Tuesday, April 8, 2014

How I cured my child from childhood asthma

Asthma means overreactive lung disease. You would have heard this from your doctor. The regular treatment is to suppress the lungs from over reacting through steroids and use of bronchodilators. These treatments are life saving but have several side effects. And I did not want to continue these on my child. I kept reading several articles regarding asthma and how it can be cured through natural remedies. And something made me feel it is possible. The main target is to make lungs stronger day by day to face the battle and win.

What to do to make the lungs strong and face the battle?
  1. By providing essential nutrients to the lungs through natural(real)food
  2. By exercising the lungs through proper techniques
  3. Provide emotional support to lungs. Do you know that lungs respond to emotions. Yes it's true.
  4. Exposing lungs to immunity building factors and not exposing lungs to certain factors. The Do's and the Don't's.
How to do the above mentioned steps?
  1. Food habit change
  2. Life style change
  3. Strict discipline and consistent effort
  4. Patience

Things to know

Cause of excess mucous in the lungs
- not drinking enough water.
- eating mucous producing food. Oily food, dairy, fast food, Chocolates, ice creams are real culprits
- eating cold food / drinks
- allergens dust, mold, pollen, pet dander etc
- heat in the body
- weak immunity
- cold weather conditions i.e the winter months can make things severe
- and when the body is fighting against any type of infection.

Food habit changes

I started to include asthma curing food ie fruits, vegetables,whole grain,nuts and other that contains essential nutrients like antioxidants, vitamins for the lungs to cure, regenerate and become strong. These are called the Superfood.
I referred few reliable websites and some age old books to get the information. I also asked some grandmother's and mothers for techniques.
When i started including these in my childs diet it took solid 6 months for the body to respond and change. But the change was for good. Since then my child did not get wheezing when having cold. I am really suprised.

Essential Nutrients:
Vitamins B, C, E , Quercetin, lycopene, Rosmarenic acid, Omega 3 fat, Carotenoids, Magnesium and Potassium

Fruits: 
Pomegranate, Apple, Banana, Kiwi, blueberry, papaya, orange, lemon, Melons

Last winter I kept giving pomegranate and Apple almost everyday to my child for nearly 3 months. Pomegranates are called superfood for a reason. Even its seeds play a role in good health. I saw a huge change in my child's health. Other fruits mentioned above have benefits too. I try to include atleast 3 to 5 serving of fruits each day.

Vegetables:
Avocados, Sweet potatoes, Broccoli, Onions, Tomatoes, carrot, cauliflower, beans, spinach, Beetroot

Avocados and sweet potatoes are my child's breakfast at least 3 times a week. Avocado has regenerative properties. That is it can regenerate vital organ like lungs.
Beetroot has amazing properties and it can be included at least twice a week.

Herbs:
Ginger, Garlic, Rosemary, Mint, tumeric
I add ginger and garlic to almost 2 dishes everyday especially when she gets cold. Turmeric is another ingredient that goes on my soup and several other dishes.

Nuts:
Sunflower seeds, soybeans, walnuts

Grains:
Oats, Millets

Dairy and egg:
Dairy provides vitamin D and calcium for the body and helps building strong bones.
Egg contains several nutrients for kids.
But please make sure if your child is not allergic to it.

This is my golden website that gave me the faith
http://www.healwithfood.org/asthma/
Read it and you will understand the food that is required with the base reasons of how it helps.
I stick to unprocessed, home cooked(not over cooked), no preservative, no artificial color, less salt, less sugar food for 95% of the time. The remaining 5% like eating out in restaurants, parties etc doesn't bother me.

Life style changes

- Swimming(in moderation) benefits the lungs. It expands the lungs and makes it stronger. Only thing to worry about is the amount of chlorine in the pool as chlorine is not good for lungs. Hence swimming in moderation is advisable. Like once or twice a week. It did help my child.
- Walking/Jogging. While walking, jogging, running we inhale and exhale air and hence strengthen the lungs. Atleast an hour of outside time is good preferably morning hours.
- Dancing and lots and lots of play
- Singing, Wind instruments
-Yoga is taught everywhere. Teaching yoga helps to improve lung function and overall health.
-Teach your child to blow nose. Everyday during bath make your child blow nose at least 5 time each side. This is more like pranayama(breathing technique in yoga).
- Exposing to sun at least 15 to 30 minutes everyday.

