Emphysema is a serious (but treatable) lung disease that specifically refers to the destruction of small air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs, leading to difficulty breathing. Long-term smoking is the main cause of emphysema. As autumn is a high season for emphysema, we need to pay extra attention. In addition to maintaining a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, and consuming foods that promote recovery, we also need to choose several suitable diet therapies for the treatment of emphysema.
Therapeutic Recipe 1: Lily Bulb and Winter Melon
Ingredients: 1 small winter melon, 12g lily bulb, 10g almonds, a little rock sugar
Method: Cut off the top of the winter melon and scoop out the seeds and flesh. Fill the melon with lily bulb, almonds, and rock sugar. Steam the filled melon in a pot until cooked, and consume in the morning and evening.
Effects: Relieve cough, dissolve phlegm, and moisturize the lungs.
Therapeutic Recipe 2: Tremella and Snow Pear Soup
Ingredients: 20g dried tremella, 200g pear, 5g Fritillaria, 30g rock sugar
Method: Soak the dried tremella in water to remove impurities. Rinse and tear into small pieces. Peel and remove the core and seeds of the pear, then cut into small cubes. Rinse the Fritillaria. Put the prepared tremella, pear, and Fritillaria in a stewing pot, add sugar and one cup of water, steam for about 1 hour, and serve.
Effects: It has a good effect of clearing heat, nourishing the lungs, relieving cough, and dissolving phlegm. It is especially suitable for the elderly with lung deficiency, emphysema, poor lung function causing chest tightness, shortness of breath, dry cough without phlegm, or coughing up blood.
Therapeutic Recipe 3: Sesame Paste
Ingredients: 250g black sesame, 120g white honey, 120g rock sugar
Method: Stir-fry black sesame with a little ginger juice. Steam white honey until cooked. Steam and crush rock sugar. Mix all the ingredients well and store in a bottle. Take 1 spoonful in the morning and evening, twice a day.
Effects: Warm the middle and tonify qi. Suitable for kidney deficiency type of emphysema.
Therapeutic Recipe 4: Turtle with Silkworm and Young Chicken
Ingredients: 1 pair of silkworms, 1 young chicken
Method: Remove the feathers and internal organs of the chicken, wash it, and cook it with silkworms, green onions, ginger, and salt. Eat the meat and drink the soup. 2-3 times a week, once a day, as desired.
Effects: Tonify the lungs, spleen, and kidneys. Suitable for people with emphysema who easily experience asthma.
In addition to diet therapy, massage can also be used to treat emphysema. You can apply scraping oil to acupoints such as the temples, kidney shu points, chest center point, middle palace point, cubit marsh point, inner pass point, union valley point, three miles point, abundance long point, and great surge point. Use the scraping method to rub until the local skin becomes congested, and then remove the oil. Regular disinfection and massage of these acupoints have the effects of tonifying the lungs, spleen, and kidneys, warming the middle, nourishing qi, and relieving cough and dissolving phlegm.
