What Does Your Snoring Say About Your Health?

New-onset snoring after age 30 is a sign of a serious health problem unless we can show otherwise. Here's how to tell.

Ever woken up in the middle of the night, wide awake? Maybe your partner told you that you’ve been snoring recently. Here’s how they are connected and what to try.

Welcome to the Beyond The Labs Newsletter, a weekly deep-dive into solving your health mysteries. I help adults in their 30s-50s solve the ‘Normal Lab’ mystery of brain fog, fatigue, and stubborn weight, to reclaim their energy and focus. I’m Dr. Ashori, a board-certified MD. I look Beyond the Labs through virtual Direct Primary Care in California and personalized health coaching for professionals worldwide.

Snoring or Making Noise?

We shouldn’t call it snoring but actually, altered breathing. Women may have a softer change in breathing while men might be imitating a moose mating call. In fact, they both have the same cause and effect in the body.

Men: Snoring tends to be louder, deeper sound, and “rumbling.”

Women: Higher frequency, “fluttering”, lower decibel.

While snoring itself may not be harmful, blocking or slowing down airflow can lead to increased heart rate, lower oxygen levels, and increased sympathetic tone while trying to sleep.

Starting to Snore In Your 30s, 40s, or 50s

Here are a few reasons why we may start to snore. I consider most new-onset snoring a problem unless I can show otherwise. I’ll explain why.

#1. Neuromuscular Airway Tone

Aging changes the neuromuscular response of your airway. That’s why in much older adults you may hear audible noises when they breathe, even when awake.

Lack of exercise and metabolic changes are common with age and will have a negative impact on your upper airway tone.

#2. Upper Airway Fat Deposits

Metastatic fat is fat that shouldn’t be where it is. Think of fat in the liver, fat inside the skeletal muscles or even heart muscle.

Fatty tissue can also deposit in the tongue and pharyngeal walls, effectively narrowing it. With age, there is predictable fat infiltration in:

1. Base of the tongue

2. Parapharyngeal fat pad

3. Lateral pharyngeal walls

#3. Hormonal Changes With Age

In women, progreastone is a potent stimulant of the upper airway tone. For most, levels drop off in your 40s and 50s.

Even without weight gain or fatty changes, rapid loss in progesterone can loosen upper airway tone. Of course, this doesn’t happen in everyone and it may just be episodic.

For men, it’s usually the loss in testosterone that can accelerate both visceral and parapharyngeal fat deposits.

#4. Sinonasal Congestion

We all get a bit of congestion at night or seasonally. Usually, when you sleep, your upper airway can compensate. But with age, this compensatory mechanism slows down.

You may suddenly find yourself snoring even if the the congestion isn’t that obvious to you.

#5. Stress and Airway Stability

We know that stress will lead to lighter sleep which excessively relaxes the airway, causing more snoring.

High sympathetic tone from stress leads to:

1. More light sleep

2. More REM rebound

3. Less slow-wave sleep

4. More instability in ventilation

#6. Insulin Resistance

When your lifestyle forces your pancreas to constantly release more insulin, the organs in your body become desensitized or “resistant” to this insulin. They’ll need more and more insulin to perform their function. That’s bad.

Insulin resistance makes the airway more collapsible:

1. Increased visceral fat

2. Upper airway fat deposits (tongue + parapharynx)

3. Systemic inflammation lowering muscle tone

#7. Alcohol + Sedatives + Stimulants

Both sedatives and stimulants eventually lead to the same decreased muscle tone pathway.

Stimulants initially stimulate and then crash your system into a down-state.

Sedatives, such as benzodiazepines, certain blood pressure medications, antidepressants, THC, and alcohol drop muscle tone immediately.

It’s one of the most reliable triggers we know. They lead to the relaxation of the genioglossus and soft-palate muscles. Resulting in the moose mating call you hear from the other room.

#8. Heavy Meals Close to Bedtime

This is my own Achilles Heel! After a late evening hard workout session, I try to load up on calories which causes gastric distension → pushing the diagram upward.

My lung capacity drops → causing my airway to be more collapsible → higher negative pressure builds → I snore → my wife lovingly kicks me.