Do's and Dont's

  • Do keep your house dust free. Most kids who develop wheezing have dust allergy. First and foremost is to keep the bedroom clean since we spend more than 12 hours here. Bedroom should contain only bed to sleep. Remove any other items and keep the room spacious and breathable. Wash thé blankets atleast once a week and keep it dust free.
  • Do keep your house well ventilated through the day. The gas stoves and other household  electrical devices emits dangerous gases that worsens asthma. By not having enough ventilation in the house these gases keep circulating in house. So it is always important to have the fan running while cooking and keeping the windows open for fresh air to come in.
  • Don't be too clean freak in terms of washing hands and moping floors often. By constantly doing so we reduce the immunity of the body to fight against infection. Minimize the use of hand sanitizers and even antibacterial soap. Hand sanitizer are the worst culprit since it can get into our body. The best to wash hands in soap and water before food.

Few promising tips

  • Give the superfood first thing in the morning
  • I recently read an article that said "asthma is drought management system" by the body. That is when body doesn't have sufficient water the lungs starts producing excess mucous to protect itself. How to prevent this? "Don't let it dry but flood the system" Flood the human body with water by drinking lots of water, by using humidifier during dry days, talking tub bath for at least 15 mins, doing netipot, using saline nose sprays, eating lots of fruits that contains water and so on. I do these when my child suffers from cold. And it puts a full stop to wheezing.
  • During normal days, Splashing Water on the face/giving head bath just pouring water on the head. Even if the child cries its okay. This helps in increasing the lung capacity. Taking bath first thing in the morning. These two tips were given by my great grandmother.
  • Make your child drink lot of water. Kids are very playful and forget to drink water. Make it a routine to give at least 6-8 cups of water at various points of the day.
  • Do not give any ice cold food from fridge, big no to ice creams and soda. Cold food constricts the lungs and hence makes things worse. Not many agree to this concept. But this is true.
  • Cold weather conditions- the winter months can make the asthma severe and the recovery late. The key is to work through the other months and keep the body ready for the battle.
  • Not being too clean. The body should be able to fight against infection by itself.
  • Don't be afraid to expose your child to other sick children(suffering from common cold,cough fever) by doing so the child immunity improves.
  • Give emotional support. Love your child a lot. Anger, yelling, beating will not help. Hug and kiss a lot. And enjoy each moment of life with your child.
  • Avoid using plastic containers, plastic water bottles, disposable plates, cups, spoons for your child.
  • Give probiotics and DHA
  • Avoid any processed food for your child. In the step of processing the natural nutrient of the food is lost. Even though vitamins are added to it to make it look like healthy, it is still not the naturally occurring nutrients.  
  • Avoid overcooking food. We tend to overcook food for sake of taste or in hurry or negligent cooking. When we over cook the naturally occurring nutrients are lost and hence feeding this to our child makes them nutrition deprived. It is good to follow cook time guideline for each vegetable.

To my blog readers

Please pass on the blog to other parents and help heal kids with asthma.

Resources

http://www.healwithfood.org/asthma/
http://greenyatrablog.com/10-hidden-benefits-food-sensitivities/
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10250/11-things-i-wish-every-parent-knew.html
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13175/6-ways-to-boost-your-childs-immune-system.html
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/1-12830-10/10-great-foods-to-feed-your-toddler.html

Disclaimer

I have done the above mentioned changes to my child( 4 year old) and seen positive results. Each child is different. Children with food allergies need to be taken care based on their condition. Also this article does not deal with exercise induced asthma and other conditions. Please take only the steps that will suit your child. Please understand that I am a mom not a doctor. All the information written above are knowledge acquired by reading resources like websites, books etc.

18 comments:

  1. Hi. Thankyou very much for taking your time out and writing this. Its really helpful.

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  2. I am glad that the blog is helpful for someone out there.

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  3. Hi! Greetings from Ireland and thank you very much for taking your time and writing this and sharing your knowledge and experience. Very informative and helpful.

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  4. Hi! Thank you for the encouraging comment.

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  5. I feel encouraged that there is some hope for children with asthma, i also used to feel angry and depressed that my daughter (now 4) has been diagnosed with asthma. I will incorporate your suggestions and be patient about it. Thank you for noting down all these points and publishing for us.

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  6. My kid was the worst picky eater. Every meal time was a struggle. It all reflected on health and every month there was a wheezing episode. Once I understood the underlying cause it was a wakeup call. Every single thing has changed since then and I not let day pass without following the above. I keep widows and doors open for ventilation all day and get a chance we run outside for fresh air and sun. I give at least 3 servings of fruits like Apple, pomegranates, banana, berries and melons like giving medicines(only that it taste much better than meds). I serve more veges than grains every meal. Our breakfast is mostly avocado and sweet potatoes. Even though it's a repetition of what I tell in the blog still I tell again because it's worth it. My kid is now asthma free even during her worst cold. It's like magic. These steps will not only fix asthma but it will fix any disease. You will see it and follow the magic words consistency and patience. Everything will change for good. Good luck.

