So, today we’ll be talking about the top home remedies to help you overcome asthma and other breathing related issues.

Foods to consume

Raw fruits and vegetables

Now, raw fruits and vegetable in both cooked and raw vegetables are going to be great because they’re very high in enzymes. What you want to do when you have asthma is consume a diet that’s going to reduce inflammation. And reducing inflammation is going to be done through certain types of fats but also enzymes are fantastic.

Now, some of our favorite fruits that are great for reducing inflammation can include things like kiwi. Kiwi contains an active component called actinidain, which is incredible. Papaya, pineapple is great because of its bromelain content, and figs. And then actually sort of as a side note, ginger is great as well because it contains Zingiber bean. So doing those specific fruits as well as ginger are incredible at reducing body-wide, system-wide, inflammation.

Wild-Caught fish

Wild-caught fish is high in EPA and DHA. These types of omega-3 fatty acids are more anti-inflammatory then are other omega-3 fats called ALA, alpha-linolenic acid that’s found in flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts.

So again, getting wild-caught fish in the diet—salmon, mackerel, tuna, halibut, and other fatty fish sardines, and anchovies are great as well. Get more of these omega-3 fats every single day.

If you are not a fish lover or you can’t get wild-caught fish in your diet that day, then make sure you’re taking a high-quality fish oil supplement or fish roe which is known as caviar. You can get that as a great supplement as well. But again, making sure you’re getting EPA and DHA on a regular basis. Or ETA, which is also found in fish roe. Oil again, fish oil, and cod liver oil also good options here because of their ability to reduce inflammation.

Garlic and onions

Garlic and onions are high on the list because of their high levels of quercetin. Onions are very high in quercetin. In fact, there is even clinical studies showing that quercetin can help reduce inflammation in the body, specifically histamine reaction. So if you are suffering from some form of allergies or bronchial issue like asthma, onions and garlic are great. Cooked are great but raw, in fact, you can actually take a raw garlic clove, chew it up and swallow it and that’s a great thing to do as well for reducing inflammation.

When you look at Chinese medicine, they actually believe foods that are more white in nature tend to really support the bronchial area. So you notice garlic and onions are typically a whiter or sort of a light yellow color. They would fall into that category. Cauliflower is fantastic, high levels of vitamin C. In fact, they talk about or if you’ve noticed this, that cauliflower actually looks like lungs, they actually look like lung tissue, it’s great for the lungs. And then chicken broth, a similar thing is when you used for the immune system and supporting the lungs and colon in Chinese medicine for a long period of time.

Water

Getting plenty of water in your diet, making sure you’re staying hydrated on a regular basis is also a great idea. So again, getting plenty of water. Now, when you’re drinking water making sure that it’s very clean water, spring water, reverse osmosis water, or really clean filtered water.

You want to stay away from water that’s high in chlorine and fluoride because of what that can do in terms of irritating the gut lining and increasing your risk of any type of reaction or sensitivity that you might have. So again, the water you drink, you want to make sure it’s very clean, very pure there as well.

Flaxseed

Flaxseeds are high in alpha-Linolenic acid, a different type of omega-3 that’s found in fish, still highly beneficial. So flaxseeds are great, also they contain ligands, contain certain types of antioxidants, high in minerals.

Bone Broth

Chicken or turkey broth is very high in Type II Collagen. Remember this, most people today are getting way too much muscle meat and not enough protein and amino acids that come from skin ligaments and tendons from animals and from their bones. And these types of amino acids like proline, and glycine, and hydroxyproline very therapeutic for the lungs.

Foods to avoid

Conventional dairy

Now, conventional dairy here’s the thing, we took this, what could be considered the superfood if you take a raw, organic, fermented goat’s milk or sheep’s milk or A2 milk, so a good quality dairy product. And what happens today is we’ll take dairy oftentimes from a cow that actually has some genetic makeup issues to where their type of casein is now more inflammatory. And then what we’ll do is we’ll take that that dairy product, oftentimes that cow is has been injected with steroids, different types of growth hormones, loads and loads of antibiotics. They’ve also been feeding on genetically modified grains.

So when you consume dairy products from conventional dairy, they have also been pasteurized where the enzymes have been killed off, there are no probiotics anymore, very difficult to digest. It is one of the worst foods for your body. In fact of all the things I’m going to mention, conventional dairy may be the single worst product for somebody to consume that has asthma.

In Chinese medicine as well, conventional milk is known to be very dampening to the body and mucus forming, which can make it hard to breathe. So again, get completely out of your diet any type of conventional dairy product.

