Drink enough water, eat lots of fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, and consume less red meat to help strengthen breathing and prevent lung diseases.
Chemicals, pollutants and germs can damage the lungs, causing respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer… Below are healthy eating habits.
Increase vegetables and fruits
Increasing servings of vegetables and fruits in your daily eating habits helps keep your lungs healthy and is good for people with lung diseases, especially asthma and COPD. They contain high levels of antioxidants, which also help protect the body against many diseases.
To get more antioxidants, choose brightly colored varieties, such as blueberries, raspberries, apples, plums, oranges, tangerines, green leafy vegetables, bell peppers…
Limit meat intake
Eating a lot of red and processed meats, such as bacon, sausages, and other smoked and cured meats, is associated with an increased risk of developing cancer. The process of processing meat at high temperatures contains hidden amounts of saturated fat and compounds that cause tumors to develop.
Limit your intake of meat, especially red meat. Poultry meat such as chicken and turkey provides abundant vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency can cause lung infections. Increasing the amount of this vitamin contributes to the destruction of harmful microorganisms in the lung lining.
Eat fatty fish
Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, salmon, herring, sardines… contain omega-3 fatty acids. The anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 also help increase endurance during exercise and improve lung function.
Eat beans
Add beans such as navy beans, black beans, lentils, and kidney beans to every healthy meal. They are rich in protein and many other essential vitamins and minerals that help maintain lung function.
Prioritize organic food
Diet can protect and heal the lungs through vitamins and minerals. A number of different preservatives and additives in some foods have the potential to cause difficulty breathing and increase lung sensitivity. This prolonged condition also increases the risk of asthma, lung cancer and COPD.
Additives include sulfites, aspartame, parabens, tartrazine, nitrates and nitrites, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and benzoates. Check prepackaged food labels to avoid these substances as much as possible.
Drink enough water
Drinking enough water, about two liters of water a day, thins mucus, reduces congestion, difficulty breathing and allows for easy blood circulation. In addition to water, drinking herbal tea and fruit juice is also beneficial. Any liquid that does not contain caffeine replenishes the body’s daily fluid intake.
Eating fruits and vegetables with high water content, such as watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumbers, also has the same effect.