Be ruthless about diet for asthma says naturopath

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 389, 4 June 1991, Page 7

Be ruthless about diet for asthma says naturopath

Errol

Vincent ND.

As our Public Health nurse has said, asthma is preventable- no amount of wheezing should be accepted as normal, after all most of us don't wheeze so how can it be normal? The prime symptorn of asthma is difficulty in breathing out. The mucus which forms is abnormally tenacious, almost like contact adhesive, making it almost impossible to dislodge. If this mucus, a perfect bacterium incubator, becomes infected then the irritation of the infection causes spasm of the bronchial muscles as it tries to remove the obstruction and so the attack begins. Asthma attacks have three main causes : allergy, infection, and emotional disturbance. From a naturopathic point of view, the best treatment is to find what is causing the allergy, remove it, and at the same time support the immune system so it can cope with things like dust mites, cats dogs pollen , moulds and fungi, after all the immune system is designed to cope with such things. High on the list of suspected allergens is wheat, dairy products, sugars and fat, for these all help to produce mucus and interfere with the immune system. Food colouring dyes are also implicated in causing asthma. A good start in trying to reduce asthma

attacks would be to remove these foods for a couple of weeks and observe the results. This is easier to say than do, for these products appear in many processed foods, but to give the body a chance at overcoming asthma, and find what is pulling the trigger, then one has to be ruthless with the diet.

These foods cause stress in the body and so the body produces mucus in an attempt to remove the stressor. If dietary changes take out this stressor, then mucus production reduces to normal levels and the emotional disturbance factor also comes under control. Cider vinegar and

honey, supported with the dietary changes already mentioned, and the taking of the herb lobelia correctly prescribed, has helped many asthmatics. If you are asthmatic, try this dietary approach and see what happens, after all, if nothing new is tried, then nothing new will happen.