Chronic sinus congestion

[blissrunner]

Hi all,

My main reason for attempting to become/stay high raw is to cure my chronic sinus congestion. I have something called non-allergic rhinitis it's basically 24/7 chronically swollen sinus congestion with lots of mucous that can't drain because my passages are swollen shut. The kind I have is present 24/7, but flares up worse with things like stress, strong odors and smells of any kind, weather changes, alcohol, lack of sleep basically any slight physical or emotional stress which often can't be avoided. It's really awful and meds don't really help.

I want to reduce mucous and hopefully heal my sinus inflammation with a healthier way of eating, I'm high raw about 50% of the time and working on being more consistent with it (hectic lifestyle with no free time so it's a challenge) and I want to know if anyone has any tips or resources on what things I should avoid or eat to help. ANY info would be so much appreciated. I've seen so many benefits with the changes I've made in my diet so far so I'm confident I can at least achieve some relief if I make more improvements. I do have a reduction in mucous especially in the morning which I'm thankful for, but I need more relief. So far I try not to eat white flour, white sugar and dairy and I've drastically cut back on meat, wheat products and processed foods the only reason I still consume them sometimes is because of my budget and an extremely hectic schedule.

I want to learn how to eat my way to clear sinus passages, regain my ability to smell and clear up my often red eyes from all of these sinus problems.

[blissrunner]

I also wanted to add that the main staples in my current diet are green smoothies, green juice, salads, raw almonds, almond milk, sprouted bread, flaxseed oil, olive oil and I eat lots of avocado, olives, watermelon and bananas. Hunger causes severe insomnia which makes me unable to function with all of the responsibilities I have so sometimes I'll have a bowl of lentils or oatmeal before bed so I can sleep as raw foods often don't fill me up for more then an hour or 2. I do eat meat about once a week sometimes less and some junk here and there I have a strong weakness for chips, sour cream and alcohol I'm really trying hard to remove these from my diet, but stress makes it difficult not to cheat with these every couple of weeks or so.

[lafsalot]

Have you tried irrigating your sinuses with warm saline solution in a neti pot? If not, that might help.

[blissrunner]

Have you tried irrigating your sinuses with warm saline solution in a neti pot? If not, that might help.

Thanks for the response, yes I do that daily and it does provide a little relief for an hour or two.

[MysticTree]

Those non-raw foods are going to be at least. Part of the problem. I have found a supplier of sproutable oats. I bought them online last night. I hope to make all sorts of filling raw foods with them. Soaked buckwheat or quinoa makes a passable breakfast with fruit and nut milk. For those of you who like cereal you might like it more than I do. My bf loves it.

[blissrunner]

I'll look into the sprouted oats if it's filling and tasty like cereal I'd definitely be willing to swap that for my oatmeal.

Does anyone know if whole grains are mucous forming foods?

[blissrunner]

I do want to add that I was 100% raw for about 5 months last year and did not see the improvement in my sinus issues that I wanted to see. Tons of other benefits, but just not there. So, I really want to narrow down which foods need to be completely removed from my diet and perhaps what foods should be focused on to gain sinus health.

[MysticTree]

It may just be that for you, your sinus are the last thing to heal.

[fastfreedom]

I had the issue of only being able to breath out of one nostril at a time for years. And the one nostril that would be clear would only be partially clear. I went 100% and it helped tremendously, but I noticed that eating an excess of nuts/seeds slowed down how much gunk I could get out of my head and sometimes I would feel all clogged up again.

One other thing that made a HUGE difference was becoming open to colon hydrotherapy.....colonics specifically...... I observed that if I went real light on the nuts/seeds and combined it with colonics then my head would drain mucous like crazy. Anyhow that's one thing that I observed for myself that made a monumental difference in my situation.

Then some months later I learned of Dr. Morse. I don't know if he's an advocate of colon hydrotherapy, but he does recommend eating lots of fruit to get the lymph moving.

[Arky]

Yes, sinus congestion is invariably a symptom of the body attempting (and struggling) to expel something toxic/infectious/aggravating to the immune system.

If it's been going on for years, then consider the possibility that it may be something the body lacks the ability to expel without assistance.

Try approaches to cleansing the bowel, the liver, and the lymph (ideally in that order), but bear in mind that it might indicate that some formal lab testing could be beneficial, to identify what the 'agent' underlying the longterm condition might be (pesticides, metals, infection, or whatever). This can get expensive (oh, don't I know that!), so a good place to start is a hair analysis for toxic elements. They're very economical and can be rather revealing if interpreted correctly by a practitioner skilled in their clinical use.

Also consider obtaining Dr Richard Schulze's classic 'Save Your Life' video series (sometimes listed under Sam Biser's name). These document, in detail, how to detoxify the body in several different ways. And, for all the vegans reading this, Schulze is a vegan!

[michigan roman]

from ALOT of experimenting with diet past 20 years since going vegan ive found quitting salt gives me less mucous in lungs

which also leads to greater endurance / deeper breaths

trick for me is to quit getting back on salt time after time , salt and coffee my two weak spots

[streetsurfer]

Some sinus and lung relief can be had by ingesting equal parts honey and cinnamon mixed together. 1-2 T each. Cinnamon is a vasodialator and will increase blood supply to lungs. It has been helping me through hayfever, and helped me greatly during smoke exposure from the Florida wildfires last year.

Xlear is a nasal spray that has xylitol in it, a natural sugar which is reportedly able to prevent bacteria from adhering to the mucosal tissue.

I also seemed to get relief from chewing stevia and basil leaves in the garden this fall allergy season. Maybe it was the conbination of it all. Invigorated the nasal passages.

put a stop to all dairy-it can wreck your mucous by thickening it, and changing it's ph so it is no longer as germ resistant and tissue protective, and in doing so, ruins your mucosal defense.

[blissrunner]

Colonics sound so cleansing, this is something I definitely want to try when able. Thanks for the responses guys I'll be looking into some of these tips.

[Arky]

Colonics sound so cleansing, this is something I definitely want to try when able.

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthrea...-colon-therapy