PODCAST - Superfoods Every Asthmatic Should Try
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[00:00:00] do? You get tired of being told what you shouldn't eat, what you can't do, ~what you should be spending your time with, ~how your lungs aren't strong well, today I'm gonna share with you the 10 super foods every asthmatic should try and start implementing into your life . ~Okay. So then it's welcome to the blah, blah, blah, blah.~
~Now, now all 10 of these. Now ~I eat all 10 of these on a weekly basis, and many of these I eat on a daily basis. And the results ~that ~I've seen in my life as someone that has asthma as a elite ultra runner with asthma and just as a person. Looking to live a long ~and ~powerful and life giving existence in this world. These foods have created so much positivity in my life,
Welcome to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and [00:01:00] yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
so let's kick it off with chia seeds. What are chia seeds? ~They ~are tiny seeds that give your body healthy, fat and fiber, which can lower swelling in your airways. [00:02:00] Chia seeds are a very versatile seed. For me, the easiest way that I ingest chia seeds on a daily basis is I add chia seeds to my smoothies.
Just ~take ~a tablespoon, sometimes ~a little bit ~more, and ~put it into my smoothies. ~Blend it up. Can't even tell ~that ~they're there. I eat them with yogurt. You can ~actually take chia seeds and ~make ~something called ~chia seed pudding by mixing chia seeds with coconut milk ~and uh, it will create this amazing chia seed pudding.~
Now you want to use the thicker ~coconut milk, the ~coconut milk in the can, and you get chia seed pudding. You can. Put chia seeds in ~really ~almost anything. And did you know that in the US most people have a challenge with getting enough fiber in their diet?
Well, chia seeds give you healthy fats and fiber in your diet, and [00:03:00] they can actually lower the swelling in your airways. Number two, hemp seeds. For a long time I was actually adding hemp protein to my smoothies, to my waffles, ~to different things in my life. And it maybe you've heard of hemp protein before with the migration of people from, with the influx of. ~With so many people focusing on a plant-based diet, hemp protein is a solid alternative ~to whey protein.~
To whey protein, soy protein, pea protein, ~these different protein powders. For me, ~I can't eat pea protein and ~I ~don't eat whey ~protein ~anymore. I ~actually ~still have bone broth protein ~as a part of my diet as of the recording of this episode, ~and ~I also ~integrate hemp. Protein ~into my diet as well, but now I do it ~by ~just ~using hemp seeds.
First ~of all, ~it's less expensive. Second of all, I get even more benefits by actually having the whole hemp seed. Hemp seeds are crunchy seeds full of protein and magnesium that keep your muscles and breathing [00:04:00] strong. Hemp seeds are also extremely versatile. I actually think they're more versatile than chia seeds in some ways.
Smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal can put chia seeds and oatmeal as well, can bake with 'em. You can ~actually ~use chia seeds as an alternative to eggs in ~different ~recipes. ~What I've done before is I've made my oat. What I've done before is I've made oat pancakes. What I've done before is I've made oat waffles, and what I've done before is make oat waffles.~
What I've done before is made waffles out of oat flour, and I didn't have any eggs left at the house, so I took some chia seeds, soaked them in water, and they created a chia egg substance that I could put into the waffles as an egg substitute. Chia seeds and hemp seeds I have daily. I put them into my smoothies every day and I add them to these other things as well.
They're absolutely amazing, and yet again, with hemp seeds, you're gonna get that powerful [00:05:00] fiber and fat into your diet. You can find these at places like Costco. You can find them on Amazon. They're really not that difficult to find, at least in the us. Number three, ~blueberries. ~Blueberries are also ~extremely ~powerful.
They're sweet blue berries loaded with antioxidants that protect your lungs from damage. Blueberries do so much more than that. Blueberries are powerful for your brain. They are powerful for protecting your body from inflammation. They ~have antioxidant properties. They really ~protect your entire being from damage, ~but specifically, they can have some highly protective properties for your lungs.~
Yet again, smoothies.
