13 Effective Home Remedies for Asthma

Read this article to know the best Home Remedies for Asthma. First of all let me tell you what is Asthma?

Asthma happens when the main air passages of your lungs, the bronchial tubes, become inflamed. Asthma is a chronic but treatable situation. It is a very common long-term condition that affects your airways and breathing. It affects the airways, the small tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. It may be very mild, or it can be very severe. Asthma can be deadly if it's not controlled. More than 20 million Americans are expected to have asthma, an immune disorder that affects the muscles around the bronchial tubes leading to the lungs.

Asthma goes by a number of names like wheezy bronchitis, bronchial asthma, asthmatic bronchitis and reactive airway disease (RAD). Most asthma attacks are caused by allergies to inhaled substances such as pollen, dust, and animal dander. There is no cure for asthma and proper management is essential. The main symptoms of asthma comprise cough, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, and wheezing. When people with asthma are bare to triggers, the airways in their lungs become inflamed and swollen.

During some asthma attacks, the muscles around the airways can also tighten and the airways can produce mucus. Allergic asthma engages the body's immune system. There is no fixed period of time in which asthma can enlarge.

Asthma causes

Most asthma attacks are caused by allergies to inhaled substances such as pollen, dust, and animal dander. They include: Allergens (substances to which some people are allergic) such as pollens, foods, dust, mould, feathers, or animal dander (small scales from animal hair or feathers);Irritants in the air such as dirt, cigarette smoke, gases, and odors; Respiratory infections such as colds, flu, sore throats, and bronchitis; Too much effort such as running upstairs too fast or carrying heavy loads (although people with asthma can benefit from a reasonable amount of exercise);Emotional stress such as excessive fear or excitement; Weather such as very cold air, windy weather, or sudden changes in weather; Medication such as aspirin or related drugs and some drugs used to treat glaucoma and high blood pressure.

Asthma Symptoms

Symptoms are: daytime coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness; night-time coughing and wheezing. Symptoms may occur a number of times in a day or week in affected persons, and for some people become worse during physical activity or at night.

Asthma Control

Asthma can be controlled by taking medicine and avoiding the triggers that can cause an attack. Uncontrolled asthma can be a danger to maternal well-being and fetal growth and survival.

Here is a list of some best Home Remedies for Asthma:

Home Remedies for Asthma

1) One may mix a tablespoon of honey with a half a tablespoon of cinnamon powder and consume prior to sleeping or one can boil eight to ten cloves of garlic in half a cup of milk and consume it at night and this is a wonderful natural asthma remedy for those who are in the early stages of asthma. This is a useful Home Remedy for Asthma

2) Another helpful natural asthma remedy is figs, which help in draining the phlegm and washing three to four dry figs with water and drenched them in a cup of water would help when eaten on an empty stomach along with drinking the fig-soaked water.

3) There is one more natural asthma remedy in the form of taking a cup of water and soaking one teaspoon of Fenugeek seeds during the night. Fenugeek seeds, which taken with a cup of water overnight is a further natural asthma remedy.

4) Steaming ginger tea with minced garlic cloves must be given two times in a day for asthma cure.

5) For asthma cure the patient should also be made to breathe in steam from boiling water mixed with ajwain. Add one teaspoonful of honey and drink the mixture two times or thrice a day for asthma cure. This is an effective Home Remedy for Asthma

6) Soak dry grapes in water at night and keep in cold milk for half an hour and chew them to treat asthma.

7) For asthma treatments mix one gram of dry ginger powder and one gram of black pepper in one teaspoon of molasses of honey.

8) For asthma cure turmeric can be taken along with honey in the morning on empty stomach to decrease the intensity of attack.

9) For people who are in their premature stages of asthma, a great Home Remedy for Asthma is to boil 8-10 cloves of garlic in 1/2 cup of milk and consume it during nighttime.

10) Take very hot water and put in a tsp of honey in it. Take it just before sleeping and take small sips.

11) In 1 cup of water soak 1 tsp of Fenugreek seeds overnight. Insert 1 tsp of Ginger juice and 1 tsp of honey to this. It has to be consumed two times during morning as well as evening. This is another effective Home Remedy for Asthma

12) The roots of the bitter gourd plant have been used as medicine for asthma cure. A teaspoon of the root paste, mixed with an identical amount of honey or juice of the tulsi leaves, given once every night for a month, acts as an outstanding medicine for this disease.

