COPD patients can burn up to 10X more calories.

If you are short of breath, eating well may be harder for you than for other people. Your energy may be limited, making it harder to prepare and eat meals. Medications or depression can reduce your appetite.

Respiratory muscles in people with COPD burn 10 times the calories of other people, This reason is the extra energy needed just to breathe.

Eating sitting up fairly straight is best, using your oxygen as prescribed.  Choose easy to chew foods, chew slowly and breathe deeply while chewing.  Do inhaled medications and airway clearance  before meals, so you are breathing at your best.

A healthy diet becomes very important.  It is also important to maintain a healthy weight.  If you are underweight you may feel weak and tired more often.  Muscles may weaken and you may be more prone to infection. Being overweight makes your heart and lungs work harder and use more oxygen.

Eating small meals and snacks of healthy foods throughout the day may help you maintain a healthy weight, and give you needed energy

Tips to help reverse lung damage from smoking.

 Smoking causes damage to your lungs.  You can “detox” your lungs. They can go from black and clogged toward more pink and healthy by following a simple process.

 Previous posts talked about vitamin A. Studies on lab animals indicate that a good intake of vitamin A can actually help heal the lungs.  Vitamin A also helps resist infections, including those in the respiratory system.

  Recent research shows that vitamin D helps to slow declining lung function in people with asthma.

 Include plenty of anti-oxidants in your diet. Vitamin C and E are powerful antioxidants. They help protect the lung cells from damage from free radicals.  Vitamin C also helps build collagen and elastin, both necessary for tissue health.  With Vitamin C, Magnesium helps maintain healthy lung tissue.

Reduce the amount of sugar you eat.  Sugar can lower you immune systems efficiency.

Cut down on fats and salt.  Sodium causes you to retain fluids and people with lung problems can find it more difficult to breathe. Fats clog arteries.

Eating a healthy diet can begin the detox process.  Maintaining a good weight and exercising, including breathing exercise works to expand and cleanse your lungs. (See Yoga Breathing in an earlier post). 

Apples may contribute to lung health.

“An Apple a day keeps the doctor away”, may be an adage truer than we thought.  Apples have medicinal and nutritive properties that offer benefit in protecting and optimizing your lung function.  This is especially dear to me, as our family has an apple orchard.

Apples contain the antioxidants quercetin and vitamin C, along with other flavonoids and vitamins, pectins, tannins and fruit acids like malic acid.

Researchers are not sure why apples offer a scientifically documented benefit in protecting lung health and improving lung function, particularly in those individuals suffering from lung cancer and asthma. Most think that antioxidant protection may be a key.  The antioxidant flavonoid, quercetin, may play a major role.  Pectins found in apples have anti-mutagenic effects, slowing tumor growth in lab rats.

Of course, a balanced diet is important. Chose fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants. The fresher and more deeply colored, generally the better.

Eating Happy and Healthy With Less Distress

If you have shortness of breath or damage to your lungs, it’s very beneficial to know what foods can help nutritionally, and simply how to manage eating more comfortably. 

A large meal can make you uncomfortable for several reasons. 

A full stomach can push up against your diaphragm making it harder to breathe.  It also requires more oxygen to digest.  Foods that produce gas can fill your stomach and can be uncomfortable as it pushes up on your diaphragm and makes breathing far more difficult.  Small meals and healthy snacks throughout the day work well.

Eating in a relaxed atmosphere and resting afterward is beneficial.  If you tire easily, planning and cooking ahead can help.  Too much preparation and work to get the meal and eating right afterward can be too taxing.

If you want to improve the health of your lungs, you'll find a variety of foods that can help you.  Most important foods are fruits and vegetables and the deeper the color the better.  They provide nutrients and fiber that help reduce cholesterol and move food through your digestive system.   High fiber foods include fresh fruit and vegetables, cooked beans, whole grains, dried peas and beans.  These foods also help control blood sugar levels.

Many nutritionists tell us to avoid white foods like sugar, rice and bread. 

New posts will discuss what foods can improve your health and even help repair damage to your lungs.   Balanced, good nutrition can improve your breathing.  There are new studies that I will share that offer good advice.

As Julia Childs would say, “Bon Appetit”!

Summertime Heat Can Cause Serious Problems

Summertime heat-related illnesses can be mild to life threatening. A less severe form can quickly progress to a more serious and dangerous heat-related condition.  Below is a list starting with the least to most serious.  Be aware that, with lung disease you should be even more careful. 

The best treatment is prevention by staying cool, well hydrated and well rested.   Take it especially easy in the summer heat!!

 Heat Rash is skin irritation caused by sweating during hot, humid weather. It can be clusters of red pimples or small blisters, often on the neck, chest,  groin, under the breasts, and in elbow creases.   Keep affected areas dry, and cool, to give the rash time to heal.

  Heat Cramps usually affect people who sweat profusely.  Sweating depletes the body's sodium and fluid levels.  Cramps usually occur in the abdomen, arms, and legs, and can also be a symptom of heat exhaustion. Rest, cool down, drink water, juice or a beverage containing electrolytes,

Heat Syncope is an episode of dizziness or fainting that occurs with prolonged standing or from sudden rising from a sitting or lying position when overheated. Dehydration can contribute.  Fainting can also precede heat exhaustion.  Rest, hydration and cooling down are very important.

Heat Exhaustion is the body's response to an excessive loss of water and sodium, usually through excessive sweating. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature, and decreased urine output. You should be medically evaluated at a clinic or emergency department as soon as possible.  Heat exhaustion is an emergency that can quickly escalate to life-threatening heat stroke.

Heat Stroke is the most serious problem because the body can no longer regulate its temperature.  Body temperature rises rapidly and can’t cool down. Symptoms include confusion, loss of consciousness, seizures, very high body temperature, and hot, dry skin or profuse sweating.  Many people think that sweating always stops when someone has heat stroke. This is not always true.  Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability.  Seek emergency treatment.