Not everyone with COPD is an ex-smoker or smoker,. There are a lot of other factors that cause COPD. While, It is no secret that cigarettes cause a lot of respiratory issues and other bodily harm, and smoking does lead to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) many of the 16 million Americans who have been diagnosed with COPD have never smoked in their lifetime.

So what else causes COPD and how can we continue to treat this chronic disease for smoker and nonsmokers effectively?

In this blog we cover:

• What COPD is
• How COPD and smoking is related
• How nonsmokers develop COPD

What is COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly referred to as COPD, is a group of progressive lung diseases.

The most common of these diseases are emphysema which slowly destroys air sacs in your lungs, and interferes with outward air flow and chronic bronchitis which causes inflammation and narrows the bronchial tubes allowing excess mucus to build up. Many people with COPD have both of these conditions, and when it is severe enough, they require supplemental oxygen therapy. To treat cases of COPD, people will opt to use portable oxygen concentrators. 

It’s estimated that about 30 million people in the United States have COPD, while an estimated 14 million are unaware that they have it. If your COPD goes untreated, it can lead to a faster progression of disease, heart problems, and worsening respiratory infections. 

COPD and Smoking 

Smoking is one of the main causes of COPD, however it is not the only reason people develop this disease. 

In today’s day and age, smoking has a negative connotation, and it is widely known that smoking is bad for your health and the ones around you. This scientific fact has only come to light and into popularity in relatively recent years. 

There was a time when many of us were alive where smoking was a normal everyday thing that most adults participated in, and the negative effects smoking presented to the smoker and those subjected to secondhand smoke were less known and much less talked about.

Now there are a lot more alternatives for smoking for people who want to quit, there are scientific studies proving the harmful aspects smoking has on your body, there are advertisements and movements to help inform people, and smoking is not allowed indoors and even in private outdoor spaces in most areas. 

The overall language surrounding smoking has changed dramatically, and a lot of the time there is little sympathy for smokers. 

While smoking is a very harsh addiction, there are a lot of tools including therapy that can help you quit. It is much easier said than done, and we do have a few resources on our website that can help smokers nick the habit: 

Mental illness represents a massive health burden in the United States. According to Hopkins Medicine, about 26% of people over the age of 18 live with a mental illness. However, this doesn’t even factor in that many people suffer from more than one mental health disorder. For example, individuals with a high amount of anxiety are more likely to experience bouts of depression as a result. This can lead to problems that are significantly more difficult to solve than a simple “change of mindset.”

When it comes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other progressive diseases, the prevalence of mental health issues is high. A study published in the European Respiratory Journal found that COPD patients were 85% more likely to experience anxiety disorders when compared to healthy control subjects. And it goes without saying that the more COPD progresses, the more likely it is to contribute to mental health problems as well.

In this blog post, we’re going to focus on one method of improving your mental health: living in the moment. While this subject may seem like a cliché in some ways, there’s actually a lot of clinical evidence to suggest that it can significantly improve your mental well-being even if it doesn’t outright solve them. Read on to learn more and be sure to bookmark this page or share it with anyone who may benefit from it.

What Does it Mean to “Live in the Moment”?

Simply put, living in the moment means focusing on the here and now. It means being fully present and involved in what you’re doing at the current point in time rather than focusing on the past or the future. This is an important concept to grasp if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life. People who are able to train themselves to live in the moment find that they are significantly more productive, they build better and more meaningful relationships, and they’re less likely to encounter mental or emotional roadblocks.

Living in the moment, however, doesn’t necessarily mean completely tuning out the future or forgetting about the past. If you want to make meaningful decisions now, you need to learn from the past and value your future. But what you shouldn’t do is be overanalytical and dwell on thoughts or feelings, because this will only lead to more anxiety and more difficulty facing the challenges that are currently relevant in your life.

Why Do COPD Patients Struggle With Living in the Moment?