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    1. I really appreciate your article. My son has been on Flovent for the last 2 weeks, and my normally super calm, quiet, sweet 7 year old son has been a mean, aggressive monster since using Flovent twice a day! His asthma is new for us, just began this year, and we've been in the ER a few scary times. I am grateful to have found this blog by you, and I am wondering how you got your picky eater to accept and comply with the new menu at home! Thanks for this blog, and I look forward to hearing any tips for getting my son to eat these amazing superfoods!

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  7. Hi! thanks for writing this blog! Asthma has been new for us, just this year. We've been to the ER a few times already, and now he's been on Flovent for the last two weeks, twice a day. Terrible behavior change with him, and I am anxious to begin natural healing! My question is, how did you get your picky eater to accept and comply with the new menu in your house? My children (and husband) are terribly picky! Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Amy

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  8. Hi Amy, first of all dealing with picky eaters by itself is very challenging..on the top when health concerns comes in it gets very frustrating..but it can be done..Pls read the article " best diet for the first years" how to make your child eat good food. It will provide you few tips to start off..I will write in detail as to what I followed..its about consistently training the taste buds..also I am not very perfect..I don't expect my child to eat all the food by herself..I feed when it comes to these health changing food..my focus is to get the good stuff into my child's body..I know it's not right way..but health comes first..Good thing is as my child grows I see her liking the food and eating by herself. Also talking about the food helps..it's all trial and error and takes time. Good luck.

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  9. Thanks a lot for sharing with us your wonderful blog. I am going to have my daughter reading this blog tonight and we are going to try this. She is having mild asthma and I really don't want to depend on medicine. I am so happy to see this blog. Thanks again and hope that your tips will help us to reduce the asthma from my daughter. She is 6 now and we only discovered the asthma last spring.

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    1. Hi, you are doing the right thing by making your child read the blog. Above age 5 the children have certain level of maturity to understand right and wrong and follow. I can see this with my child. And sure mild asthma can be cured in no time and if diet and lifestyle change is made part of your child's life she will be asthma free her whole life.

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  10. Hi,

    I have a question for you. You mentioned that we should keep windows opening for fresh air but opening windows will bring in dust. I read somewhere they said that during the allergy season/for asthma kids, we should keep windows close and free of dust.

    Could you please give your thought on this?

    Thanks a lot

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  11. Hello, The answer to this question depends on where and which part of the world you live. We get fresh air from the outside world and if we shut the window then what do we breathe unless there is central air system installed in the house. Even then a closed house is a perfect breeding ground for dust mites and molds the leading cause for asthma. I understand your concern about the dust entering the house like say if the house is on a crowded street or near a dusty park or a polluted place which are the causes for dust and the cause for asthma and allergies. It is better to avoid such places and prefer a house with few trees and plants around which will do the job of the air purifier. If that is not reality go for indoor plants and if you have a patio add outdoor plants too. Add a herb garden with simple herbs like parsley, coriander, mint, basil etc that will yield herbs for cooking asthma healing food and purify the air you breathe. Going on nature walk will help get lots of oxygen and make lungs stronger. Infact doing this regularly will help lungs work better during allergy seasons. There is a saying " the more you close the more the diseases". So open up to natire and live healthy.

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  12. Hi I have a 6 year old son he's been on ventolin and flowvent since he was 2 years old, he had also been on Singulair for the last 2 winters I recently decided that I don't want to give him Singulair anymore. I noticed back in April that he has an irregular heart beat, he's seen a cardiologist and he said he doesn't see it to be "worrisome" but he does want to monitor it, he said a lot of irregular heart beats go away in there own, my son has been on the halter monitor and he has done blood work but I am worried and I'm wondering if any other mommies out there have experienced this?

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  13. Hi jaya,my kid has been suffering from wheezing for 1.5 yrs now.doctors have prescribed singulair.he s takibg this from last 2.5 months and free of allergies now,no cold no wheezing.your blog is very useful.but if we say to doctor that we do not want to give singulair any more,they tell us if we really want to stop wheezing then this has to be done.i am following yhe diet as you said but at the same time he s on medications also..

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  14. Hi there, sorry that your child is suffering from wheezing. How old is your child? Usually most kids outgrow it unless they have other problems that makes it lifelong. To outgrow and stay out of wheezing please follow good diet and changes mentioned in the blog.
    Please follow the instruction of the doctor since it is life saving and keeps under control.

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  15. As I type this replay, tears are running down my face. I did everything wrong for my daughter and kept her on steroids for too long and is not even helping her asthma.

    Thank you for this blog. It is truly a lifesaver. I will follow you blog, keep her meds at minimum until I know she is symptoms free....

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    Replies
    1. Once we realize what is wrong and right it is only the matter of time for healing. All the very best👍Glad that my blog is making a difference.

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