Almost every major medical condition is either caused or affected by what you eat. Yet very few medical doctors are knowledgeable about nutrition. As a result, they rarely give nutritional advice even when specific foods can help curb symptoms or correct underlying problems as well as or better than prescription medications. Following are the best food treatments for four common diseases
Asthma
This respiratory ailment affects up to 20 million Americans and is becoming increasingly common, presumably because of worsening air pollution.
Best foods
Chili peppers, coffee and fish. People who frequently consume hot sauces or chili peppers might have less recurrent and less serious asthma attacks. Capsaicin, the chemical which makes peppers hot, may encourage nerve endings to help keep airways open.
Fatty acids in cold-water fish, like tuna, Sardines and salmon, lower levels of prostaglandins and leukotriene, chemicals that upsurge airway swelling.
Helpful
Three or more two- to three-ounce servings of fish each week can reduce the frequency of asthma attacks. Doctors traditionally have advised people to drink one cup of strong coffee at the onset of asthma attacks if none of their usual medications are available. One of the active ingredients, methybcanthine, relaxes airway muscles.
Adult asthmatics that drink numerous cups of caffeinated coffee daily normally have 30% fewer asthma attacks compared to non-coffee drinkers. I suggest three to four cups a day, provided you don’t have lively ulcers or cardiac arrhythmias.
Cataracts
A cataract is a clouding (opacity) of the lens of the eye, which results in impaired vision. Much of the damage is caused by free radicals, harmful oxygen molecules that are produced as a by-product of metabolism.
Best foods
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables especially squash spinach, oranges, broccoli, sweet potatoes and carrots. They’re rich in vitamins C and A as well as beta-carotene, all of which reduce eye damage.
Helpful
Eat five or more servings daily.
Congestive heart failure
It occurs when an underlying condition such as a viral infection, hypertension, a narrowed heart valve, etc. inhibits the heart’s ability to pump blood.
Best foods
Brown rice, spinach, oatmeal, legumes (such as beans and peas), potatoes and bananas. They’re rich in magnesium and potassium, both of which improve cardiac function.
Warning
These minerals often are depleted by the use of diuretics standard drugs for the treatment of heart failure.
Helpful
Eat two daily servings of magnesium- and potassium-rich foods.
Also: Eat four to six small daily meals instead of three big ones. Blood flow to the stomach following big meals increases energy demands on the heart. Limit total daily sodium intake to less than 2,000 mg daily (a little less than one teaspoon). Excessive salt increases fluid retention and reduces the heart’s pumping ability
Gallstones
About half of the 20 million American adults who have gallstones don’t have indications. In the residual victims, these collections of solid crystals in the gallbladder or bile ducts may cause serious pain under the breastbone or in the upper right side of the abdomen, particularly after meals.
The occurrence of such crystals may annoy the gallbladder and encourage infection. Even a single, large stone emerging in the gallbladder inclines that organ to cancer.
Best foods
Fruits, legumes and vegetables anything that’s low in fat. Fatty foods encourage gallbladder shrinkages that can quick attacks.
Bonus
The fiber in plant-based foods cooperates with bile in the gallbladder and decreases stone development. High-fiber food might melt prevailing stones and also helps with weight loss.
Warning
People who are just 10% overweight are twice as likely to get gallstones as those who maintain a healthful weight.
Helpful
Get 35 g to 45 g of fiber daily. Consume at least five everyday portions of fruits and vegetables, together with legumes, whole-grain pasta, breads and other high-fiber foods.
Good choices
One cupful of baked beans (13 g of fiber), one average baked potato (4 g), one big apple (5 g) or one-half cup All-Bran (10 g).
