Dr. Mogell Dental Blog

Boca Raton Cosmetic Dentist

Sleep Better With Cherry Juice

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Could drinking something as simple as tart cherry juice help the one-third of Americans that complain of sleep problems? Many people suffer from insomnia or wake frequently during the night. This poor sleep quality can impact your quality of life and lead to serious medical problems over time. Some sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea are extremely serious.

The researchers gave adults 2 glasses of tart cherry juice per day. They found that the cherry juice drinkers slept an average of 39 minutes longer and had up to a 6 percent increase in sleep efficiency (meaning they actually were asleep while in bed). When the study participants drank a non-cherrry juice drink they did not have these improvements. The sleep benefits seem to be caused by the melatonin content of the tart cherries. Previous research had shown that tart cherries could be used as a sleep aid and since American's spend over $84 million on over-the-counter sleep aids per year drinking tart cherry juice may be a healthier, money saving alternative.

If your sleep is disturbed by loud snoring by either you or your bed partner the problem may be obstructive sleep apnea. This is a serious condition that causes the sleeper to stop breathing many times during the night. The signs of sleep apnea include loud snoring, gasping during sleep, a large neck size and high BMI (body mass index). Obstructive sleep apnea can be treated using a comfortable oral appliance worn while sleeping. This stops the snoring and allows the sleeper to breath all night long. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea has been linked to heart disease, stroke, impotence, weight gain and increased risk of accident due to daytime sleepiness.

If the signs of sleep apnea sound familiar to you please contact Dr. Kenneth Mogell in Boca Raton, FL today at 561-394-9000 to schedule your consultation.

Kenneth A. Mogell, D.M.D.