10 Foods That Improve Your Lungs [continued]

The lungs are essential for human life. They work almost tirelessly, pulling in air and dumping out what can’t be used over and over, day and night. Breathing brings in oxygen and expels carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism. Breathing is also essential to our ability to talk and sing.

Our lungs make up a large part of our immune system. Pollutants and infection-causing microbes are captured by mucus in the lungs and shuttled upward by tiny cilia for us to cough out or swallow. Sneezes are another way the lungs help rid us of infection or pollution, often before these invaders even pass beyond the sinuses.

Here are a few foods that help enhance and improve the health of the lungs.

6. Garlic and Onions:

These pungent foods are great for the heart and thus the lungs too. They reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol, and fight infection.

7. Cruciferous Vegetables:

Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale have been shown to halt the progression of lung cancer and cut the risk of developing lung cancer in half. They are rich in chlorophyll that cleans and builds blood, and full of some very effective antioxidants.

8. Chili Peppers:

Peppers are filled with capsaicin, the spicy compound that gives them their bite. Capsaicin improves blood flow, stimulates mucus membranes, and fights infection.

9. Avocados:

Avocados contain an important antioxidant called glutathione. Experts in general hail the health-promoting qualities of antioxidants far and wide. Their role in the body is to protect cells against the damage inflicted by free radicals.

Avocado—be it in a salad or other foods- are also rich in monounsaturated fat, the kind of fat you actually want in your diet because it helps lower cholesterol.

10. Milk:

There are some people who have a bona fide allergy to milk, which can result in wheezing, coughing, and other respiratory symptoms. On the other hand, milk is one of the best sources of vitamin D, which may ease symptoms of asthma.
Whatever the final verdict on milk and other dairy products, experts are increasingly realizing that one of most important aspects in asthma is understanding allergies.