Health: Dietary Management for Bronchial Asthma

(1) Avoid alcohol and overly salty foods. Alcohol and excessively salty foods can stimulate the bronchi, worsening cough, shortness of breath, palpitations, and triggering asthma attacks.
(2) Eat more high-protein foods such as lean meat, liver, eggs, poultry, soybeans, and soy products to increase calories and boost immunity. Those with poor digestion should eat smaller, more frequent meals.
(3) Increase intake of foods rich in vitamins A, C, and calcium: Vitamin A-rich foods help moisturize the lungs and protect the airways—such as pork liver, egg yolks, fish liver oil, carrots, leeks, pumpkins, apricots; vitamin C-rich foods have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and cold-prevention properties—such as jujubes, tangerines, grapefruits, tomatoes, green peppers; calcium-rich foods enhance airway resistance to allergies—such as pork bones, leafy greens, tofu, sesame paste.
(4) Choose foods based on your personal condition. For example, if you have excessive phlegm, poor appetite, and white tongue coating, choose pumpkin, lotus seeds, yam, glutinous rice, and lotus root to strengthen the spleen; if you have cold limbs, clear urine, and lower back pain, choose dog meat, quail meat, walnuts, ox testicles, and lamb to strengthen the kidney; if you sweat easily and catch colds often, choose animal lungs, honey, silver ear fungus, and lilies to strengthen the lungs.
(5) Use 60 grams of alum and 50 milliliters of vinegar. Grind the alum into powder, mix with vinegar, apply to the soles of the feet (both Yongquan points) after washing feet before bedtime, and remove in the morning. Do this once daily or every other day for over a month—it has excellent preventive effects.
(6) Drink coffee regularly: caffeine can dilate the bronchial passages, reducing or preventing asthma symptoms. People who drink more coffee have lower chances of asthma attacks. Drinking three cups of coffee a day produces a bronchodilation effect equivalent to standard theophylline dosage, thus benefiting asthmatics.