Basically everything we have here. You can also put them in banana bread or any kind of bread,
salad, fruit bowls. You can use blueberries as a [00:06:00] sweetener. Instead of adding highly processed sweeteners like sugar and these other things, natural sugars and blueberries. Blueberries are a super food. Number four, lemons. Lemons are ~such an ~easy ~thing ~to add to your diet on a daily basis. Every morning, ~first thing I do when I get up is ~I take a glass of water. I take a wedge of lemon, squirt it into the water, and I drink it. This is so good for detoxing your body and you can ~really ~add lemon to a variety of things.
~You can technically add it to everything we've already talked about, ~smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, salad. ~You can ~bake with it, ~you can really ~squirt it on anything. ~What I'll do ~for a really simple salad dressing. As I'll just take some lemon, squirt it on some greens, maybe add ~some ~olive oil.
Maybe just have the lemon throughout the day. I'll drink water with lemon. ~What ~lemons ~do is there ~are sour fruits [00:07:00] packed with vitamin C that help thin out sticky mucus so you can breathe easier. ~So from an asthmatic perspective, lemons can be extremely powerful on a daily basis. And then ~increasing the amount of lemon juice and lemon ~that you have ~in your life when you're feeling asthma symptoms, when you have some allergies going on.
When you're sick, it can be powerful to add to your body. They're extremely diverse. You can ~basically ~squeeze them on anything number five, cauliflower.
Cauliflower, super diverse. There's cauliflower rice. Now you can add cauliflower to smoothies. ~We have rice. You can add it. There is really highly processed cauliflower even, and ~pizza crust. I don't recommend that you necessarily eat any of these things, and they're highly processed for 'em, but it's better than alternatives.
I'd rather you eat cauliflower pizza than highly processed white flour pizza, ~cauliflower. ~I also put in my smoothies, we'll have it in tacos. Bowls [00:08:00] can really put cauliflower in anything. My dad every morning has cauliflower rice with eggs and spinach, cauliflower. It is a white veggie with vitamin C and vitamin K that supports healthy lungs and body repair, ~so more vitamin C.~
Cauliflower is also a cruciferous vegetable, which has anti-cancer properties. Extremely powerful for your body. Also, ~really ~good for your brain. I have cauliflower every day. So far, everything ~that ~I've talked about, I eat every single day.
Hey, friend, I wanted to take a moment to ask you a quick question. Are you struggling to lose weight due to your asthma? If so, I get it. I used to run marathons and still kept gaining weight. It wasn't until I learned about the three [00:09:00] pillars of healthy living that everything changed,
so I put together a healthy living guide that you can access absolutely free by clicking the link in the description. This guide shares these amazing three pillars of healthy living that you can easily integrate into your life. To start losing weight and live healthier today. Click the link in the description or go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy.
Now let's get back to the rest of the show.
Number six.
We have [00:10:00] broccoli. I definitely do not like broccoli as much as I like cauliflower and I still eat it multiple times per week. What I'll do, even though I like cauliflower more than broccoli, is I will actually, in my smoothies I have every single day I have a smoothie. Six to seven days a week. I ~rarely miss having a smoothie on a given day, and I either ~add cauliflower or broccoli to every smoothie. Another cruciferous vegetable that has so many amazing health benefits ~for you ~that can ~also ~positively impact ~your ~asthma. You can put these in stir fries. ~ I have not heard of broccoli or rice yet, but I bet it's out there. You can put this in ~bowls.
Smoothies. ~And ~the reason ~why ~I have smoothies so much on the board is because my goal is to, when I'm feeding my body nutrients. I wanna do it in the least friction way possible, ~and for me it's smoothies For ~my fiance, ~she ~loves ~eating ~oatmeal. She'll also have smoothies, but she'll put a lot of these amazing things in oatmeal.
Whatever that is for you, I invite you to add [00:11:00] these things to it. The goal here is to include these things as much as possible into your diet. If you don't like the taste of cauliflower or ~it freaks you out eating ~veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, hide it. ~That's what I do. ~I actually like how both ~of these ~taste, but ~I'll tell you what, ~when I add cauliflower to my smoothie, ~I can't even tell it's in there.~
~Same thing with broccoli. ~Can't even tell it's in there, especially if I put blueberries ~in there. 'cause ~blueberries are dark and broccoli's green. I can't really tell that broccoli's in it when I have blueberries in my smoothie. Cauliflower's White. ~So ~no matter what fruit you put in your smoothie, that color is going to overpower ~the color of the broth, ~the color of the cauliflower, and you're not even gonna know what's there.