Sugar

Sugar we know, highly inflammatory, similar thing, it’s going to cause a histamine reaction, it’s also going to cause bad microbes to build up within your system. Get conventional sugar completely out of the diet.

Replace it with raw local honey or Manuka honey. In fact, raw local honey may, in fact, help you naturally build your immune system over time and could overall help fight allergy or asthma potentially the future as it does allergies. We know that local raw honey contains local microbes that actually can help support you having fewer reactions to things over time.

So again, make raw local honey the natural sweetener that you use instead of sugar.

Processed foods

We know processed foods are high in chemicals, things like pesticides. If you’re buying food that is non-organic, if we’re talking about produce, pretty much all of it has been sprayed with some sort type of herbicide, fungicide or some sort of chemical, and even for preservation.

So again, processed foods are going to be high in chemicals. Also, many of them, when we think about fast foods, they’re fried in hydrogenated oils. Those are going to be inflammatory in nature. Remember this, the name of the game is keeping your body in the state where there’s not too much inflammation occurring constantly within the body or over-inflammation so processed foods, fast foods, get those out of the diet as well.

Additives and preservatives

Additives and preservatives, especially packaged foods. I’ve read plenty of studies over the years showing that food colorings, additives, and preservatives can cause sensitivities, especially in children. We talk about children on the autistic spectrum or with ADHD having behavioral issues and reactions when they’ve exposed these things. The very same thing can happen with asthma.

When you are consuming these things that are not natural, the body reacts to them as they are a chemical, which they are and so again, these are things that can absolutely cause asthmatic reactions. If it comes in a box that has more than five ingredients, typically it’s not natural. So look for food with a short ingredient list that you understand what the ingredient is. Things like apples, and almonds, and sea salt, very short ingredient list. Stay away from the foods with additives and preservatives.

Supplements

Quercetin

Garlic and that specifically onions are very high in quercetin. Also citrus fruits like lemons, very high in quercetin. But getting quercetin as a supplement can help you fight asthma. You can take that as a supplement daily.

This is also good not just for asthma, it’s also really powerful for allergies and helping fight histamine reactions and inflammation.

N-acetyl cysteine

Now, cysteine along with some other amino acids really help support the body’s glutathione production okay. It’s precursor glutathione. It can really help support your body in free radical. So if your body has a lot of free radicals that are building up, those can be inflammatory, can also trigger an asthmatic response over time.

Omega-3 Fats

We mentioned above, wild-caught salmon, wild-caught fish but also taking an omega-3 supplement like a fish roe supplement, a fish oil supplement, or cod liver oil supplement, but getting those good omega-3 fats because they reduce inflammation.

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 has actually been shown to help the arteries, to help circulation and be actually a dilator of your bronchioles. What I would recommend here, you can take a straight B6 supplement or go and find a certified organic vitamin B complex supplement that is whole food based.

Again, when you’re out buying vitamins and supplements like a B vitamin or B complex, flip over the bottle and look and make sure there are foods in there, make sure there are probiotics, make sure it’s certified organic.

Magnesium

Magnesium is known as your body’s relaxation mineral. So if you have especially smooth muscle in your body, if that becomes constricted, magnesium helps the body relax.

So for adults, typically you want to do anywhere from 500 to 600 milligrams a day for most adults in treating asthma there as well. But magnesium can help the body.

Essential oils

Bergamot

Bergamot it contains d-limonene and it actually comes from the peel of citrus fruit or bergamot and it’s very bitter in nature. D-limonene actually has been shown to act as an expectorant and actually clear excess mucus from the lungs.

Cypress oil

Cypress oil is one of the most powerful oils. In fact, of all of the oils, from what I’ve seen, it’s the most powerful at improving circulation. So what you’re going to do here and you’ll probably mix this with another oil, but you will take some cypress oil, some coconut oil, and mix it together, rub that all over the lungs.

And another great thing you can then do is either a hot compress or take a hot shower, steam room, infrared sauna, but doing something to open up those areas with steam can be good as well once you get that oil there rubbed all over the chest and upper neck area can be very beneficial.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus, of all the essential oils, probably has the most profound effect on opening up the airways.

You can notice an immediate difference there with eucalyptus, a great oil to use. And another thing you can do for breathing, you can do a few drops in hot water, cover your head with the towel, take deep breaths in and out. Eucalyptus is also great to use a diffuser, taking deep breaths in there as well.

Frankincense oil

It contains many different types of compounds that are anti-inflammatory which is great there as well.