Lifestyle Tips to Help Manage Asthma
Asthma is not an alarming or life-threatening disease as such, but it can be really painful and irritating. There are no medications that can provide permanent relief from the problem, which usually gets triggered by a number of factors. However, the good news is that by managing your lifestyle and incorporating a few dietary changes, you can get relief from asthma. So, here are a few lifestyle tips for managing asthma to help you deal with the issue.
Include Antioxidants in Your Diet
One of the main lifestyle tips for managing asthma is to start consuming more antioxidants. Antioxidants help prevent oxidative damage to your body cells. Therefore, people who follow a diet rich in the antioxidants are more successful in managing the symptoms of asthma. So you should increase your consumption of blueberries, ginger, tomatoes, apples, kidney beans, green tea, fish, oranges, onions, and legumes.
Consume Foods with Vitamin D and Magnesium
Much like antioxidants, vitamin D and magnesium can also help in reducing the symptoms of asthma. Vitamin-D-rich foods are milk and eggs. For magnesium, you can have spinach and pumpkin seeds. Beta-carotene rich vegetables such as carrot and leafy greens are also highly recommended in the diet of people with asthma.
Avoid Passive Smoking
Avoiding passive smoking is another one of the significant lifestyle tips for managing asthma. If you suffer from asthma, you should not be smoking. However, second-hand smoke can be as much of a trigger for asthma. Make sure that no one in your home smokes indoors. Also, let your guests smoke their cigarettes outside because even the lingering smoke smell on the furniture and curtains can be a trigger for an asthma attack.
Wash the Linens in Hot Water
Often, in spite of following a good diet and a healthy lifestyle, you get asthma attacks rather frequently. This might be due to the bacteria and dust mites on your bed. So, it is necessary that you wash all the bed linen in hot water to get rid of these. Unwashed linens are often the primary cause of the unexplained nightly asthma episodes that patients suffer.
Do the Right Kind of Exercise
Exercising regularly is one of the lifestyle tips for managing asthma. However, choosing the right kind of exercise is equally crucial. For instance, workouts such as aerobics, Zumba and jogging might seem to be too strenuous for an asthma patient. So, go for exercises such as walking, swimming, yoga or tai-chi that keeps you in shape and your lungs, strong. Check with your doctor before starting anything new. A sound sleep at night is also an important way of keeping the symptoms of asthma at bay.
With these lifestyle tips for managing asthma, you can get relief from the symptoms to a great extent and avoid frequent asthma attacks.