Fruits & Vegetables, A Weapon against Asthma

When you have asthma, your lungs get all the attention. Your airways get tight so you cough and can’t get enough air in. Most people reach for their rescue inhaler. It can feel like a lifeline. And many times it is.

An inhaler temporarily stops you from having a wheezing fit. But it won’t fix chronic asthma or reactive airway disease. It treats the symptoms of an asthma attack, not the cause. And using one over time puts you at risk for bone loss, impaired memory, adrenal disorders, and gastrointestinal issues.

Believe it or not, if you want to permanently relieve your asthma, you have to stop thinking about your lungs. You have to turn your attention to an unlikely place.

The latest research shows that the road to controlling asthma begins in your stomach, not in your lungs.

This dietary substance will have you saying goodbye to your inhaler for good.

Fiber is critical to your health and lung function. It helps you absorb the nutrition you need from food and gets rid of the waste you don’t. And the more of it you eat, the lower your risk of stroke..

It’s also the missing link in fighting asthma. A Swiss study showed fiber creates an environment in your gut that reduces asthma-producing inflammation in your lungs.

A diet high in soluble fiber changes the composition of gut and lung microbiota in mice. Good bacteria need fiber to thrive. And when they have enough, they produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The more fiber you ingest, the more SCFAs these bugs produce for you.

These SCFAs protect your lungs against allergic inflammation and irritation. This is why the low fiber group’s asthma symptoms got worse. Without enough fiber, they became more vulnerable to asthma.

Allergic asthma is on the rise. Fiber consumption is falling.  The math is pretty easy. So what’s the best way to get more soluble fiber?

Fruits and vegetables are your best bet. Forget about grains. They cause the inflammation the SCFAs work so hard to fight. And they’re not even the best source of fiber to begin with. Raspberries, blackberries, artichokes, and peas all have more fiber than grains.

Stop relying on your inhaler to fix your asthma. Sure, you’ll get some relief in the short-term if you have an attack. But your asthma will just keep coming back.

Add soluble fiber to your diet to prevent the inflammation and irritation that cause asthma attacks in the first place.

Vitamin D, A Weapon Against Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Johns Hopkins researchers have found that vitamin D may help fight multiple sclerosis, based on new studies involving mice with a rodent form of the disease.
 

In new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the so-called "sunshine vitamin" appeared to block damage-causing immune cells from migrating to the central nervous system, offering a potential explanation for why it may prevent or ease symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease.
 

Researchers said the study was prompted by observations that MS is more prevalent in regions of the world where there is less sunshine, the main natural source of vitamin D.
 

"With this research, we learned vitamin D might be working not by altering the function of damaging immune cells but by preventing their journey into the brain," said lead researcher Anne R. Gocke, an assistant professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "If we are right, and we can exploit Mother Nature's natural protective mechanism, an approach like this could be as effective as and safer than existing drugs that treat MS."
 

MS causes the immune system to wrongly attack a person's own cells — specifically the fatty protein called myelin that insulates nerves and helps them send electrical signals that control movement, speech, and other functions. The immune system primes so-called T cells in the body's lymph nodes, preparing them to destroy myelin, a process that can lead to blurred vision, weakness, and numbness.
 

For the new study, Gocke and her colleagues gave mice the rodent form of MS and a high dose of vitamin D. The results showed the vitamin protected the mice from showing symptoms of the disease.
 

"Vitamin D doesn't seem to cause global immunosuppression," Gocke explained. "What's interesting is that the T cells are primed, but they are being kept away from the places in the body where they can do the most damage."
 

About 400,000 Americans are living with multiple sclerosis. Current popular immune-suppressing medications for MS, such as natalizumab (Tysabri) and fingolimod (Gilenya), can take six to 12 weeks to be cleared from the body.
 

Veggies for a Boost in the Bedroom

Can it be true? Can veggies give us a boost in the bedroom?

The answer is – Yes!

You see, the following list of vegetables contain an Amino Acid called
L-arginine.

Why should you care? Because this powerful nutrient boosts blood flow
where it matters most. 

So be sure you’re eating these veggies:
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Brussels Sprouts
- Kale
- Collard Greens

And by the way, if the magic is missing between the sheets or you - or your man - just aren’t what you used to be, well, you might be suffering from Male Menopause.

Yes, that’s right – men can suffer menopause also. And it’s really, really tough.

Ginger for Minor Aches & Pains

If minor aches and pains are an issue for you, try ginger, a natural anti-inflammatory agent that is useful for relieving symptoms associated with arthritis, bursitis, motion sickness, nausea and more. Ginger is commonly available in forms ranging from whole fresh root, crystallized ginger and honey-based ginger syrups to capsules containing powdered extracts. Look for products made with only 100% pure ginger. For inflammatory conditions, take one or two grams of powdered ginger a day; for nausea and prevention of motion sickness, take 1,000 mg as a preventive and 500 mg every four hours as needed. (You might also try eating eat two pieces of crystallized ginger, taking a spoonful of ginger syrup or sipping ginger tea.)

Vitamin D for the Prevention of Flu

Are you getting enough "sunshine vitamin" to prevent the flu? In a study involving 19,000 Americans, those with the lowest vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent cases of colds or flu.

And because vitamin D is a powerful antimicrobial agent, optimizing your levels won't just help ward off cold or flu viruses. It can also help prevent them from invading your body in the first place.

Boost your vitamin D levels with 20-30 minutes per day of unprotected exposure to sunlight. If you're not able to enjoy time in the sun or if the rays are not strong enough due to your geography, consider using a sunlamp or supplementing with Salmon Oil with Vitamin D.