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?- By providing essential nutrients to the lungs through natural(real)food
- By exercising the lungs through proper techniques
- Provide emotional support to lungs. Do you know that lungs respond to emotions. Yes it's true.
- Exposing lungs to immunity building factors and not exposing lungs to certain factors. The Do's and the Don't's.
- Food habit change
- Life style change
- Strict discipline and consistent effort
- 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:
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.
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: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.
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
