COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPD is one of the most common pulmonary conditions, that causes severe breathing difficulty.  This condition manifests in essentially two ways:

• Chronic bronchitis: whose symptoms consist of prolonged cough with mucous.
• Emphysema: difficulty breathing due to pulmonary destruction over time and by harmful life habits, like smoking.

Almost everyone that suffers from COPD has a combinations of both conditions.

Causes that lead to COPD:

• Smoking: is the primary cause of this condition, which not only develops in smokers, but in second-hand smokers as well, which is to say, people that frequently live with smokers and that generally lack a protein called alpha antitrypsin.  We should point out, however, that not all smokers suffer from this condition: some people smoke for years and never suffer from it.
• Cooking with gas without proper ventilation.
• Continued exposure to certain gasses or emissions in the environment or at work.
• Frequent or severe exposure to considerable amounts of contamination or second-hand cigarette smok.

Symptoms that you suffer from COPD:

• Strong cough with mucous.
• Difficulty breathing (dyspnea) which worsens with increased physical activity, albeit slightly.
• Frequent fatigue.
• Frequent respiratory infections.
• Wheezing

A lot of these symptoms develop slowly.  People generally aren’t immediately aware that they are sick.

How to know if you have COPD

One simple test to find out if your lungs are damaged is to do a spirometry which is done by blowing a hard a you can into a small machine that evaluates your lung capacity.  This test can be interpreted immediately and does not require exercise, blood tests, nor exposure to radiation.

What is needed to treat and cure this condition?

It is very important that you understand that the body has an extraordinary ability to self-heal.  Not trusting in the body is the same as saying that you can’t be cured.  The body only requires a few necessary elements and conditions to cure itself, and one of them (the primary one) is to begin to deeply clean the body, especially if you have been a frequent smoker or have been exposed to strong environmental or work contamination.

A cleansing diet will help enormously to detoxify the body and to increase the immune system’s defenses.  These become tired over time, especially if you are a smoker or if you have been exposed to environmental contamination.

A cleansing diet can be carried out after eating citric or acidic fruit (like oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, grapes, etc.) and nothing else for two entire days.  Simply chose a fruit each day and eat as much as you like.  In addition to the fruit, you should drink 2 liters of fresh water.

After those two days, you must follow a proper diet which will help nourish tissues and strengthen them, making them functional once again.

DIET FOR PEOPLE WITH COPD

Foods that just deteriorate your tissues more and impoverish vital immune system functions are: white sugar (and derivatives), red meats, cow’s milk, and fried and packaged foods.

Foods that help regenerate and strengthen tissues and lungs are:

• FRUIT JUICES: aloe, apple, guava, noni juice, blueberry, plum, grape, orange, pineapple, papaya, and lemon.  Remember to eat the fruits without combining them with other foods.  You should eat them on an empty stomach and wait for 20 minutes for them to digest.
• VEGETABLE JUICES: carrot, alfalfa, celery, garlic, onion, beet, cucumber, and broccoli.
• Seeds, vegetable milks and oils.
• Grains, whole grain pasta and rice rather than refined products.
• Dietary supplements to heal lungs: green tea (extraordinary cellular regenerator), brewer’s yeast, aloe juice (potent regenerative and cleanser), propolis (excellent for treating infections and pulmonary conditions), bugambilia tea, honey, echinacea tea, eucalyptus and lemon.

Dietary suggestions for treating COPD:

BEFORE BREAKFAST: one glass of warm green tea with freshly squeezed lemon juice, without any sweeteners.  Do not eat anything for the following 30 minutes after drinking this tea with lemon, allowing it to perform a deep cleanse.

BREAKFAST: one cup of soy milk or almond milk with oats, amaranth grains, or toasted whole-wheat with vegetables and vegetarian cheese.  Do not eat fruit with food.  It’s best to leave fruits by themselves just in case you get hungry between meals.  You could eat just papaya for breakfast for a few days, which will help reduce inflammation and expunge the mucous membranes.  Or you could eat just pineapple to help the intestines and lungs eliminate harmful substances.

LUNCH: Chose one cooked meal like miso soup or whole grain rice with vegetables, and combine it with a vegetable salad, or vegetable juice.  Do not drink anything except for a cup of warm water or vegetable juice.

BETWEEN MEALS: a half an hour after eating, make a cup of green tea.  If you like, add a few drops of lemon and drink, unsweetened.  Between breakfast and lunch, eat one clove of raw garlic and drink one glass of warm water.  Garlic not only cleanses the body but strengthens tissues and helps cure the lungs.  It is one of nature’s most powerful doctors.

DINNER: sandwich or whole grain vegetarian pizza, or salad with tofu, or one cup of soy milk with amaranth or oats, or whole grain bread with tomato, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil.  Eat dinner two hours before going to bed.

BEFORE GOING TO BED: a fresh juice made from plums, apples, or blueberries, or eat Goji berries.  You could also make a eucalyptus tea with honey and a few drops of almond milk, which is very nutritive, tasty, and will help you sleep.

In addition to eating:

•  Avoid smoking and exposing yourself to closed areas where people are smoking or where there is contamination.
• Keep your workplace well ventilated.
• Try to resolve your stress.  Do things that calm you down and try to read about new ways of dealing with life that lower your levels of pressure in the body.  Your defense and nervous systems will be much healthier.
• Drink enough water throughout the day and avoid excessive physical activity for the moment.

Also remember…

Doing light or moderate physical activity for at least 20 minutes a day.  Avoid exposure to contaminated areas and leave whenever you can to breath in fresh air, away from the city.  Rest well and avoid stress.  All of this will help you recover lung health.

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 01/06/2018

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