COPD – Pulmonary Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Question: My husband (a smoker for 35 years, but two years without smoking now) has been diagnosed with COPD and emphysema. He recently had surgery, a bullectomy, to remove very large bleb from his right lung. Breathing has improved only slightly (six weeks later) but doctors say it will take some months to judge, and that, in fact, because it’s a progressive disease, there may not be improvement at all. So we wait. Meanwhile, is there some sort of diet to follow, a supplement or medicine he could take to help repair some of the lung damage, to alleviate or ease his difficulty breathing when he exerts himself?

Answer: It is common knowledge that regular long-term cigarette use can lead to destruction of the lung tissue, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and what used to be called emphysema. What is not so common knowledge about this situation is that there are many countries that historically have also had high rates of cigarette use, but far less lung cancer and COPD. Some of the reasons for this may include such things as the toxic additives put into the cigarettes, but an overlooked factor is the influence of diet on the progression of COPD. The exact tissue that is injured in COPD are the alveoli which are akin to small soap bubbles. These alveoli make up the bulk of the lung and are the sites where the gases are exchanged. They are thin, often only one layer thick, a property that makes the diffusion of gases from the inside of the lungs into and out of the blood vessels that surround these alveoli an easy process. COPD is the process of the progressive destruction of these alveoli. Eventually, there are no longer very tiny bubbles, but as the walls break the bubbles coalesce, making them bigger and therefore with less surface area to exchange gases less efficient. Clearly, one goal of therapy is to try to create the healthiest, most pliable alveoli possible.

Anyone who as a child made little soap bubbles through those plastic rings knows that the integrity of the bubbles is dependent on the mixture of the soap in the bottle. Too little soap and the bubbles don’t hold together, too much and the bubbles don’t form. Our alveoli are similar. They are also make from a kind of soap called surfactant which in its proper form create elastic flexible alveoli. Surfactant, like any bubble, is a fat, or more specifically a lipid envelope. The integrity of the alveoli has everything to do with the type of fat in our blood, from which it is made. Specifically the research has shown that if the blood contains high amounts of trans-fats through the consumption of processed fats, margarine, or hydrogenated oils the alteration of the chemistry of the fats creates bubbles that are too stiff and therefore prone to rupture. When the alveoli are made from fats that are highly polyunsaturate (mostly vegetable oils), the alveoli are too flexible and are therefore weak. These findings exactly correlate with the epidemiology studies that show that when cultures exchange their traditional fats for the new modern processed foods that is when smoking begins to produce epidemics of illness that were not seen in traditional native cultures who also use tobacco quite liberally.

The best fats for building healthy alveoli are the mostly saturated fats found in traditional animal foods (butter, lard, etc.) and those found in tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil. When treating COPD these are the ONLY fats allowed in the diet besides 1 Tbsp per day of olive oil. The Nourishing Traditions diet with its liberal use of good fats and the fermented foods that help with fat digestion is the perfect foundation in any program for the recovery from COPD. The only particular food worth mentioning for COPD is betaine which is a major component of beet roots and leaves. It is also a component of any dark green leafy vegetable. Betaine seems to help with digestion particularly of the fats which therefore allows them to be available to be used by the body to “make” alveoli.

There are also a number of supplements that can help with COPD. Standard Process makes a preparation called Emphaplex which contains the nutrients, particularly the fat soluble vitamins, your body uses to make alveoli and clear out the mucus, an important goal in any treatment of COPD. The dose of Emphaplex is 1-2 capsules three times per day. Then I use Cataplex E2, a special preparation of vitamin E, a fat soluble nutrient that specifically is involved with the integrity of the lung tissue and alveoli. The dose is 2 tablets three times per day. The next medicine is Pulmaco a combination of herbs from Mediherb that helps with expectoration and helps prevent the infections that plague patients with COPD. Expectoration of the mucus is crucial because as the mucus collects in the stiff alveoli this further inhibits gas exchange. Finally, I use the Chinese medicinal mushroom Coriolus versicolor, the mushroom of immortality which is the main Chinese medicine for restoring the integrity of the breathing.

With this diet and medicine approach hopefully the breathing will stabilize and over time some lost function can be regained.

This article appeared in the Fourfold Healing Newsletter, Feb/Mar 2005.