Protect this organ

Temps are warming, and in many cities (including metro Atlanta) the air quality is suffering. Along with this, pollen season is still happening, with an ever-changing pageant of plants releasing their copious amounts of pollen.... trees, flowers, shrubs, grass and weeds. In my Atlanta area, pollen season is literally from mid-January until we have 3 hard frosts, typically in late November. This means we only get 6 or 7 pollen free weeks a year! All this extra "stuff" in the air puts a strain on our lungs, so it's very important to take care and do a bit of a lung support and detox on the regular. It’s odd to me that the lungs are often forgotten about until there is a problem like asthma, an upper respiratory infection, chronic cough or COPD. I wanted to bring this to your attention, so you can take the necessary steps to show some love to your amazing lungs.

The first action to take is to be sure that your other elimination pathways are supported. Your lungs are actually an organ of elimination themselves, kicking in to do extra work when the toxic loads in your body are high. Drinking enough water is fundamental to ALL your elimination pathways. Your bowel elimination is extra important to your lungs, because in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lungs and large intestine are paired organs. What affects one will affect the other. How often should you have a bowel movement? Twice a day or more is ideal.

The second action is to be sure you’re not adding to your lung’s burden, and the absolute worst offenders are scented products- candles, plug-ins, laundry products, shampoos and personal care products. When you wash your clothes in Gain or some equally smelly detergent, your poor lungs are stressed every time you take a breath! It’s essential to read labels, because even some of the so-called “natural” brands will contain that sneaky little word, “fragrance”. That’s code for chemical scents. The only scents that are ok will be listed as lavender oil, peppermint oil, etc. Any flower or spice name followed by the word oil.

Now for some options to detox and support those hard-working lungs!

Several teas have lung healing properties. These include green tea, peppermint tea, ginger tea, turmeric tea, chrysanthemum tea and even warm water with lemon. You can often find tea blends for lung support in the tea section of your natural market.

You can also use herbal preparations to support your lungs. Mullein is one of the best, and can be taken as a liquid tincture or brewed as a tea. Nettles is another that can be used as a tincture or tea, and nettles gives the extra advantage of calming allergies. Explore blends of these herbs in teas, tinctures or capsules. They will typically have names that talk about respiratory health. Here are 3 that are available on our Fullscript site: Lung & Bronchial Tonic™ by Natura Health Products (liquid), Gaia Herbs Daily Lung Formula (capsules) and Planetary Herbs Mullein Lung Complex (tablets). To find them, log in to Fullscript and in the search bar, type lung health. They will pop right up, along with a few others. These 3 are my favorites in the group.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of culinary herbs! Using these liberally in your cooking will support your lungs and MANY other systems in your body. They include garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage. They are so easy to grow in your yard or even in a pot on your patio or a window sill. It can bring great pleasure to clip your own fresh herbs! You can even get benefits from crushing a few leaves and breathing them in. 😊