Foods for Respiratory Diseases

It is been known for centuries that hot, spicy, pungent foods can help clear the lungs and breathing passages. They do so by thinning mucus and encouraging it to move along. When a person eats a hood food, his eye starts watering and his nose begins to run. The same thing happens in the lungs. It is considered that hot foods activate nerve endings in the oesophagus and stomach, causing the watery reactions.

These old-age food remedies, passed down for centuries by medical practitioners and grandmothers, have stood the test of scientific, investigations, especially in respect of respiratory problems, like colds and flu. Dr. Irwin Ziment, M.D., Professor of Medicine at UCLA has made comprehensive studies about these remedies. His study of early medical literature has lead him to conclude that foods used to fight respiratory diseases for centuries re very similar to the drugs being now used. They have a common action. They thin out and help move the lung's secretions so that do not congest air passages, and can be coughed up to expel in called "muckoinetic", meaning mucus-moving agents, and include decongestants and expectorants. The more important foods that help clear mucus in respiratory diseases are mentioned herein.

Aniseed:
This popular spice and a flavoring agent is a valuable mucus clearing food. It possesses expectorant - property and helps remove phlegm from the bronchial tube. This property emanates from the essential oil contained in it. It can thus be beneficially used in respiratory system diseases like asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Bishop's weed:
Bishops Weed or ajwain, a popular spice, is a mucus clearing food and hence highly beneficial in the treatment of respiratory diseases. The seeds, mixed in buttermilk, make an effective medicine for relieving difficult expectoration caused by dried up phlegm. The seeds are also efficacious in bronchitis. A hot fomentation with the seeds is a popular household remedy for asthma. Chewing a pinch of ajwain seeds with a crystal of common salt and a clove is a very effective medicine for cough caused by acute pharyngitis in influenza.

Chilli Pepper
Hot chilli pepper is the best mucokinetic food among all hot spicy food. According to Dr. Ziment, flavoring agents like hot chilli peppers, garlic and mustard have been used since antiquity in treating pulmonary and respiratory diseases. Dr. Ziment believes that they generally trigger a flash flood of fluids in air passages that thin out mucus so it flows more easily.

Figs (Dry):
Dry figs help clear mucus from bronchial tube and are therefore a valuable food remedy for asthma. Phlegmatic cases of cough and asthma can be treated with success by their use. It gives comfort to the patient by draining off the phlegm. Three or four dry figs should be cleaned thoroughly with warm water and soaked overnight. They should be taken first thing in the morning, along with water in which they are soaked. This treatment may be continued for about two months.

Garlic:
Garlic is an excellent mucus clearing food. It is an effective expectorant and helps remove mucus from the bronchial tube. Allicin, which gives garlic its flavor, is converted in the body to a drug similar to Scarboxymethylcysteine (Mucodyne), a classic European lung medication that regulates mucus flow. The biochemical mechanism involved may be that garlic affects substances called prostaglandins in the body. To derive this benefit, garlic must be heated or cooked. An effective method to take garlic in asthma is to boil three cloves in 30 ml of milk and take once daily.

Ginger:
Ginger is an expectorant food. It helps clear phlegm from the bronchial tube and is this valuable in asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis of the lungs. A teaspoon of fresh ginger juice, mixed with a cup of fenugreek decoction and honey to taste, is an excellent medicine in treatment of these conditions. The decoction of fenugreek is prepared by mixing one tablespoon of fenugreek seeds in a cupful of water. This mixture of ginger juice and fenugreek decoction should be taken both in the morning and evening.

Holy Basil:
The leaves of holy basil possess expectorant properties. They are thus useful in respiratory system disorders. Their decoction, with honey and ginger is an effective remedy for bronchitis, asthma, influenza, cough and cold. A decoction of the leaves, cloves and common salt also gives immediate relief in case of influenza. To prepare, leaves should be boiled in half a litre of water till only half the water is left.

Honey:
Honey is a mucus clearing food. It helps remove mucus and phlegm from the bronchial tube. It is said that if a jug of honey is held under the nose of asthma patient and he inhales the air that comes into contact with the honey, he starts breathing easier and deeper. The effect lasts for about an hour or so. Honey usually brings relief whether the air flowing over it is inhaled or whether it is eaten or taken either with milk or water. It thins out accumulated mucus and helps its elimination from the respiratory passages. It also prevents the production of further mucus.

Indian Gooseberry:
Indian Gooseberry is of great value as a mucus clearing food. It has proved beneficial in the treatment of respiratory system disorders like asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis of the lungs. Five grams of gooseberry juice, mixed with one teaspoon of honey, forms an effective medicinal expectorant tonic for the treatment of these diseases. It should be taken every morning. When fresh fruit is not available, dry gooseberry powder can be taken with honey.

Mustard seeds:
Mustard seeds have been recognized for centuries as a decongestant and an expectorant. They help break up mucus in air passages. They are thus an effective remedy for congestion caused by colds and sinus problems. One reason why mustard seeds are mucus-clearing food is that it constitutes a hot food.

During an attack of asthma and bronchitis, mustard seed oil, mixed with little camphor, should be massaged over the back of the chest. This will loosen up phlegm and ease breathing. The patient should also inhale steam from the boiling water mixed with caraway seeds. It will dilate the breathing passage.

Onion:
This popular vegetable is of great value as a mucus clearing food. It liquefies phlegm and prevents its further formation. I has been used as a food remedy for centuries in cold, cough, bronchitis and influenza. Equal amounts of onion juice and honey should be mixed together and three to four teaspoons of this mixture should be taken daily in treating these conditions. It is one of the safest preventive medicines against common cold during winter.

Orange:
The juice of orange is an effective expectorant food. It helps clear mucus from the bronchial tube. This juice, mixed with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of honey, forms an effective food medicine for respiratory system disorders like tuberculosis of the lungs, asthma, common cold, bronchitis and other conditions of cough associated with difficult expectoration. Due to its saline action in the lungs it eases expectoration and protects from secondary infection.

Safflower seeds:
Safflower seeds possess mucus-clearing activity. They are especially beneficial in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Half a teaspoon of powder of the dry seeds, mixed with a tablespoon of honey, can be taken once or twice with great benefit in treating this disease. It acts as an expectorant and reduces the spasms by liquefying the tenacious sputum. As Infusion of the flowers, mixed with honey, is also useful in asthma.

Spinach:
This popular green leafy vegetable possesses mucus-clearing property and it helps control respiratory diseases. An infusion of fresh leaves of spinach prepared with two teaspoon of fenugreek seeds, mixed with a pinch of ammonium chloride and honey, is an effective expectorant tonic. It can be given with beneficial results in the treatment of bronchitis, tuberculosis of the lungs, asthma and dry cough due to congestion in the throat. It soothes the bronchioles, liquefies the tenacious sputum and forms healthy tissues in the lungs and increases resistance against respiratory infections. It should be taken in doses of 30ml. three times daily.

Tamarind:
Tamarind-pepper 'rasam' is considered a food of exceptional value in clearing mucus. It is used as an effective home remedy for cold in South India. It is prepared by boiling for a few minutes very dilute tamarind water in a teaspoon of hot ghee and half a teaspoon of black pepper powder. This steaming hot 'rasam' has a flushing effect. As one takes it, the nose starts running and eyes begin to water. This enables the nasal passage to become clear.

Turmeric:
Turmeric is a valuable expectorant food. It helps clear mucus from the bronchial tubes. It is thus an effective food medicine in bronchial asthma. The patient should be given a teaspoon of turmeric powder mixed in a glass of milk two or three times daily. It acts best when taken on an empty stomach.