How I Cured Chronic Asthma
I was diagnosed at three years old and ditched the inhaler 30 years later...
I was diagnosed with chronic asthma when I was three years old. The doctors told my parents I would have asthma for life, that I would always need an inhaler by my side.
Despite having been diagnosed with asthma “for life” at three years old ~ I haven’t used an inhaler in nearly four years (I’m 37 now).
Not only did I cure my asthma, but my lung health is now better than most young adults who never even had asthma! When I first published this article two years ago I had just recently touched a one minute breath (30 second inhale, 30 second exhale). More recently, I was able to hit a 45 second inhale and 45 second exhale.
So, How Did I Cure my Asthma?
Before diving into “how I cured my asthma” I believe it’s important to note a few things:
First is that I had suffered from a few different types of asthma:
exercise induced asthma
winter asthma (cold-induced asthma)
allergic asthma (as a result of allergies – which I also no longer suffer from.. but that’s a different story for a different day).
I needed to use an Albuterol inhaler at the onset of an asthma attack.
I also want to note that I never set out with the goal of “curing my asthma”. Honestly, I didn’t even believe that was possible. From the time I was diagnosed at three years old, I assumed ~just like the doctors said~ that it was something I’d live with for the rest of my life.
My goal was to become healthier in my body, overall. No longer needing an inhaler is just one of many benefits as a result of my lifestyle shifts.
Last, but certainly not least, I think it’s most important to note that
everything I did was intuitive.
This means I leaned into my own inner guidance on everything I did. However, there is also science to back up most of what I did! (I’ll link the studies that support my actions.)
This proves how intelligent our higher selves, inner guidance and own bodies are when it comes to knowing what we need to heal.
I think we have been programmed to expect healing and “cures” to come from a one size fits all, super convenient, pill or supplement. These things aren’t cures and they don’t heal anything, they’re just masks we put on so we don’t have to acknowledge harsher realities (like ‘our modern lifestyles are slowly killing us’) or face the true challenge of developing discipline in a world that loves shortcuts.
We’ve traded convenience for our health and the only way to take our health back into our hands is to play the long game.
This isn’t a quick fix article with a round up of some magical herb blend you can take to rid yourself of the shortness of breath that overcomes when you exude a little too much energy or the tightness in your chest when you step outside and take a deep inhale of some freezing, dry air.
This is a list of the conveniences I swapped out because I wanted to know what it felt like to feel good in my body.
Oh, and one more thing, before you read on just so you know I am most certainly not a doctor and none of this is medical advice. I am just sharing my experiences with healing my own body intuitively.
The Lifestyle Shifts I Made that Ultimately Cured My Asthma:
Created a Sauna Habit
Sporadically throughout my life I would use a dry-sauna. However, in the last few years (especially in the colder months) I started using the sauna 3-4x a week for 20-30 minutes at a time. This being one of the things that helped cure my asthma just makes sense. I had asthma that would onset with cold air. Sauna’s produce very warm air! There are also studies that show that sauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases. As asthma is a respiratory disease.. my sauna habit likely helped cure my asthma.
Cleaned up My Diet
I stopped eating anything artificial. If the product has an ingredient in it that I can’t picture, in its whole form in nature, I don’t eat it.
When talking about asthma – this especially included eating anything with citric acid in it. Citric acid is one of the 7 ingredients I avoid at all costs – even in organic foods. While citric acid naturally occurs in many fruits and veggies – I’m referring to the manufactured citric acid (MCA). Manufactured citric acid is one of the most common food additives in the world. It is manufactured using aspergillus niger – a potent allergen derived from black mold.
Mold exposure is a known cause of asthma! The NIH explored a potential role of MCA in “eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease state”. Eliminating citric acid from my diet may have helped me to cure my asthma.
Breathing Ocean / Salt Water Air
In 2019 (when I still actively had asthma) I moved to a home that was on a bay, just a few miles east of the Atlantic Ocean. In early 2021 I spent a few months in Miami, spending two+ hours at the beach at least five days a week. In late 2021 – I moved to a small coastal town in Tuscany, Italy.
The Lung Institute states that some of the common results from breathing ocean air are:
•improved lung function
•reduced coughing
•decreased sinus pressure
•thinner mucus
I believe a large part of how I cured my asthma was simply that the air around my homes for the last five years was ocean air.
Swimming in the Ocean
Piggybacking off of breathing the ocean air is swimming in the ocean. Between Miami and Italy, alone, I spent at least four days a week swimming in ocean or sea water. Typically for at least an hour per day, but often longer. The NIH published a case report regarding open water swimming as a possible treatment for asthma. The timeline (below) of the woman from the case report is fairly similar to mine! The main differences being I was diagnosed when I was a toddler and my asthma was year round.
