Lung function

[Jpcouling]

Anyone have an opinion on as a smoker how you take care of your lungs? I've heard some mention to
Vitamin C, I've always liked mullein and I do a bit of cardio every few days. Any other suggestions? I am sure health issues are quite touchy to many, but I am asking more how can we deal and assist with lung function as smokers?

 

[webmost]

Sport.

And no tame pastimes pretending to be sport, either. I mean a real sport. Sport is defined by whether you regularly dive to the ground, or whether there is a real chance you could break a collarbone, something like that. Lame golf or walking the dog or softball in the park are just weak pastimes. Football, rugby, soccer, biking, even swimming ... sex works too, if done right, so that you fog up the windows and soak the sheets.

Me, I play four wall handball. Any time I get to feeling wheezed up by too many days smoking strong cigars, I guarantee you, soon as I get in the handball court I blow it all out. In five minutes the lungs are wide open.

Sweat is the best medicine.

 

[AmaxB]

Swanson - Lung Essentials 2 caps a day....
And of coarse stop smoking store bought.

 

[holyRYO]

Whole leaf, avoid premaids.

Edited: posted at the same time

 

[Jpcouling]

Webmost that is just the answer I want to hear! I run to my work on a farm and I am on my feet all day there. Personally I smoke no storebought cigarette tobacco or tobacco that I inhale, but I do still have a bit of cornell and Diehl pipe tobacco I quite like. I agree that whole leaf is superior, but even just after a few days of smoking straight Orinoco in a pipe and inhaling, I feel that "gunky" stuff starting to slide up!

 

[Mad Oshea]

Add more Orientals and Turkish to Your blends. Not as harsh and strong. You can make Cavendish out of them as well for the pipe.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

The best thing(s) for lung function would be:

N Acetyl Cysteine (NAC): an amino acid commonly sold in capsule form by most "vitamin" companies. It has the ability to raise natural antioxidant levels such as Glutathione. Smoking lowers Glutathione levels. It also has the ability to remove mercury from the body and to reverse Acetominophen poisoning. It is also available as a prescription called Mucomist to break up excessive mucus in the lungs.

Nattokinase and to a lesser extent Serrapeptase: Nattokinase effectively reduces the thickness(viscosity) of sputum. It also reduces pulmonary fibrosis (breaks up scar tissue in the lungs).

Vitamin C: Taken as 1g a few times per day. Vitamin C is used along with NAC to build Glutathione.

I would not take Vitamin E- too many studies have shown increases in mortality. It doesn't matter the form either, Alpha, gamma tocopherol etc.


Edit: Just found this link that can be used to further your research.. https://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/may2010_N-Acetyl-Cysteine_01.htm

 

[DonH]

What Jitterbug said plus: I like to take a few days off now and then to let my lungs recover. I usually time it for when I'm visiting client sites for work and can't get in and out of the building easily. I use nicotine patches for this. The trick is to find out exactly how much patches to use. For me now, it's 1.75 of a phase 1 patch. This is enough for me to forget about wanting to smoke but not too much to where you feel weird from too much nicotine.

Also, you may want to look up on the internet how to make your own liposomal vitamin C. This is absorbed much better than oral. The vitamin C gets encapsulated by lecithin, and it gets absorbed right into the bloodstream, organs, etc, but taken orally as plain vitamin C most of it's wasted in digestion. It's not too hard to make, you just have to buy a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner.

Thanks for reminding me about NAC, JBD, I haven't had some in a while, maybe time to get a bottle.

 

[Jpcouling]

Thanks to both don h and jbd, I will look in to creating liposomal vitamin c. I believe nattokinase comes from the soy ferment natto correct?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I used to make liposomal C and was intending to get my blood level of "C" tested while taking it, not taking it or taking regular Vitamin C. Never got around to it.. too many experiments going on in my life. I'd say though for the average "Joe" wanting a little preventative pill regular Vitamin C would be fine. If I had a serious disease such as cancer I'd probably go back to taking Lipo-C as well as injectable C


Yes, Nattokinase comes from Natto. It's pretty impressive stuff not only for reducing lung/mucus/sputum but it greatly reduces Fibrinogen one of the very best indicators of cardiovascular health.. much more so than LDL and cholesterol.

 

[DonH]

Thanks to both don h and jbd, I will look in to creating liposomal vitamin c. I believe nattokinase comes from the soy ferment natto correct?

