The Nutrient that May Help Reverse Emphysema and COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often refers to emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Patients living with the condition experience symptoms including “shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and excessive mucus production.”
Although the disease is progressive, recent studies have revealed a possible nutrient that could improve outcomes for patients living with critical lung diseases and conditions. Researchers have discovered that retinoic acid, which is a derivative of vitamin A, has been found to prevent the occurrence of and better treat these conditions. Retinoic acid is critical for “the healthy development and maintenance of the lungs.”
In another study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, researchers found that retinoic acid “prevented the reduction of alveoli in the lungs.” This is a significant finding as alveoli enable respiration and are necessary for the “exchange of carbon dioxide with oxygen.” In fact, human life is not possible without a sufficient number of alveoli. This relates to COPD as emphysema causes inflammation in the lungs, which in turn results in the destruction of alveoli and breathing difficulties. To stop these occurrences preventative methods must be taken to avoid the depletion of alveoli and effectively treat emphysema.
In the New England Journal of Medicine, a study documented increased lung function among children whose “mothers supplemented with vitamin A” compared to children whose mothers had not supplemented with the nutrient. Another study, published in The Clinical Respiratory Journal, revealed that nutrient deficiencies may cause lung damage and lead to the development of COPD. The study also found that when compared with healthy individuals, COPD patients “had significantly lower blood levels of carotenoids (vitamin A precursors).”
Ultimately, data from these studies support a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, which proposed that emphysema was likely “the result of vitamin A depletion largely due to cigarette smoking.”
When foods that have high levels of beta carotene or other carotenoids are consumed the “body converts them into more active forms of vitamin A,” one of which is retinoic acid. Foods that are high in vitamin A include eggs, carrots, cantaloupe, peas and dark leafy vegetables.
Additional nutrients, other than vitamin A, are also important to help prevent or manage patients’ COPD. For example, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, revealed that patients living with the disease have been documented to eat less fruits than individuals who do not have the condition. The study also revealed that patients with COPD often have low levels of antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E. These insights could link nutritional deficiencies “as causal factors for COPD.” Ultimately, increased consumption of foods that contain high amounts of vitamins A, C and E may help to treat COPD.
Healthy Diet Could Mean Immediate Improvement for COPD Patients
A new study conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, along with researchers from the United States and Europe, shows a direct link between eating fish, fruits, and dairy and improved lung function among those living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study, reported in Health Canal, was presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2014 International Conference.
Researchers looked at COPD patients’ lung function within 24 hours of eating grapefruit, bananas, fish and cheese. They used “data from the Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints study (ECLIPSE). ECLIPSE was designed to help determine how COPD progresses and to identify biomarkers associated with the disease”.
Lead author Corinne Hanson, Ph.D. found that diet is “a potentially modifiable risk factor in the development and progression of many diseases, and there is evidence that diet plays a role in both the development and clinical features of COPD”.
What sets this study apart from other similar research that associate diet with improved lung function is the immediacy of the reaction. Participating patients reported the type of food they had consumed in the previous 24 hours. For those in the variable test category, this included grapefruit, bananas, fish and cheese. These patients showed “improvement in lung function, less emphysema, improved 6-minute walk scores, and a decrease in certain inflammatory markers associated with poor lung function including white blood cells and C-reactive protein,” wrote the authors.
Dr. Hanson says the findings “demonstrate the nearly immediate effects a healthy diet can have on lung function in a large and well-characterized population of COPD patients.”
These findings are important because they demonstrate the potential need for and benefits of dietary counseling for COPD patients. Dr. Hanson notes that diet has been proven to have both immediate and long term effects on COPD and should be a continued area for research.
The Importance of Good Nutrition for Chronic Lung Condition Patients
For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic lung conditions, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is key for managing their condition and improving symptoms. Moderate exercise, for instance, can improve circulation and help the body to better use oxygen. It is also important to follow a healthy diet that meets core nutritional requirements and limits exposure to foods that may cause inflammation.
“Nutrition plays a pivotal role in patients with COPD; this is because weight is an important factor in how the lungs function,” said Dr. Lubna Javed, a family practitioner with HealthCare Partners Nevada, a network of more than 200 primary care physicians and 1,300 specialists. “If a person is overweight, their lungs may have to work harder because extra weight demands more oxygen. On the other hand, being underweight may make patients tired and cause exacerbation of dyspnea.”
Poor nutrition can also lead to malnutrition and weight loss, which can result in a poor prognosis, including increased susceptibility to infection, reduced quality of life and even death.
“For most people, breathing is effortless. However, in patients with COPD, there is a conscious and continuous effort to breathe,” said Dr. Javed. “This can increase the resting energy expenditure by up to 15 percent, and if there is no compensation for increased energy needs, weight loss and cachexia will set in.”
Maintaining a healthy body weight and supporting the inefficient and overworked respiratory muscles with proper nutrition can improve symptoms and reduce the risk of infection.
Dietary Needs of Chronic Lung Patients
Because maintaining a healthy body weight is so important in managing the symptoms of chronic lung conditions, chronic lung patients must ensure that their eating habits are meeting their body’s nutritional requirements.