13) A soup prepared from drumstick leaves, and taken once daily, has been found helpful in the treatment of asthma. This soup is prepared by adding up a handful of leaves to 180ml of water and boiling it for five minutes. After being permitted to cool, a little salt, pepper, and lime juice may be added to this soup.By Tom Alter

Recommended Diet For Asthma Patients

Asthma can trigger off due to various factors so it is important to take control of these factors that may influence a person adversely resulting in the manifestation of the symptoms. Diet is very important in controlling and even correcting certain symptoms. It is very important thus to have proper diet regulations when dealing with asthma.
Diet is dependent upon the age of a person and so it becomes extremely important to take care of the age of the patient before planning the diet. The general guidelines to be followed remain very straightforward. It is imperative to keep the diet very simple and without much spices. It is important to not eat very heavy meals as they generally tend to put additional pressure over the system. At night time it is absolutely necessary that an asthmatic person should never ever take a heavy meal because it may cause discomfort in breathing and may even lead to an attack.
Several food allergens cause allergic reactions leading to triggering off of asthmatic symptoms. Many food additives create adverse reactions in the asthma patients so they are best avoided. Also excess consumption of sweets leads to exertion on the system which may cause trouble in breathing. The food that is fried and oily should also be avoided so as to not put undue pressure on the system. Sour food items like chutneys and pickles should also not be consumed as they may cause coughing and lead to undue pressure on the chest region.
Asthma patients should also concentrate more on eating vegetarian diets rather than non vegetarian ones because of the same reason of avoidance of pressure exertion on the system. The diet regulations have to be followed for life so it is better to induce variety in the diet so as to overcome the general feeling of monotony and boredom.
The patients should also be encouraged to eat lighter and more frequent meals than heavier and standard meals. Also care should be taken to have the dinner at least two hours before sleeping time so that the system is relatively relaxed owing to stomach being almost empty at night time just before sleeping. Certain special recommendations have to be followed while deciding the diets of asthmatic children and elderly people.
Diet for children suffering with asthma: The asthmatic children tend to lose weight more rapidly than they ever can manage to gain. The basic metabolic rate of a child is higher than an adult and the children also engage more in hectic physical activity. The stage of the body is fast changing and supposed to be rapidly growing so more calories are needed to support the growth requirement of the body.
The calorie requirement of a child's body is much higher than that of an adult for all these reasons. The children need more of proteins and carbohydrates. Their diet needs to be balanced for vitamins and minerals also so that no extra supplements are needed by the body. So care should be taken to keep the diet of asthmatic kids well balanced in all respect and at the same time they should not be made too heavy in any nutrient as that would unnecessarily cause extra pressure on the child's system.
Care should be taken to not make the diet too oily or too spicy. Too much of cooking destroys the nutrient levels of the food and the food thus will not be able to meet up with the nutritional requirements of the body. Oily and spicy food will also cause much of stress on the system which is best avoided in asthmatic kids.
The child's diet should not have sour items as they can cause coughing and sore throat. The meal hours should be fixed and not many changes should be done in them very frequently. Along with the nutritional content of the food it is best to keep the variety and likes and dislikes of the child in mind before serving a meal. It is best to avoid monotony as the kids grow bored very quickly and need to have their interest enlivened all the time.
Water intake of the child needs to be carefully monitored and the child needs to be encouraged to consume more water. This is helpful in counteracting the sweat that is secreted often during the attacks and at other times. The sweets should be allowed to be consumed in very little quantities.
A regular pattern of a healthy and wholesome breakfast, nutritious lunch and a light dinner is very important to be followed. A heavy dinner at night is the main culprit behind causing night time attacks.
Diet for elderly people suffering with asthma: In the old people the physical activity is less and so their calorie requirement is also very less. This makes it very necessary to follow all the other dietary regulations that have been previously described.
Apart from all the regular controls the most important thing to be followed is that the patient should have very high restriction of fat intake in the diet. Also to meet the requirements of the body vitamin and mineral supplementation is highly recommended. If the patient is under any medication its effects should be carefully studied so that they may not trigger off any other serious side effects. Counteracting the side effects through diet is also very beneficial.By Ashi Jas