Now that I have a minute I'll give you my recipe. I got a $50 Ultrasonic cleaner at Bed Bath & Beyond. I add six tablespoons of granulated soy lecithin (non-GMO) which is pretty cheap for large quantities at Vitamin Shoppe and put it in a quart mason jar with two cups distilled water. It takes a while to dissolve so I put it in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. When the lecithin is ready I mix two tablespoons of pure powdered Vitamin C in a cup of distilled water, dissolve then add two and a quarter teaspoons of baking soda (this makes it less sour and converts the ascorbic acid to sodium ascorbate which works just as well, maybe better). Once the fizzing stops, I put the lecithin and the vitamin C mixture in a blender and blend for 5 minutes. then I put the solution in the ultrasonic cleaner for about 30 minutes on high. As for dosage I take three swallows three times a day on an empty stomach.

The commercial lipo-C is probably better, but it's way more expensive. Without lab equipment you probably don't get more than 70% encapsulation.

 

[Jpcouling]

Wow very impressive don h! Have you felt improved lung performance with the vitamin
C? Doesn't nicotine deplete it?

 

[DonH]

Wow very impressive don h! Have you felt improved lung performance with the vitamin
C? Doesn't nicotine deplete it?

I haven't had much problem with lung performance before the lipo-C and it's fine now. Probably because I have only been smoking for 3 years this go-around. I take the lipo-C to prevent cancer. We all get cancerous cells and our bodies usually take care of it before it gets to the level it can be detected. Once it has gotten to that level it's hard to cure, so I do it for prevention. Vitamin C also helps with radiation damage and with Fukushima still spewing it out and all the atmospheric testing done in the 50s, there's too much of it around. Plus I fly a lot and you get exposed to a good amount of radiation in airplanes.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Vitamin C also helps with radiation damage and with Fukushima still spewing it out and all the atmospheric testing done in the 50s, there's too much of it around.

This is true! I was talking to an Air Force Major a few months ago that is researching "drugs" to prevent the troops from radiation damgage. She mentioned all kind of weird stuff. I asked if she evaluated Vitamin C and NAC yet but she just gave me a blank stare. The research literature is full of studies showing the efficacy of Vitamin C and NAC protecting against radiation damage at low doses too!. You may have heard of Potassium Iodide but that only protects your thyroid, nothing else.

If you are looking for cancer protection look in to Curcumin Extract and Green Tea Extract. Both are very effective at not only cancer prevention but Curcumin has some good research behind it showing that it reduces Alzheimer's as does moderate smoking.

 

[winston-smoker]

Or you could try drinking tea -- any tea will have the cancer-preventative compounds, though green tea has them in the highest concentrations. Certainly tea drinking, with a cigarette (or your other tobacco product of choice), is more pleasant than taking "green tea extract."

Incidentally, I agree with the early answer -- exercise is essential for increasing lung capacity, especially for a smoker.

 

[Jpcouling]

Wow, this is great info guys! I will get on the green tea, just because I like it anyways! And exercise definitely. I have been looking in to "rebounding" which is essentially working your lymphatic system by jumping on a trampoline! Very interesting stuff

 

[Desertpipe]

Very interesting Thread.....thanks Folks.....

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Or you could try drinking tea -- any tea will have the cancer-preventative compounds, though green tea has them in the highest concentrations. Certainly tea drinking, with a cigarette (or your other tobacco product of choice), is more pleasant than taking "green tea extract."

Incidentally, I agree with the early answer -- exercise is essential for increasing lung capacity, especially for a smoker.

To get the benefits from tea you need to drink approximately 10 cups per day of green tea. You need to get approximately 200 mg of EGCG.

 

[winston-smoker]

To get the benefits from tea you need to drink approximately 10 cups per day of green tea. You need to get approximately 200 mg of EGCG.

That's just about what I drink per day (though mostly black tea, rather than green tea) -- if you mean a "standard" sized tea cup and not a mug. Perhaps that may be one of the reasons why every time I go to the doctor, he tells me that my lungs sound "perfect" -- and I've been a daily cigarette smoker for almost 35 years. Practicing Tae Kwon Do, which sadly I had to give up shortly after turning 40 because of plantar fasciitis, certainly helped as well.

 

[MTMoretz]

I'm new to smoking, but I've been researching herbs for the past few years. Ginseng, gingko biloba, and royal jelly are good for improving lung function. Also, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, smoking can be beneficial because it warms the lungs and helps to rid them of phlegm/sputum, but it is recommended to smoke only 1-2 cigarettes once a week at most. Any more than that and it can heat the lungs too much and give you a dry cough. Basically you're trying to play a balancing act of not too moist, not too dry. As far as the herbs, they are supposed to make and maintain that balance. Here are the links to the sites I buy from:
http://www.popus.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_62&products_id=25
http://www.popus.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_62&products_id=24
http://www.activeherb.com/cough