Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Changes in your diet that can help your sinuses!

First a couple disclaimers:

#1 I am not a dietician. #2 the fact that I am dispensing diet advice is a bit of a hoot. And while I am far from a fast food junkie I will confess to a HUGE weakness for a certain potato product from a certain golden-arched establishment.

But there really ARE some simple things you can do, diet-wise, to help with your sinus problems. The degree to which you try this stuff can be adjusted based upon how bad your sinuses are.

The first is to eliminate dairy. Eggs might be ok, but try and look at lactose-free milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. Soy substitutes can work really well too.

Second, try and eliminate wheat. And yes, I realize that this one is even harder than the first. Health food stores or Whole Foods should have substitutes.

Dairy and wheat are the two main culprits. And unfortunately they are also two of the more common things found in the food we love. It should also be said that you don't have to go completely wheat/dairy -free, nor do you have to do both at once. Experiment with simply easing back a bit and take it from there!

It can be done, and I have seen folks close to me have great success once they commit to sticking to it!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Neti Mania! (Or, Zen and the Art of Nasal Passage Maintenance)

My first pass at this sentence began with "I have received numerous requests ...." but I decided that that was a lie since requests have not exactly been "numerous". However I have received requestS (plural) to write some more, about some of the specific things mentioned elsewhere in the blog. So here we go. A post about ... NETI POTS! Or is it "netti", with two Ts? I have seen it both ways. But I like one T so there it is. I am a huge fan of neti pots. And while it is true that they take some getting used to I am here to tell you that it is definitely worth it. Whether you have sinus trouble or not, I highly recommend making nasal irrigation a part of your routine! I feel like I should also point out that the actual POT is not the point. Irrigation is the point, and neti is the most popular (and in my opinion easiest) way to get 'er done. Needless to say keeping those nasal passages clean goes a LONG way toward combating sinusitis, as well as keeping sinusitis from getting chronic. But as I mentioned above, it's good practice across the board. And in case you are wondering no I do NOT have a neti pot manufacturing plant in my backyard. At least as far as you know, HA! I think next I will write about either FESS or balloon sinuplasty. Unless anyone else has any bright ideas - ? If so please send them along. Maybe it makes more sense to write another post on a topic closer to the neti. So maybe I'll do that. Ok that's it. Have a great day!