While the science is still being studied – I strongly believe that my time swimming in the ocean/sea helped to cure my asthma!
Started Filtering My Air
For many years I traveled for work, often in Europe. I would stay in cute b&bs, boutique hotels and centuries old villas. The issue with that? Often those charming older places are damp and moldy. I started traveling with a bedside HEPA filter so that while I slept ~ the air I was breathing was clean and filtered. Not damp and moldy.
At home I also put HEPA filters in each of my rooms. Since ditching the A/C I really like the Dyson combo fan/air purifier. I was fortunate to find it on sale at over 75% off. As much as I’d love to have one of these in each of my rooms ! it’s just not financially feasible at this time.
Stopped Using Products with “Fragrances”
This one was of the harder shifts that I made in the last few years. I once loved scented candles and perfumes. However, now that I’ve eliminated them from my lifestyle – I am super sensitive to them. Sometimes the scent of someones perfume wafting off of them can even give me a headache.
The NIH states, “The negative impact of fragrance chemicals on human health includes cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic effects (e.g., headaches, asthma attacks, breathing difficulties, cardiovascular and neurological problems).”
Some of the Fragranced Products I stopped using:
•perfumes/ colognes/ body sprays
•scented soaps/ body washes/ exfoliants
•scented hair care products (shampoo/ conditioner/ dry shampoo, etc)
•scented body lotions/ oils/ creams
•scented deodorant/ antiperspirant
•aerosol room sprays
•scented candles
•laundry detergents/fabric softeners
•car air fresheners
•anything “febreeze”
Started Eating More Raw Honey
I didn’t realize the correlation between curing my asthma and my raw honey intake until recently! Andra (Wellness by Andra – @BioavailableNd on Twitter or @andra.naturopathy on Instagram) posted a study that showcased the effect that raw honey has on toxicity and mycotoxins. Mycotoxins have been found to have a detrimental effect on respiratory health: procuring symptoms such as asthma.
Over the last two years I have SUBSTANTIALLY increased my intake of raw honey. I eat about an ounce of raw honey per day. With this logic ~ it’s safe to say that eating more raw honey likely helped me to cure my asthma.
Practiced Breath Work (Pranayama)
Pranayama is the regulation of the breath through certain techniques and exercises. In Sanskrit “prana” means “vital life force” and “yama” means to “gain control”. I don’t know that there is any life force more vital to humans than the breath! We can go days without water and weeks without food but just minutes without breath can end our life.
In my opinion, practicing these different breathing techniques helped me to “work out” my lungs.. the way that I would “work out” my body with different physical exercises.
When I first began breathwork ~ I struggled to inhale for longer than four seconds and couldn’t hold my breath for much longer than that, either. More recently, I was able to practice 90 and 100 second holds. When I made the bold claim in the intro that, “my lung health is now better than most young adults who never even had asthma” ~ this is how I gauged it.
Consuming More Green Tea
Around the end of 2020 I really, strongly, felt to kick my daily coffee habit. I resisted it, at first, and continued with having coffee each morning. However, I switched out my afternoon and evening espressos for green tea or matcha. In early 2022 I finally did kick coffee.
Since then, my green tea intake has increased as well. There is a noted connection between consuming at least two cups of green tea per day and reduced odds of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Green tea has also been noted to “decrease lung cancer risk in the general population”. Based off this science it’s safe to say that my increased intake of green tea likely also helped to cure my asthma.
Red Light Therapy
I started using a red-light device in 2021 when working on aligning with my natural circadian rhythm. When I started using it ~ it was mainly to help offset my use of blue-light from working on computers and cellphones. However, I recently learned that “red light has been shown to alleviate chronic obstructive lung disease and bronchial asthma” (according to the NIH). I picked up red-light therapy to help with my sleep patterns and overall physical body health. But, it likely also helped me to cure my asthma.
In conclusion:
Being that I was diagnosed with asthma when I was three and not earlier ~ it’s likely that my asthma was environmental. While everything listed above has science to back it up.. I think my mentality is also very important! When I took my health and well-being into my own hands I no longer viewed myself as a victim. I wasn’t a victim of any ailments (including my asthma). I strongly believe that my mentality helped to cure my asthma, as well. The mind is more powerful than we give it credit for!🧠💕
I’d love to hear about your experience with asthma, if you’re hoping to cure it or anything else you’d like to share below.💕