It’s that time of year when at least one person you know is suffering from “pneumonia”. I say pneumonia in inverted commas, because nine times out of ten, it’s not really pneumonia. Here in Kenya, pneumonia has become the catch-all term for any kind of chest congestion, much the same way that “malaria” is used to describe flu-like symptoms. Of course, I’m not suggesting that these conditions don’t exist, rather that if you really did have either of them, they wouldn’t resolve themselves in less than 48 hours.
But back to “pneumonia”. Chances are, if you are having difficulty breathing, a doctor will prescribe an inhaler. An inhaler normally contains two types of drugs: a decongestant and a bronchodilator. Before I get into the nitty-gritty, let me first explain why these would be needed.
When it gets cold, there appears to be some sort of allergen in the air and our bodies response is to release a substance called histamine to stop you inhaling it. To do this, it increases mucous production in the airways (designed to trap the allergen) and it also causes the airways to begin to constrict (smaller airways allow less allergen in).
And so there you are, airways feel tight and full of mucous, and off to the doctor you go. The inhaler that you get can help to clear the mucous (the decongestant) and dilate the airways (the bronchodilator), but most people still don’t feel as good as they did before the “pneumonia” struck. And that’s because the medication hasn’t solved any problems, rather it’s just relieved some of the symptoms.
We can’t change the weather, but what we can do is to change the way our bodies react to the allergens. And the first thing, as boring as it sounds, is to drink more water. There’s no question that levels of histamine are higher in the body when we are even mildly dehydrated.
The next thing is perhaps the most important one: to stop drinking milk. Yes, really. Not only is milk the number one mucous-forming food, but its high calcium content means that airway-dilating magnesium is also compromised. I cannot begin to tell you the number of people whose health has improved, simply from cutting out milk. This is one of the times when it really is vital.
I would also advise you to cut out, or at least reduce your intake of, other key mucous-forming foods: “white” foods like pasta, flour, potatoes and bread, bananas, eggs, and citrus fruits. It’s no exaggeration to say that I have seen “pneumonia” disappear overnight following just these simple suggestions.