Receiving a diagnosis for any chronic illness can be a difficult thing to process and accept. Regardless of how much of an optimist someone is, everyone will experience some degree of distress after experiencing an event like this. Unfortunately, receiving a diagnosis for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be even more difficult. While COPD is one of the most preventable chronic illnesses in the world, there are risk factors that are unavoidable such as air pollution and genetic factors like alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Despite these facts, many COPD patients still fall into the mindset that their illness could have been prevented if they had only made different lifestyle choices. Once this happens, it becomes very difficult to live in the moment without feeling guilty about the past or worried about the future. And while COPD can’t be cured, it’s important to remember that it’s a very treatable disease meaning that if you’re careful about your lifestyle choices in the here and now, you can significantly slow the progression of your disease.

Keep Your Mind Busy

One of the best things you can do for yourself if you want to stop stressing about the past or the future is to keep your mind busy. Probably one of the most common and effective ways of doing this is by reading. Whether you’ve been a life-long reader or you’ve never picked up a book in your life, this is the perfect way to train your mind to focus on the present. The subject of the book doesn’t matter too much, just as long as it’s a topic that interests you and doesn’t cause you to dwell on negative or unproductive thoughts.

If reading isn’t really your thing, you might consider giving games or puzzles a try. Many newspapers and magazines have crossword puzzles or sudoku games in them or you can find them online and simply print them off. If you have a smartphone, you can download word games from the app store and many of them are free of charge. However, be aware that spending too much time with electronics on a daily basis can increase your stress levels, so it’s important to take a break from time to time.

Last but certainly not least, you can keep your mind busy by completing simple tasks around the home like folding laundry, organizing, or doing dishes. According to the BBC, not only does the act of cleaning or doing menial tasks improve your mindset and provide you with a bit of exercise, but you’ll also boost your mood when you can look back on the work you’ve accomplished, no matter how small of a task it was.

Create a List of Things That are Important to You

The second strategy you can try to improve your mindset is to create a list of five or ten things that are important to you. This list can include anything like family, friends, or even short-term or life-long goals that you want to keep top of mind. But the important thing to remember is that you actually need to create a physical list that’s either written or typed up. This is a crucial detail because studies have shown that doing so will increase the likelihood that you will remember it. If you simply think about these things, they will likely get drowned out by any negative thoughts you’re experiencing.

If you want to take this one step further, you can even make copies of your list and post them around your home as a reminder. Put them in places that you frequent throughout the day such as your bedroom, kitchen, and living room. This way, no matter if your mind starts to wander, you will always be reminded of the things that are important to you and the things that you’re working towards. 

Keep Track of Your Progress

Another thing you can do is keep track of your COPD treatment progress. Most people with COPD understand the importance of supplemental oxygen therapy, a well-balanced diet, and pulmonary rehabilitation, but not all people keep records of their progress. This is unfortunate because it’s much easier to change your lifestyle for the better if you have tangible evidence of its benefits. Otherwise, you might be left to question whether it’s helping or not and that your energy is better spent elsewhere. 

There are two different factors to consider when it comes to the effectiveness of your lungs: lung function and lung capacity. Lung function is how effective the body is at using the oxygen it receives. Lung capacity is the ability of the lungs to take in air and remove carbon dioxide-rich air quickly. Lung capacity is something that can be improved whereas lung function cannot. Lung capacity can be tested at home using a device called a spirometer. Everyone should have one of these so that they can keep track of their progress.

Another way to keep track of your progress is to make a note of how you’re feeling throughout the day. Be sure to write the date next to your note so that you can look back on it over time to see what was working and wasn’t working. Over time, you’ll start to have a better idea of what kinds of things improve your lung health and what things don’t. It could also significantly boost your mental health because you’ll start to see that your lifestyle choices have a huge impact on how good or bad you feel on any given day. 

Consider Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psycho-social intervention that’s designed to correct negative thoughts and behaviors. This type of treatment for mental illness became popular in the 1990s and it’s been effective for many people facing a wide range of issues. It’s often recommended for people with COPD who find themselves in a negative mental feedback loop and for people who are struggling to make the changes they need to treat their disease. 

CBT sessions usually begin with identifying the problem. It’s important to be able to define exactly what the issue is if you want to be able to solve it. Once that’s done, your therapist will likely change the focus to your thoughts and feelings towards that problem. This is where most people begin to realize that they have an inaccurate or misguided vision of the problem they’re facing. Finally, your therapist will take steps to reverse negative or inaccurate thinking and replace them with ones that are constructive. 