So you're getting the nutrients in your body, you're getting the health benefits in your body without even having to taste it. Number seven, arugula. Oh man. Arugula is my favorite green ~to eat. ~Some people don't like it 'cause it has ~kind of ~a complex taste. ~It can be ~a little too bitter for some ~people, ~but I love arugula.
~And ~arugula is a leafy green high in ~natural ~nitrates that improve blood flow and deliver oxygen [00:12:00] faster. Really good. For our cardiovascular system, for our hearts, for our bloodstream, for our lungs, allows us to oxygenate our bodies even more. It has a lot of fiber.
You can eat in salads, put on pizza smoothies yet again. Stick anything in smoothies really I love ~just eating anything and then ~having some arugula in a container accessible, and I'll just literally grab some arugula and eat it with whatever I'm eating. I do that with spinach as well. So number eight is spinach.
Spinach is iron rich leaves that help your blood carry oxygen, giving you more energy to run ~or ~play and hang out with your friends. Spinach, also doing salads. Pizza [00:13:00] can make sog. I love sog, saga is an amazing dish with ~tons and ~tons of spinach. Gets you so many helpings of spinach all at once.
It's delicious smoothies once again, or you can do what I do, have a bunch of spinach. Just add it to whatever you're eating. So eat some eggs, had some spinach. Do what my dad does, have spinach, cauliflower, and eggs in the morning. Number nine, beets ~I. Here's the thing, Dwight got it right in the office. Red roots that ~boost nitric oxide, opening blood vessels for better breathing and stamina.
Beets are ~so ~good for ~so ~many ~things in our lives, though they aren't as versatile as these other ~things. You could ~probably technically ~put them in a smoothie. ~I never have. ~You can make soup with beets. Borsch is the type of soup you can make. Beet salad where you basically shred beets and which you basically boiled beets, shred them, and then ~you can ~add olive oil and salt.
~You can add beets. Yeah, ~you can [00:14:00] add beets to sandwiches. And I haven't tried it yet, but you can add beets to smoothies. I actually do think I've had smoothies, whipped beets in them in the past. I've just personally never made them. ~And number 10.~
~And number 10.~
~And ~number 10, red cabbage. Purple leaves full of vitamin C and fiber ~that ~feed good gut bacteria, which can in turn support overall body health and lung health. Red cabbage I like to put on things. You can put it on bowls, you can put it in salads, tacos. You can do what I do with spinach and arugula.
~Just add it to things. ~Red cabbage is ~delicious. All of these things are ~delicious. Red cabbage and beets, I ~probably only ~have once a week. Everything else ~on the board, ~I almost have daily arugula and spinach. I kind of go back and forth and have arugula one day, [00:15:00] spinach the next day. Cauliflower and broccoli is similar, even though I tend to have cauliflower more than broccoli.
~And then ~chia seeds, hemp seeds, blueberries, and lemons. These are 10 superfood every asthmatic should try. So if you have asthma, if you know someone has asthma, I highly recommend that you send them this video or ~share the ~podcast episode with them. Remember, I am not a doctor. I am an athlete with asthma.
~So ~everything I teach on this show and on my YouTube channels from my experience in my own life. So I highly recommend that you check with your healthcare professional for ~your ~dietary needs Now. I have a gift for you for spending time with me today. It is my Healthy Living Guide. In my Healthy Living guide.
I teach you the three pillars of healthy living in less than two minutes to help you start living a healthier and happier life. The three pillars of healthy living, our movement, tracking and accountability. And I highly recommend that as you integrate these [00:16:00] foods into your life, that you track how often you're eating them because by tracking that you are going to in turn eat these foods more and start feeling better, having more energy and, and showing up even more powerfully in your.
Life. ~So I highly recommend you ~grab your free copy of My Healthy Living Guide linked in the show notes and in the description below on YouTube, or go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy today. I'll see you in the next one.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, [00:17:00] make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