“It is extremely important for patients with COPD to maintain a balanced diet,” said Dr. Javed. “A lack of calories for example could lead to the breakdown of fat and muscle in the body which increases shortness of breath, decreases appetite and leads to impaired absorption of nutrition, weight loss and loss of muscle strength.”
She notes that COPD patients may benefit from a high-fat and low-calorie diet, as this will give them the calories they need to maintain a healthy body weight. However, caution is advised for patients with obesity and cardiovascular problems.
Dietary Restrictions and Recommendations
Also important to managing a chronic lung condition is avoiding foods that may cause inflammation or trouble breathing and embracing those that strengthen the body and boost the immune system.
“Inflammation is like a fire in the body,” said Alina Zhukovskaya, AADP, CHHP, NDS, a health coach, raw food chef and detox specialist who recently spoke about the importance of nutrition for lung-affected Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) patients at the 22nd Annual Alpa-1 National Education Conference. “The body needs to fight it, but if there is not enough energy it cannot do this. When you eat something that causes inflammation, your body has to tend to the inflammation and will have less energy to work on the lungs.”
To that end, Zhukovskaya recommends that patients focus on including more fruits and vegetables into their diet, as these will provide the body with the nutrients it needs to help fight infection and inflammation. Fruits and vegetables also take the least amount of energy to digest and give the body the most energy to function.
Included in this diet should be dark, leafy greens such as kale and collard greens and foods rich in vitamin A or C such as sweet potatoes, mangoes, bell peppers and oranges.
“You want to get the most nutrition out of the least volume of food, and fruits and veggies are key to doing this,” said Zhukovskaya. “Juicing is also great because you get all of the vitamins and minerals in liquid form, so the body can absorb these nutrients more quickly.”
By juicing just once a day, and incorporating more life-giving foods such as fruits and vegetables into their diet, COPD and other lung condition patients will see improvements in their breathing.
“One thing that I tell chronic lung patients is to avoid drinking soda,” said Zhukovskaya. “Soda is essentially carbonated water and as a result it is full of carbon, or the waste of our breathing process. When people drink carbonated beverages, they put a lot of waste back into their body. For COPD patients who already have trouble breathing, this can negatively impact their ability to breathe.”
In addition, soda is full of sugar and sugar substitutes, which have been found to cause inflammation, as do processed proteins such as hamburger meat.
“I have talked to people who have implemented these dietary improvements and they have seen huge improvements in their breathing,” said Zhukovskaya. “The key is learning what is bad and what is good and learning how to incorporate these changes into your daily life.”
Coping With COPD: Following the Recommended Nutritional Guidelines
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one way patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients can take control of their health. By following the recommended guidelines provided in the food pyramid, patients can get the most nutrition out of the calories they eat, including the nutrients the body needs to perform, maintain wellness and fight disease.
These guidelines recommend that you:
· Make fruits, vegetables and whole grains the foundation of meals
· Eat plenty of calcium-rich foods
· Limit your intake of saturated and trans fat, with total fat intake kept moderate
· Restrict consumption of sugar and salt
· Eat moderate portions
· Consume alcohol in moderation
In addition to providing your body with the nutrients it needs to operate at optimal levels, following recommended nutritional guidelines can also reduce your risk of obesity—a problem that may worsen symptoms related to COPD. An overabundance of fat tissue impairs the breathing process. Increased body mass index (BMI) is also associated with a number of other respiratory problems, including a reduction in various pulmonary functions. Obesity in COPD patients is also related to a decrease in both exercise tolerance and quality of life.
Maintaining a healthy weight can provide significant, symptomatic improvements. By following the recommended nutritional guidelines and participating in moderate activity as permitted by your doctors, your body will be well-equipped to promote health, reduce stress and take control of your COPD.
Compound Found in Broccoli May Ease COPD Symptoms
A compound found in broccoli may help boost the immune system and ease the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a recent study published in Science Translational Medicine. The study, conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that an organic molecule found in broccoli, sulforaphane, stimulates the production of a molecule known as Nrf2, which helps produce free radical-neutralizing antioxidants in the body.
Patients with COPD often display poor white blood cell activity in their lungs, while the immune bodies’ ability to consume invading bacteria seems to be compromised by free radical damage. However, according to the study, consumption of dietary supplements containing sulforaphane will increase the production of free radical-neutralizing antioxidants and improve the body’s ability to consume bacteria, increasing feelings of overall health and wellness.
Recent studies strengthen these results, revealing that a decrease in Nrf2 signaling in patients with COPD may hamper their ability to defend oxidative stress. However, the role of Nrf2 in COPD exacerbations has not been determined.
“Our findings demonstrate the importance of Nrf2 … in improving antibacterial defenses and provide a rationale for targeting this pathway, via pharmacological agents such as sulforaphane, to prevent exacerbations of COPD caused by bacterial infection,” wrote the study authors.
In addition to producing free radical-neutralizing antioxidants, sulforaphane was also found to help kill two types of bacteria that affect people with COPD and to increase the ability of macrophage, a bacteria-removing molecule, to uptake bacteria by 300 percent. Further, in a study of mice, the compound was shown to reduce lung inflammation.
Click Here to Access the Abstract from Science Translational Medicine