Practice Meditation

Meditation is a technique that’s been used for thousands of years. And while it’s largely used in a religious or spiritual context, it can also be a helpful tool for improving your mental health and peace of mind. There are many different types of meditation but by far the most popular one among COPD patients is Tai Chi. This is often referred to as “moving meditation” because rather than sitting on the ground motionless, you’ll be up on your feet moving. It’s popular among COPD patients because it enables them to get exercise while they work on their mental health.

One of the greatest parts about Tai Chi is that you don’t need an instructor to do it. You can either practice it in the safety of your own home or you can practice it in a park or some other quiet and safe area. As for learning how it’s done, we’ve put together a great guide to teach you the ins and outs as well as the many benefits it offers. Be sure to check it out here.

Quit Smoking if You Haven’t Already

Smoking cessation is not only the most important thing you can do for your physical health and to treat COPD, but it’s also one of the most important things you can do for your mental health. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), about 44% of all cigarettes are smoked by people with a mental illness or substance abuse disorder. This is because there is a sort of circular loop that smoking causes.

Essentially, whenever you inhale cigarette smoke it triggers the release of dopamine in the brain. This is the main chemical responsible for feelings of pleasure and reward. This isn’t a temporary effect, however. Over time, smoking completely rewires the brain to make “smoking” the new normal. In other words, you need to be smoking cigarettes throughout the day just to feel normal. If you don’t, you’ll begin to feel intense withdrawals and cravings which can lead to a lot of emotional distress.

The effects of cigarettes on your physical health are even grimmer and can also impact your ability to live in the moment. Smoking inflames your lungs causing difficulty breathing, chronic cough, and impairs your immune system meaning you’re more likely to get sick. The result is more time spent at home, bedridden, and unable to break free from a sedentary lifestyle. Many COPD patients have reported that continuing to smoke with their disease has hampered their ability to pursue their passions and spend time with loved ones, all of which takes you away from living in the moment.

Many COPD patients fall into the mindset that the damage has already been done and that smoking cessation won’t improve their condition any, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many people with COPD and chronic respiratory disease, in general, have been able to live an active lifestyle regardless of what stage of the disease they’re in. While the underlying lung damage will still be there, improving your diet, exercise routine, and dropping the cigarettes will undeniably improve your situation.

Aside from halting lung damage, smoking cessation will lead to immediate improvements in your body’s circulation. This term refers to your body’s ability to circulate blood throughout the body to different organs and tissues. Good circulation plays a very important role in your systemic health by preventing illnesses like heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and even eases the burden on your lungs and heart. 

COPD effects more than just your lungs and how well you can breath. It also influences your mental state causing irrational behavior or mood swings, and can even lead to depression and anxiety.

People with COPD can sometimes be irritable and come off as cranky. If you struggle with mood swings and other mental health issues that seem to be related to your COPD, this article is for you.

According to a review, “Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) — A Review,” about 50 percent of people living with COPD exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression. Another recent study in the USA reported that less than a third of COPD patients with major depression received the appropriate treatment.

Evidence suggests that people with COPD are very susceptible to depression, stress, and anxiety due to a number of reasons, one being that their life as they knew it, is over in some ways, but also a vicious cycle of COPD symptoms impacting mobility, independence, and other qualities of life. These anxious and/or depressed feelings can make it very hard for you to care for yourself and adhere to your treatment regime.

Introduction

Mental health in general is a delicate thing, something as normal as aging can initiate depression and anxiety in folks who have never had these mental illnesses before. This is something called environmental or situational depression, where outside factors influence the way someone reacts and feels emotionally. Clinical depression is a biological imbalance of chemicals in a person’s mind that makes them react and feel a certain way.

The fact is, everyone feels sadness because everyone goes through sad experiences. It is a natural human emotion. On the other hand, clinical depression is a serious condition that can have a profound impact on a person’s everyday life, and oftentimes for no reason at all.

Situational depression is known medically as “adjustment disorder with depressed mood.” In many cases it will resolve over time, and therapy sessions may be recommended in order to ease the recovery process.

