New crown, influenza A, influenza B, mycoplasma pneumonia...... How many times have you caught a cold in recent years? People who often catch colds may have a serious damage to their lungs, how to fix it quickly?
The authoritative journal "Nutrients" published a paper recommending diet to repair lung damage. Eating 4 kinds of foods regularly can not only repair lung damage, but also improve immunity and make yourself less likely to catch colds in the future.
Eat 4 kinds of foods to repair damaged lungs
To nourish the lungs, we should start with the intestinal flora. This is because the health of the gut microbiota directly affects the health of the lungs, and this relationship between the gut and lung health is known as the lung-gut axis. The lung and the large intestine have a modern biological basis such as embryological homology, common mucosal immune system, and secretory function, and the intestinal microbiota not only regulates the function of the gastrointestinal tract, but also affects respiratory health and disease. According to the lung-intestinal axis theory, intestinal microecological regulation has achieved good results in the prevention and treatment of respiratory tract infections, asthma and other respiratory diseases.
So how to eat in order to regulate your lungs by regulating the intestinal flora? It is recommended that everyone eat four kinds of food.
1
Oligosaccharide foods
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), also known as oligofructose or sucrose oligosaccharides, are a type of oligosaccharides that are found in foods such as onions, garlic, and chicory as a natural ingredient. Its sweetness is 0.3~0.6 times that of sucrose, the sweetness is more refreshing than sucrose, and it has the characteristics of low calorific value, about 7.8kJ/g, and it also belongs to water-soluble dietary fiber with small molecular mass.
What does fructooligosaccharides do?
✅ Improve intestinal flora: fructooligosaccharides can be used and fermented by bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria in the colon, thereby significantly stimulating the production of probiotics in the colon and improving the intestinal microecological environment;
✅ Relieves constipation: fructooligosaccharides can absorb water, dilute feces, and ferment to produce short-chain fatty acids, reduce colon PH, stimulate colonic motility, thereby promoting bowel movements;
✅ Auxiliary hypolipidemic: this effect is thought to be the result of the improvement of the intestinal flora by fructooligosaccharides.
After oligosaccharides reach the large intestine, they are used as a source of nutrients by coliform microorganisms. In particular, fructooligosaccharides, stachyose, and malto-oligosaccharides are selectively used by bifidobacteria in our intestines. This helps bifidobacteria form a dominant flora in the gut. We know that Bifidobacterium is a beneficial bacteria, and the proliferation of Bifidobacteria can not only inhibit harmful bacteria, but also promote intestinal peristalsis, prevent and treat constipation, resist pathogenic bacterial infections, inhibit the formation of putrefactive substances in the intestines, decompose carcinogens, manufacture vitamins, amino acids, improve immunity and so on.
The 2013 edition of the Dietary Nutrient Reference Intake for Chinese Residents pointed out that fructooligosaccharides are allowed to be used in infants and pregnant women in mainland China, and the total amount should not exceed 6.45%, and the range of fructooligosaccharides in approved health foods is 4~30g/day.
What are the main food sources rich in fructooligosaccharides? Foods rich in fructooligosaccharides mainly include onions, chicory, garlic, bananas, barley, wheat, oats, etc.
2
Fermented foods
Fermented food is no stranger to everyone, and the soy sauce, wine, vinegar, bacon, and kimchi that are often encountered in life are all fermented foods. But did you know that everyone needs to consciously consume 1-2 kinds of fermented foods every day for nutritional and health needs? Why eat more fermented foods?
Fermented foods undergo microbial digestion and undergo two changes:
✅ Easier to absorb: Some nutrients in fermented foods will have smaller molecular weights, which is more conducive to absorption and utilization by the body.
✅ Produce specific nutrients: The microbial fermentation process also produces many new metabolites, which are nutrients that were not previously found in the food raw materials used for fermentation. These microbial metabolites become specific nutritional factors. For example, glutamine provides energy for the small intestinal mucosa, short-chain fatty acids for energy for the colonic mucosa, as well as linoleic acid, arginine, and so on.
These two changes have made fermented foods an indispensable source of nutrients for the human body.
There are two groups of people who need to supplement fermented foods regularly:
✅ Patients who are convalescent after the disease: contributes to the patient's recovery.
✅ The elderly and women with weak and disordered gastrointestinal function: fermented foods decomposed by microorganisms have low requirements for gastrointestinal digestion and absorption because of their small molecular weight, and at the same time provide very rich nutrients, which are very suitable for these groups.
There are many types of fermented foods, such as beans, milk, starch, fruits and vegetables, and meat. Conscious daily intake can keep the body in a healthy, balanced, and energetic state.
3
Crude fiber foods
A fiber-rich diet can not only alter the composition of the lung and gut microbiota (for example: by changing the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes), but also prevent allergic inflammation by increasing circulating levels of short-chain fatty acids.
What are fiber-rich foods?
Grains: including rice, barley, corn, oats, wheat, buckwheat, rye, barley, etc
Beans: including soybeans, black beans, red beans, mung beans, etc. and their products
Rhizomes: sweet potatoes, potatoes, taro
Vegetables: celery, pumpkin, sauerkraut, lettuce, cauliflower, bean sprouts, potato and legumes
Fruits: oranges, grapes, plums, raisins, figs, cherries, persimmons, apples, strawberries
Others: jelly, konjac
4
Flavonoids
Flavonoids are a class of plant secondary metabolites that have been shown to have a variety of health benefits such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
The study found. Intake of major flavonoids, including isoflavones, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and flavonols, can relieve symptoms in people including asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
Foods with a high flavonoid content include berries such as celery, onions, blueberries, black, green and oolong teas, bananas, all citrus fruits, ginkgo biloba, red wine, sea buckthorn, and dark chocolate (more than 70% is preferred).
Protect the lungs and intestines, and customize the diet
In addition to supplementing six types of food, you can also choose a diet plan to protect your lungs and intestines in your daily life, and repair your lungs by regulating your intestines.
There are three rules to follow in order to protect your lungs and intestines:
✅ Commonly eaten: Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, herbs, spices, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil
✅ Eat in moderation: poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt
✅ Eat less: Red meat, sugary drinks, added sugars, processed meats, refined grains, refined oils, and other highly processed foods
You can follow the one-week recipe of a private customized diet to protect the lungs and intestines and start conditioning, and it will be effective if you stick to it for three weeks.
Source: "Phoenix Health"
Editor: Messi