Top 5 Drug-Free Methods to Help Improve Your Asthma

You hear that familiar wheeze or cough although you barely did any exercise. You may have just gone up a set of stairs, stepped out into the cold, or emptied out the dust compartment of the vacuum cleaner. Here it goes again, you think, as you reach for your inhaler…

I myself struggled with asthma as a child, so I was one of the approximately 3 million Canadians who suffer from asthma. I had the full spectrum of what is referred to as the “atopic triad” (allergies, asthma, and atopy/eczema). Although I no longer have asthma, many people’s asthma persists into adulthood. And while I do not advocate that patients stop their asthma medications entirely, often they are able to decrease the frequency of the medications because of the improvement we are able to achieve through naturopathic medicine.

What can you do breathe better, improve the health of your lungs, and decrease the inflammation in your airways? As always, every patient is different, but here are a few strategies for reducing the frequency and severity of asthma that often make it to the top of my treatment list.
 
1)     Identify and Eliminate Inflammatory Foods
Dairy and grains are common asthma inflammatory contributors. Often, a Paleo style diet will help as it will get rid of these two common food groups as well as all processed food while improving Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio (a good quality fish oil supplement is also helpful for its anti-inflammatory effect) and pumping your body full of anti-inflammatory nutrients and antioxidants. Other foods such as eggs can also be problematic.
 
If you’d rather not eliminate potential problematic foods without some objective results, come on in for a visit and we will discuss if IgG Food Sensitivity Testing would be a good option for you.
 
2)     Identify and Treat Environmental Allergens
Some allergens (such as dust mites) you can do something about to reduce your exposure. If pollen allergens are a problem, you can remove your outerwear clothes as soon as you get into the house, throw them in the wash, and change into exclusively indoor clothes. However, there are many environmental exposures which are beyond our control. Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT), a therapy I offer, can be used to decrease your reactivity to certain environmental allergens over time, without painful allergy shots! Other naturopathic treatments, such as herbs, supplements, and acupuncture, can also help reduce your allergy symptoms.
 
3)     Supplement with Vitamin D3
An adequate supplementation with Vitamin D3 (usually way beyond the recommended doses) is associated with a decreased frequency of asthma episodes over time. So, although day to day you may not notice much of a difference in the asthma attacks themselves, you would likely experience less of them over the course of a year.
 
Make sure to get your Vitamin D levels checked with a blood test. I routinely run this test in order to determine the best dose for my patients. Most people are severely Vitamin D deficient and need high doses of Vitamin D to optimize their levels. There are also so many other benefits to Vitamin D, such as improved energy, mood, decreased risk of breast and colon cancer, improved bone density, and many more! Just make sure you don’t overdose, as Vitamin D is fat soluble so it accumulates in the body over time, which could lead to problems such as kidney stones due to too much calcium absorption. That is why testing is absolutely necessary if you are taking high therapeutic doses long-term.
 
4)     Consider High Doses of Vitamin C
Used widely in orthomolecular medicine to decrease the severity of asthma outbreaks, there is some evidence of its effectiveness when dosed to bowel tolerance (bringing the dose up to the highest you can tolerate without getting loose stools). It seems to be especially helpful in the cases of exercise-induced asthma.
 
5)     Supplement with Magnesium
Magnesium is one of my favourite supplements since it can help with so many things! Since it’s easily depleted with our lifestyles of chronic stress and high coffee intake, most of us are also deficient in it. In the case of asthma, magnesium can help relax the smooth muscles in the lungs, decreasing bronchoconstriction. Studies show that over a period of 6 months, patients on a magnesium supplement had less bronchial reactivity, leading to less severe asthma symptoms when triggers are present.

These are only some of the natural options available for those with asthma. As always, make sure to check with your doctor before starting any new supplements.

Are you an asthma sufferer looking for ways to help decrease the severity and frequency of your asthma attacks naturally? Then you’ll get the best benefit from personalized, patient-centered care. I’d love to help you out! Book an appointment at my downtown Brampton office by calling our office at 905-451-3963. I look forward to helping you on your health journey!
 
References
 
Harri Hemilä Vitamin C may alleviate exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: a meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2013; 3(6): e002416. Published online 2013 Jun 7.
 
Image from Wavebreak Media @ 123RF.com.
 
Kazaks AG1, Uriu-Adams JY, Albertson TE, Shenoy SF, Stern JS. Effect of oral magnesium supplementation on measures of airway resistance and subjective assessment of asthma control and quality of life in men and women with mild to moderate asthma: a randomized placebo controlled trial. J Asthma. 2010 Feb;47(1):83-92.
 
Martineau  AR, Cates  CJ, Urashima  M, Jensen  M, Griffiths  AP, Nurmatov  U, Sheikh  A, Griffiths  CJ, Stefanidis  C. Vitamin D for the management of asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD011511. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011511.pub2.
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Orthomolecular News Service. Asthma Treatment That Works. 2005 Aug 9. Retrieved from: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n08.shtml.  http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml.
 
Virdee K, Musset J, Baral M, Cronin C, Langland J. Food-specific IgG Antibody-guided Elimination Diets Followed by Resolution of Asthma Symptoms and Reduction in Pharmacological Interventions in Two Patients: A Case Report. Glob Adv Health Med. 2015 Jan;4(1):62-6.
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Wechsler ME, Olin JT. Asthma: pathogenesis and novel drugs for treatment. BMJ 2014; 349. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5517.