Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that significantly impacts a person’s health. It causes obstructed airflow from the lungs and is often a result of long-term exposure to irritating gases or particulate matter, most likely from cigarette smoke. COPD can lead to patients developing heart disease, lung cancer, and a host of other conditions. The symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath, wheezing, tightness in the chest, frequent respiratory infections, and a variety of others.

Many doctors will recommend lifestyle changes in order to treat COPD, including quitting smoking and a change in diet. While you should always follow the advice of your medical professional, there are specific dietary requirements that many sufferers should follow:

1. Fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of any diet and can be helpful in managing COPD symptoms, regardless of whether they’re fresh or frozen. The primary reason for this is that they provide a significant number of essential nutrients and the majority of these have an impact on the condition. Some of the more notable include inflammation-fighting antioxidants and vitamin A, both of which can help fight many of the symptoms that COPD patients may be suffering from. As such, fruits and vegetables should be added to as many meals as possible.

2. Beans
Peas, beans, and other legumes have been shown to have quite an impact on COPD symptoms primarily driven by the zinc that’s often contained in them. This can be an essential component in managing the majority of symptoms and also provide extra fiber content. When using the canned varieties, however, it is advised to rinse them beforehand because of the sodium content.

3. Nuts
Quite a large number of COPD sufferers may have poor nutrition, which can often result in a low body mass index (BMI). This can often result in many symptoms becoming much worse. One of the most effective ways of adding healthy fat into the diet with nuts, which can increase daily calorie count without negatively impacting the health of the patient.

4. Oatmeal
Breakfast should be an important meal in everybody’s day and this is especially true for COPD patients. However, quite a larger number of people might not know what foods they can have for the meal. One of the most beneficial can be oatmeal, especially when mixed with milk and blueberries. The primary reason for this is that they can have a significant amount of protein and antioxidants, which can help manage the condition.

5. Talk to your doctor
Each of the above should prove quite helpful when worked into a COPD diet. However, to effectively manage your symptoms, you should follow the diet that your medical professional has outlined. While the majority of this will focus on medications and a variety of lifestyle changes, diet will play a significant role. As such, you may need to ensure that you have a certain amount of certain foods integrated into your diet, with much of this varying somewhat from diet to diet. This could mean that how much of these foods could depend on the symptoms you’re suffering from. Despite this, each of the above should prove to be quite helpful in managing them.