Your lungs are key players in your metabolism. They serve up the oxygen your body needs to break down nutrients and create the energy you need to live. If the tiny air pockets in your lungs, called alveoli, get soggy or deteriorate, your lungs can’t pass on this oxygen to your blood cells. And, in turn, they then can’t deliver oxygen around the body.
In Chinese medicine, the lungs set the rhythm for the body. They direct the flow of wei qi, the protective energy that helps you maintain good health.
Your lungs are key to your immunity. And they work hand in hand with your heart.
To enjoy good health, you need healthy lungs.
However, just like breathing, it’s easy to take our lungs for granted. Sure, you should quit smoking if you’re abusing your lungs in this way. But smokers aren’t the only ones at risk.
Microbes, environmental toxins, even dust can do damage to your lungs. For this reason, it’s critical to take care to give your lungs the nourishment they need to stay healthy and ward off these risks.
Here are two exceptional nutritional supports you can offer your lungs:
Eat Your Broccoli For Healthy Lungs
You’ve heard it from your mom and now I’m saying it, too . . .
Eat your broccoli . . . as well as your kale, cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi . . .
Clinical research shows that eating these vegetables raw can reduce your risk for lung cancer by as much as 55% if you’re a smoker.
These vegetables – all in the cruciferous family – contain special sulfur-based compounds that have been shown to be potent cancer-fighters. These compounds – sulforaphane and erucin – seem to help detoxify carcinogens as well as activate tumor-suppressing genes.
But here’s the thing . . . you won’t get this protection as much if you go for a supplement instead of the real thing. Supplements don’t give you myrosinase, the enzyme your body uses to break these special compounds down and make these compounds bioavailable.
For Healthy Lungs, Eat Greens Like Chlorella
You may have heard from your doctor that you shouldn’t take vitamin A or beta-carotene supplements if you’re a smoker. Several studies have shown these supplements can increase smokers’ risk for lung cancer.
But what many conventional doctors and researchers overlook is that the results are just the opposite when you get vitamin A and its natural precursor, beta-carotene, from food. Study after study has shown that people who eat the most beta-carotene-rich vegetables and have the highest blood levels of beta-carotene have the lowest risk for lung cancer.
What kinds of veggies give you this golden, protective nutrient? Leafy greens like kale, spinach and collards as well as orange vegetables like carrots and squash. The superfood, chlorella offers your body a rich supply of beta-carotene and vitamin A. And since chlorella is a whole food, you know you’re getting the healthy form of these nutrients.
Chlorella also does two other things to help your lungs:
- Chlorella helps your body speed toxins out of it. When we breathe in, we bring in all kinds of pollutants into our body. Smoking, in particular, exposes the body to the toxic heavy metal, cadmium. Studies have shown chlorella can help speed cadmium out of the body at 7 times the normal rate.
- The fiber in chlorella and other veggies and fruits may help calm your immune system. According to preliminary studies, lung health may be heavily impacted by the health of your gut bacteria. These bacteria support proper immune functioning, helping to prevent allergic reactions that can contribute to problems like asthma.
Fiber-rich foods – prebiotics – nourish these bacteria like nothing else. It may be that eating to support these bacteria can do enormous good for your lungs as well.
Eat Healthy Greens And Enjoy Healthy Lungs
By eating strategically, you can nourish your whole body. But specifically, you can help your lungs stay strong.
And when your lungs are working well, every breath fills your body with energizing oxygen. So your body can perform at its best.
 Steelsmith L. Natural Choices For Women’s Health: How The Secrets Of Natural And Chinese Medicine Can Create A Lifetime Of Wellness. Harmony (May 25, 2005). P. 48-49
 American Association for Cancer Research. “Broccoli May Lower Lung Cancer Risk In Smokers.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 November 2008..
 John D. Clarke, Ken Riedl, Deborah Bella, Steven J. Schwartz, Jan F. Stevens, Emily Ho. Comparison of Isothiocyanate Metabolite Levels and Histone Deacetylase Activity in Human Subjects Consuming Broccoli Sprouts or Broccoli Supplement. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2011;
 Albanes D. Beta-carotene and lung cancer: a case study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Jun;69(6):1345S-1350S.
 Steenblock D. Chlorella, Natural Medicinal Algae, p. 20 referencing ‘Effect of chlorella on fecal and urinary excretion in “Itai-Itai”,’ Japan Jrnl of Hyg., 1975, 30(1): pp. 77.
 Trompette A et al. Gut microbiota metabolism of dietary fiber influences allergic airway disease and hematopoiesis. Nature Medicine, 2014.
Want to learn more about how to take care of your lungs? For additional recommendations go to https://www.sunchlorellausa.com/blog/5-things-you-can-do-have-super-healthy-lungs.
About Dr. David Nelson, Ph D
David Nelson is a nutritional consultant, and has been involved in the field of nutritional studies for over 20 years. Dr. Nelson studied at San Diego University, Iowa State University, and Mankato State University. He currently specializes in the areas of Anti-aging, Sports Performance Nutrition, and Allergy. For the past 15 years, Dr. Nelson has been the Nutritionist at the Center for Advanced Medicine, and co-hosts the radio show “Health Talk, A Second Opinion,” with the other doctors from the Center. He is also an esteemed member of the Sun Chlorella Advisory Board, which helps guide the medical innovation behind Sun Chlorella products.
About Sun Chlorella USA
Sun Chlorella USA offers the finest quality chlorella products for anti-aging, weight maintenance, energy, heart, brain & digestive system, as well as overall health and wellness for both people and pets. Want to learn more health secrets? Get a free copy of our report, “Why Didn’t My Doctor Tell Me About This?!” This eye-opening report, created by 5 pioneering natural health experts, reveal nutritional secrets that can change your life. Go to our website to get your free copy. Also, for special offers, news and updates, follow us on Twitter at @sunchlorellausa or ‘Like’ us on Facebook.