As you read this article, it is important to categorize your own emotions based on this criteria in order to understand and get the best help for yourself. If you need help deciphering your symptoms from being clinical compared to situational depression, speak with your doctor or a mental health professional who is qualified to diagnose these illnesses.

You can also visit this source about the differences between situational depression versus clinical depression:

Click here

We want to preface this article by saying that we are not a mental health organization, nor do we specialize in any kind of therapy, however we work with oxygen users who are in some of the most severe stages of their pulmonary disease and we try to help them in the one way we are qualified to help: Providing the best, most reliable, and affordable oxygen equipment on the market along with educational resources. If you are interested in learning about any of our portable oxygen equipment, after reading this article you can reach us at 1-800-946-1201, or simply leave a comment on the blog so we can reach out to you! 

We have developed this article for our readers who may need to seek outside help for their mental health conditions, and we hope this article can help you find the resources in order to do so.

How does mental health impact people with COPD

There is a lot of research about the ways in which COPD patients suffer from depression and anxiety. In a study by The National Center for Biotechnology Information a study was conducted about COPD patients and how anxiety and depression can contribute greatly to COPD-related death, notably by reducing quality of life and lack of adhering to treatment.

Depression can inhibit a person’s ability to care for themselves, and when you have COPD it is so important to maintain a healthy exercise regimen, take all of your medications, and adhere to your oxygen therapy needs. If you are depressed you are less inclined to take the necessary measures in order to protect yourself from this chronic illness that will inevitably get worse over time, and even take your life.

Quality of life is an attainable goal for you even if you have COPD, but mental health and depression can get in the way of those goals. On top of that, depression and anxiety can be challenging to identify and furthermore treat because those symptoms often overlap with COPD symptoms.

Identifying depression, anxiety, and developing an appropriate treatment strategy is critical to reduce the number of times you have to go to the hospital to seek medical treatment and overall improve your quality of life.

Why do people with COPD struggle with mental health

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from your lungs. The symptoms include trouble breathing, excessive coughing, abnormal mucus production and wheezing. It is most commonly caused by long-term exposure to irritating gases or pollution, examples include cigarette smoke.

Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two most common conditions that contribute to COPD. These two conditions are likely to occur together. Every individual's symptoms vary in severity. COPD is a chronic illness meaning there is no cure, and it gets worse over time.

Simply the concept of having COPD can be considered depressing, especially for people who have grown up to be very active or were capable of physical activities in their youth and now they cannot do the things they love. Becoming short of breath after accomplishing a simple task can leave you feeling helpless or dependent on others.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression include:

• Fatigue
• Loss of interest
• Persistent sadness or anxiousness 
• Inability to work, sleep, study, eat, or enjoy once-pleasurable activities

For people living with COPD depressive and anxious symptoms can have profound effects. Social isolation can cause anxiety and depression and on top of that the immobility that you might have already experienced as a result of breathlessness and lack of energy can be overwhelming to deal with. These cycles will impact your life in a very negative way.

Nevertheless, treatment is available and has been proven to increase the physical and mental state of COPD patients. These treatments include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Pharmacological treatments
• Self management
• Pulmonary rehabilitation relaxation therapy
• Eating healthy and good gut health

How to take better care of you mental health

Similarly to exercising in order to strengthen your lungs and increase your physical abilities, it is important for COPD patients to also take care of their mental and emotional health. This means adjusting and learning how to deal with depression and anxiety when it arises but also recognizing triggers before it's super obvious.

Seeking care for depression and communicating with your caregiver are two basic tactics you can try in order to help manage your mental state of mind. We will talk about more complex and effective ways for dealing with anxiety and depression in the sections below. Read on.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

One of the most beneficial and most underutilized treatments for COPD along with depression and anxiety, is pulmonary rehabilitation. Pulmonary rehab has been shown in multiple studies to improve the depression and anxiety associated with COPD, and it can do more for those symptoms than any kind of medication in many cases.

A pulmonary rehab course is a general program that helps to improve your lifestyle and wellbeing as you are living with chronic lung conditions.

In a pulmonary rehabilitation course you will learn how to use exercise training in conjunction with medical therapy, nutritional counseling, COPD education, and psychological counseling and/or group support.

