Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here.
Welcome to Ancient Medicine Today.
I'm so excited to be here with you.
So, today we’ll be talking about the top home remedies to help you overcome asthma
and other breathing related issues.
Now again, this is a good number one for asthma but even people who are struggling with bronchitis,
COPD, or other things that can start to constrict those bronchial areas, this is going to help.
And I’ll tell you there are a lot of people that are struggling with asthma today.
I know in my in my clinic that I have here in Nashville, took care of a lot of kids,
saw great results with them and overcoming asthma naturally.
So today, on today's episode, I'm going to be going over the best diet, the best supplements,
the best essential oils, and what to avoid in order for you to overcome or your children
to overcome asthma.
Also, as we talk about every day here on the show, we have a big mission, myself and Jordan
Rubin, we want to help to teach people how to use food as medicine.
Take a minute right now for me, press that share button and punch that share button,
help us spread the word on the natural remedies to help heal asthma.
Let's dive right in here.
Number one, here are some of the foods you should start consuming.
Number one, more 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, also vegetables are great in general.
Remember these fruits and vegetables along with omega-3 fats, which we'll talk about
here in a minute, are highly anti-inflammatory.
So you want to consume a lot of food they are enzyme rich and rich in vitamins and minerals
such as fruits and vegetables.
Number two here, 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.
And I want to say this, 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.
That’s a big thing that causes asthma when your bronchial area gets inflamed.
Now, I want to talk about a few other foods you can consume here.
Garlic and onions are high on the list because of their high levels of quercetin.
Onions are very, 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 with 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.
I want to mention another thing in Chinese medicine.
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 lighter 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 looks like lung tissue,
it's great for the lungs.
And then chicken broth, 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.
Next thing here, 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.
A few other things are great, flaxseeds are fantastic.
Now, 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.
So again, flaxseeds and other great food.
And then bone broth, as I talked about earlier, specifically chicken or turkey 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.
And think about this, you are what you eat and specifically when you're eating nutrients
that are found in bone broth, those are very supportive for your immune system.
So your small intestine, your large intestine, your lungs, bone broth actually helps repair
damaged areas.
And so think about this, if you have a damaged area in your body and you're rebuilding, think
about if you had a house and half of it was knocked down, you need to start rebuilding
it again, you need the right materials.
That’s what bone broth brings you—the right materials for rebuilding and healing
your body.
So again, bone broth every single day especially chicken broth.
Now here are the big triggers you want to avoid if you have asthma or someone you love
has asthma.
Number one, conventional dairy products.
Now, conventional dairy, here's the thing, we took this, what could be consider the super
food 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's 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.
Now the next thing here would be 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 less reactions to things over time.
So again, make raw local honey the natural sweetener that you use instead of sugar.
Next thing here, get rid of the processed foods.
We know processed foods are high in chemicals, things like pesticides.
If you're buying a 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.
And what can fall into a similar category sometimes are staying away with foods with
additives and preservatives, especially packaged foods.
We've got a picture here of a bowl of these brightly covered cereal and 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're 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.
The truth here is just eat real food, okay?
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.
Now, here are some supplements you can take specifically that can help asthmatic symptoms.
Number one is quercetin.
I mentioned earlier, 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.
Next one here is N-acetyl cysteine.
Now, cysteine along with some other amino acids really help support the body's glutathione
production okay.
It's a 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.
So doing N-acetyl cysteine can be powerful, a powerful natural supplement.
And other one, we mentioned this earlier, 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.
And then vitamin B6, you know vitamin B6 has actually been shown to help the arteries,
to help circulation and be actually a dilator of your bronchioles.
And so vitamin B6, 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 is foods in there, make sure there's
probiotics, make sure it's certified organic.
But again, vitamin B6, another great supplement for fighting asthma as well.
And I’ll mention this here, the other thing I want to mention actually after I mention
magnesium here.
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.
Now, there are other some great herbal extracts that are also very, very good for the lungs
and reduce inflammation.
I mentioned ginger earlier.
Ginger can be fantastic.
Stinging nettles has actually been shown to be very good for asthma, and allergies, and
opening-up respiratory pathways.
So again, doing herbs, turmeric is another one that's high in curcumin, but doing herbs
is also beneficial in this way as well.
And if you have an issue to where you've got a lot of mucus build up in the body, specifically
in the lungs, doing bitter herbs such as dandelion is also a very, very beneficial in that manner
as well.
So here are some essential oils that work great.
Now, we mentioned that bitterness there, you will see one up here is bergamot.
Bergamot it contains d-limonene and it actually comes from the peel of a 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.
Now, 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 if somebody is having circulatory issues, and so often times in the past I've worked
with patients and had them if they have sprained an ankle, or broken a bone, or had an injury
to a tissue in an area, we've actually used cypress oil or other, other oils in the pine
or tree family such as fir oil work very, very good with this as well.
Cedar wood was pretty good but cypress, very good for 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.
And one of the things I love to do, you can do a mixture of bergamot, cypress.
Eucalyptus is also fantastic.
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.
And then frankincense oil, frankincense oil contains many different types of compounds
that are anti-inflammatory which is great there as well.
A few more essential oils here, lavender is good for calming the body.
Lemon oil, similar to bergamot, is very bitter in nature access and expectorant.
Peppermint oil can help cool and soothe the system.
And then rosemary essential oil, very similar, it actually contains rosmarinic acid as well
as other types of compounds that are similar to eucalyptus in that they really help open
up the airways.
Rosemary also has been shown to be highly anti-inflammatory, so greatly beneficial as
well.
So to review here, if you have asthma or someone you love has asthma, you want to follow these
steps.
By the way, if you've been enjoying this live training, take a minute right now, do me a
favor, punch that share button.
There are millions of adults and millions of children especially that are struggling
with asthma every single day.
They don't know the triggers, they don't know the things that can help heal their body.
So, hey, help me spread the message by liking this video as well as sharing this right now
as well.
So again, more raw fruits and veggies in the diet.
They are anti-inflammatory, especially figs, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, wild-caught fish
like salmon.
Garlic and onions because of their high levels of quercetin.
More clean water, flaxseeds, and bone broth.
Remember, when we're looking at this here with conventional dairy, get that completely
out of the diet.
Sugar, remember replace that with raw local honey ideally or Manuka honey another good
option.
Get rid of the processed packaged foods.
Get rid of the additives and preservatives.
We’ll touch on these here.
Quercetin is a supplement and N-acetyl cysteine, omega-3 fats, vitamin B6, and magnesium.
And then finally here, some of the best essential oils: bergamot, cypress, eucalyptus, frankincense.
And I would say, if you're just looking for a couple to use, my favorites would be probably
eucalyptus up here and cypress, two of my favorites there for asthma to do or eucalyptus,and
bergamot, or lemon will be great as well.
So, hey guys, this has been me, Dr. Josh Axe, talking about The Top Home Remedies to Overcome
Asthma Symptoms.
And hey, if you're not subscribed here to our channel, make sure you’re subscribed.
Myself and Jordan Rubin have a lot more of great content coming out on essential oils,
home remedies, health news, and a whole lot more.
Hey guys, I hope you’ve enjoyed this video.
We’ll be back here with another Ancient Medicine Today tomorrow.