can help you to get a more restful night’s sleep.

Leave time to digest food before bedtime

Eating a big dinner too close to bedtime can leave your digestive system not enough time to do its work, leading to disturbed sleep and higher likelihood of snoring. Indigestion and acid reflux can play a role in this too, and there are things you can do to improve digestion.

Aim to leave at least two or three hours between finishing your last meal and going to bed. Opting for lighter food like vegetables, protein and whole grains can help, as these are easier to digest than rich or heavy foods.

Consider if there are food sensitivities

Not all food sensitivities are dramatic. Some people react mildly to foods like gluten and dairy. These reactions can cause inflammation and extra mucus production in the nose and throat, but this can be subtle enough not to cause concern when you’re awake. When you’re asleep, however, the added congestion can block your airways and cause your snoring.

If you suspect you have a food sensitivity, avoid the potential food culprits for at least a couple of weeks and see if your snoring improves. You can figure out which foods you might be sensitive to by avoiding one at a time and keeping track of any changes to your snoring.

Dairy can be particularly tricky as it sometimes causes extra mucus production, blocking airflow at night. Try dairy-free alternatives like almond, oat or coconut milk, at least in the evening, to see whether your snoring eases up. You may not need to go dairy-free entirely, but just cutting back in the evening may be that sweet spot to help you sleep better.

If you want to explore food intolerances and sensitivities, our NatureDoc clinic can organise blood tests to establish what foods you are reacting to.

Manage your environmental allergies

Hay fever season can exacerbate snoring due to the high pollen count. Some people snore because there is an environmental allergen they are being exposed to in their bedroom – which could be anything from dust mite allergy to feather allergy. So, if the snoring comes alongside allergic rhinitis, sneezing and itching then allergy testing is something to explore which we offer through our NatureDoc clinic. In the meantime, invest in a good quality air purifier and do your best to reduce environmental allergens in your bedroom.

Drink something other than alcohol before bed

A glass or two of wine after dinner or a little nightcap might feel like a relaxing treat, but if you indulge in alcohol too close to bedtime, it could be the cause of your snoring. Since alcohol is a muscle relaxant, drinking it before bed can keep the muscles at the back of your throat too relaxed to keep the airway open, and snoring is induced.

Instead of choosing an alcoholic drink, try a relaxing hot drink to unwind before bed. Herbal teas like chamomile, lemon balm, passionflower or valerian root are popular choices as they soothe the nervous system without causing the airways to relax.

Reduce the weight around your neck

Carrying extra body weight, especially around the neck, can put pressure on your airways and make it more difficult to breathe. You might not notice this much during the day, but it can become apparent when you sleep!

The weight loss doesn’t usually have to be drastic – just a few small consistent changes can help to reduce the weight and thus the snoring. You can also take a closer look at your diet; make sure you’re eating balanced meals with a rainbow of fruits and veggies, as well as plenty of healthy grains and proteins to keep you feeling full and try and avoid too many ultra processed foods which be a source of empty calories.

Watch your salt intake

A diet with lots of salt can lead to fluid retention, resulting in puffiness and a narrowing of the throat. One study of nearly 500,000 Brits found that participants who added extra salt to their food had an 11% higher risk of snoring and sleep apnoea than those who rarely or never added salt.

Ultra-processed foods like ready meals, fried snacks, crisps, processed meat and fast food tend to have a very high salt content. To lower your salt intake, try to steer clear of these and instead opt for fresh fruits and vegetables, unsalted nuts and wholegrains. Fresh herbs, spices and lemon juice can be great alternatives to add flavour to your food.

Work on your gut microbiome

There have been a handful of studies looking at the causes of snoring in children, and this points to a lack of diversity of friendly bacteria and disruptions in the gut and oral microbiomes. The children studied had higher levels of pro-inflammatory bacteria in both their mouth swabs and stool tests and not enough anti-inflammatory bacteria. This pattern of dysbiosis leads to gut permeability and the effect on snoring and sleep quality. I have not found studies in adults yet, but it would be interesting to see the outcomes.

If your snorer has needed rounds of antibiotics or takes long-term reflux medications, then it is important to consider addressing any oral and gut microbiome imbalances. This could be as simple as eating a wider range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, pulses, herbs and spices or by taking a good quality live bacteria supplement.

Round up

Snoring is not just a sleep disruptor for couples and co-sleepers, but poor sleep quality can affect anyone feels the next day and may have a ripple effect on their long-term health.

You may find that one or more of these tips are applicable, and they are really worth trying.

But if these tips are not enough to help you to manage the snoring, book in with the NatureDoc clinical team for 1:1 investigations into food intolerances and other aspects of snoring; we’ll help you to find out what your snoring is trying to tell you and help you get a better night’s rest – for both you and your loved one’s sake!

References

• Clinical and polysomnographic determinants of snoring
• Differences in abdominal and neck circumferences in patients with and without obstructive sleep apnoea
• Does milk increase mucus production?
• Eating habit of adding salt to foods and incident sleep apnea: a prospective cohort study
• Eating late negatively affects sleep pattern and apnea severity in individuals with sleep apnea
• Impact of alcohol consumption on snoring and sleep apnea: a systematic review and meta-analysis
• Progression of snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea: the role of increasing weight and time
• Sleep and health implications of snoring: a populational analysis
• The impact of alcohol on breathing parameters during sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis
• The influence of nocturnal alcohol ingestion on snoring
• The role of the nose in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring
• Impact of lifestyle modifications on snoring and mild sleep apnoea patients
• Dysbiosis in Snoring Children: An Interlink to Comorbidities?
• Gut microbiota composition in children with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: a pilot study
• Correlations Between the Adenotonsillar Microbiome and Clinical Characteristics of Pediatric Patients With Snoring
• Causal Effects of Gut Microbiota on Sleep-Related Phenotypes: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study