Pulmonary rehabilitation courses will provide you with a supervised exercise program that you can do inside and outside of the facility, two to three days a week, for up to three hours per day. Just having a place to go and things to do can be very meaningful and enjoyable. And on top of that you will start working towards goals which can also help with depression and anxiety.

While you are at pulmonary rehab you are often monitored by a respiratory therapist, a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. You may also be involved in some group therapy and exercise classes. This way you will learn about your condition and talk to others about the emotional and psychological challenges  all while getting physically stronger and more capable.

This is a space where other people are experiencing the same or in some cases worse symptoms than you are, and it is a great way to not feel alone in your diagnosis.

For more information on pulmonary rehabilitation and to find a program near you, visit the American Association or Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation benefits are available through most major insurance companies.

Also you can find a document here that explains how to do exercises, COPD education, and how you can get into a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Pharmacological treatments

A new study suggests certain antidepressants may increase the risk of death in people with COPD by 20 percent. These drugs have side effects that are very dangerous for people with COPD to experience such as, sleepiness, vomiting, and can negatively effect the immune system cells. All of these side effects can increase the likelihood of infections, breathing issues, and other unfavorable events, especially in patients with COPD because it can lead to an exacerbation and hospitalization.

The medical world is quick to resort to a pharmaceutical treatment instead of looking into lifestyle changes, including pulmonary rehabilitation and generating a support network. Given the risks of antidepressants for COPD patients, COPD advocates say that it’s worth considering alternative approaches to pharmaceutical treatment.

Personalized behavioral therapy

The main psychological intervention for mental illness and COPD is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is increasingly recommended in the management of people living with COPD and it can include pulmonary rehabilitation programs, which we discuss in the sections above and notably reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms. CBT also requires an upfront investment in hospitals with pulmonary patients in order to train nurses and hospital staff being capable of fulfilling the needs of patients with COPD—both physically and psychological.

Research has found that CBT was most effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in COPD patients and has a significant impact on their quality of life as well as their ability to keep physically active and can also improve survival in the long-term.

This is somewhat out of your control as a COPD patient because the hospital is responsible for investing in upfront costs that includes training nurses and finding resources to implement cognitive behavioral therapy for their patients.

It is believed that the implementation of personalized strategies to address your unique psychopathological traits is essential, but this requires a lot of work by your healthcare team and willingness and dedication of their institution as well. 

Self Management

Self management is a great way for you to address your mental health complications rather than depending on cognitive behavior therapy programs that might be outside of your means. Interventions have been shown to improve patients’ quality of life and reduce the number of emergency scenarios..

Self-management interventions vary in content, delivery, and intensity, which can make it difficult to determine what parts of these interventions are most effective. It is best for you to do what works for you and leave the rest.

Here are a few stages of self-management:

1. Noting what your normal symptoms feel like, and addressing any changes throughout the day or night
2. Being capable of determining when you are having more severe symptoms versus when you are having a serious exacerbation.
3. writing down and understanding which COPD symptoms initiate your moods
4. Setting up a rescue pack
5. Accepting your condition
6. Adjusting to a new normal
7. Slowing down the progression of your disease through diet, exercise, and oxygen therapy

Self managing your condition means monitoring your symptoms when stable and to take appropriate action when symptoms worsen. You can also be prescribed a rescue pack for when you are at risk of an exacerbation, this can ease you anxiety about having an exacerbation because you will feel more prepare and confident handling emergency situations.

Many illnesses, such as COPD, require an internal acceptance of the condition. You will have to come to terms with the likely course of the disease, as well as possible complications, and a different lifestyle.

As a result of breathlessness and other COPD symptoms, it is common to get complacent, and avoid exercise as an outcome of this complacency. This is reasonable in the beginning, but can be very harmful for your physical well-being in the long term, also causing unnecessary mental difficulties to develop.

Eating a well balanced diet

Eating healthy goes for anyone who struggles with mental health problems, not just people with COPD. Human gut health is closely related to our chemical receptors in our brains, the relationship is so strong that one influences the other directly, which is where the saying, “Go with your gut” came from.

There are strong links between digestion and your mood, digestion and your health, and even digestion and the way you think. This is because inside your gut is another “brain” like system, called the enteric nervous system (ENS).

