NOTE: I originally posted this article in the summer of 2020 when there were out of control wildfires in the Western US. Now in June 2023, the Northeast and Midwest US are feeling the effects of wildfires hundred/thousands of miles away in Quebec and Nova Scotia, Canada.
Somehow experiencing the poor air quality and “orange” skies first hand (even without the threat of the fire itself) makes this all the more real. Staying indoors or filtering yourself from the particulate matter is first and foremost…however it’s good to know that there are some nutritional supports to consider as well.
Annual wildfires in California, Colorado, Oregon and other areas in the western US, result not only in terrible loss of human and animal life, forests and property, but people (and animals) are also left dealing with tremendous environmental pollution.
The gases and particles that wildfires produce can be extremely irritating to the sensitive mucosal lining of our lungs. (Other parts of the body like nasal passages, eyes, GI tract also have mucosal linings.) People with respiratory issues like asthma or allergies are particularly vulnerable to this air pollution and the resulting oxidative stress and inflammation.
What Does Nutrition Have to Do with Wildfires?
In addition to minimizing your outdoor exposure during the wildfires, healthy nutrition can help counter the potential health effects of the gases and particles that the wild fires produce.
It’s important to eat a healthy whole foods diet rich in phytonutrients — a food component with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In plain language, eat a Mediterranean type diet, with lots and lots of colorful fruits and vegetables, healthy fats (like nuts, seeds, olive oil), whole grains, fish, limited amounts of red meat (grass fed is best) and dairy and few or no processed foods.
While healthy food is most important, targeted nutrition supplements, such as the master antioxidant glutathione, or its precursor NAC (n-acetylcysteine) can provide addition support. A boswellia supplement is also supportive of mucosal linings such as of the respiratory tract.
This article provides a review of some of the key nutrients that play important roles in the body to manage oxidative stress and inflammation from pollution.
Abstract
Pollution is known to cause and exacerbate a number of chronic respiratory diseases. The World Health Organisation has placed air pollution as the world’s largest environmental health risk factor. There has been recent publicity about the role for diet and anti-oxidants in mitigating the effects of pollution, and this review assesses the evidence for alterations in diet, including vitamin supplementation in abrogating the effects of pollution on asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.We found evidence to suggest that carotenoids, vitamin D and vitamin E help protect against pollution damage which can trigger asthma, COPD and lung cancer initiation. Vitamin C, curcumin, choline and omega-3 fatty acids may also play a role.
The Mediterranean diet appears to be of benefit in patients with airways disease and there appears to be a beneficial effect in smokers however there is no direct evidence regarding protecting against air pollution.
More studies investigating the effects of nutrition on rapidly rising air pollution are urgently required. However it is very difficult to design such studies due to the confounding factors of diet, obesity, co-morbid illness, medication and environmental exposure.