#9. Silent Acid Reflux

Especially in those dealing with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), they may develop snoring because of the inflammation of the soft tissues due to the excess acid.

#10. Late Night Eating - Even if Not Heavy

When we eat we stimulate the vagus nerve. It’s great for digestion but not so great for the neuromuscular tone of the upper airway.

#11. High Salt Intake

If you consume excess salt in your diet, you’ll retain more fluid.

Not only will you wake up more at night to urinate, but you’ll get more REM-rebound, fragmented sleep, and more snoring because of it.

The excess salt will also cause more puffiness in the upper airway and decrease its tone. There’s no good way to get rid of this excess salt and for some it might mean 2-3 days of bad sleeping because of one salt-heavy meal.

When is Snoring Just Noise vs. Medical Problem

I always consider new-onset snoring a red-flag until I can prove it’s not. In fact, 25% of the time, it’s just incidental snoring from occasional sleep changes.

That means that 75% of the time, in my practice at least, it’s associated with important cardiometabolic changes.

The other symptoms I look for which tell me something more serious is going on:

1. New weight distribution or weight change

2. New unrefreshed sleep

3. Waking up wide awake in the middle of the night

4. Daytime fatigue

5. Morning headaches

6. Urinating more at night

7. Waking up with a dry mouth

8. Brain fog

9. More irritable (especially early morning)

If You’re One of My Patients, Here’s Your Checklist

These articles are meant to be evergreen articles my patients can review before we do a deep dive into their health problems.

In my direct primary care practice, I have 1-hour long patient appointments. This is important because when we understand our health better, we can be more effective in preventing chronic diseases. In my health coaching practice, it’s similar, except we focus more on habits, tips and tricks, and client education.

In descending order, here’s how to help reduce your snoring:

1. Reduce visceral fat and excess upper airway fat.

2. Avoid late-night eating.

3. Decrease late-evening food volume.

4. Reduce sedative usage later in the day.

5. Reduce stimulate usage.

6. Improve metabolic health.

7. Address daytime stress.

8. Try side-sleeping, instead of back-sleeping.

9. Adjust pillow height.

10. Optimize nasal airflow with sinus hygiene.

11. Avoid late-night hydration.

12. Avoid excess salt intake.

13. Address acid reflux.

14. Start myofunctional/oral airway exercises.

15. Reduce bedroom temperature.

16. Try a humidifier.

Mini FAQ

Q: Is occasional snoring a problem?

It depends on your symptoms. If it happens occasionally and you feel fine otherwise, with no shift in your biomarkers, it’s just a nuisance.

Q: What’s worse, carbs, protein, or fat before sleep?

Protein has the least snoring-effect, but it may drive up your core temp, keeping you from a good night sleep. Refined carbs are the worst offenders.

Q: How does dehydration make things worse?

Dry mucosa →sticky secretions → turbulent airflow → mouth breathing → snoring → getting kicked by your partner.

Q: How do I know I need a CPAP machine?

You can take the STOP-BANG questionnaire or do an in-home sleep study. This is just a start. A complete workup is recommended by your own doc.

Q: What if I snore a lot but feel fine?

Well, it’s still a problem. Your resting heart rate will go up, your hormones will be negatively impacted, and your sleep quality may not be perfect. But to answer this fairly, it’s best to get a proper evaluation.

Q: Does snoring really improve with lifestyle changes?

It did in me! So, yes, dramatically. Most modifiable levers:

• Body composition (weight) management.

• Earlier dinners.

• Lower alcohol intake.

• Sinonasal hygiene.

• Improved metabolic health.

• Sleeping on your side.

• Strengthening upper-away tone.

Not sure how to manage your sleep properly? Schedule a 1-hour session with me to focus on the interventions most relevant to you:

Disclaimer:

Dr. Mohammad Ashori is a U.S.-trained family medicine physician turned health coach. The content shared here is for education and general guidance only. It is not personal medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Humans are complicated and context matters. Always talk with your own healthcare team before making medical decisions, changing medications, or ignoring symptoms. This information is to help you add more depth to those conversations.