The ENS is composed of more than 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract from esophagus to rectum. This system controls every part of your digestion: Swallowing, releasing enzymes that break down food, controls blood flow that helps with nutrient absorption, and elimination. Amazingly, while you ENS is digesting, it is also communicating with your brain.

It is known now that your ENS may trigger big emotional shifts, whereas before researchers thought it was only the other way around thinking that anxiety and depression contributed to gastrointestinal problems. Recent studies show that irritation in the gastrointestinal system may send signals to the central nervous system (your brain) that trigger mood changes and even depressive and anxious feelings.

So how does gut health relate to what is happening inside your lungs, and can the nature of COPD influence the health of your gut? In fact, your lungs and gut are closely related, studies have shown that there is a clear link between inflammatory intestinal conditions and inflammatory lung problems.

Many people with COPD also suffer from conditions that may be rooted in or contribute to poor gut health.

The conditions listed below are often experience in conjunction with COPD and will also impact your gut health:

Obesity

Diabetes

Mood disorders

Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases

Besides eating a well-balanced diet, there is not a lot else you can do in order to improve your gut health besides the potential capabilities of probiotics.

Probiotics

Probiotics are “good bacteria” that is supposed to increase the amount of infectious fighting bacteria that already lives inside your gut. These microbes fight infections and do a lot to contribute to the balance and well-being in your digestive tract. Therefore, probiotics are living microbes that you can take as a supplement or eating probiotic rich foods, in hopes that it will add to the healthy bacteria in your gut and fight off the unhealthy bacteria.

Probiotics are one of the mainstream media treatments for improving gut health. Research suggests that even more research needs to be done in order to prove any significant correlation between probiotics and how strong its contribution to a healthier gut. However, if you have COPD, and if your doctor agrees, taking probiotics can certainly help to maintain a healthier gut.

A healthier gut is going to contribute to less mood swings and hopefully help with depressive and anxious feelings as well.

Overview

Overall, COPD will inevitably affect your mood in more ways than one, and for most people with COPD they will also experience subsequent depression and/or anxiety due to their respiratory disease.

There are a number of reasons as to why you may experience depression or anxiety throughout your diagnosis. For many people feeling short of breath can lead to an anxiety attack and it is notoriously a symptom of an anxiety attack to have trouble breathing, a vicious cycle.

Many people also struggle with depression because of their immobility, and not having the correct oxygen equipment to move around freely and independently.

Exercise and social gatherings are two important aspects of a person’s mental health, and if your oxygen device is not portable or too heavy to maneuver, you would benefit from investing in a portable oxygen concentrator so you are capable of more activity.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a great way for you to get involved with a community of people who are in similar situations to share and express feelings. It also offers you an educational program where you can learn about your disease, and understand exactly what is happening inside your lungs and body. Not only are you socializing and learning about COPD, you also learn how to do exercises that you can also do at home in order to stay fit or get in healthier shape.

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Even though antidepressants may seem like the most obvious answer to combat depression and even anxiety, the side effects can be very damaging for people who have COPD. COPD advocates would argue that doctors are too quick to resort to pharmaceuticals before they offer lifestyle advice, recommend a cognitive therapist, or seek a pulmonary rehabilitation course.

Actually writing down your COPD symptoms and your feelings everyday and addressing the changes you recognize is a form of self management, and this can be a very helpful tool in managing depression, anxiety, or regular mood swings. By noting your moods that correlate with COPD symptoms you will be able to recognize what aspects of COPD make you emotional. By noting all of your triggers you can be more likely to avoid such irritants, and actually develop a plan to react more effectively and more positively. Acceptance is another important step in self-managing, which will come with time and effort. Don’t give up and remember you're not alone!

Eating healthy is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy gut, and your gut health is directly related to your mood. Meaning bad gut health can influence mood swings and depressive and anxious feelings. Eating healthy is one of the easiest yet effective ways to combat mental health issues, and while it might not be the cure to your depression or anxiety it will certainly contribute in a positive way!

Like COPD, depression and anxiety affects everyone differently, you will have different experiences than others, it boils down to taking what contributes positively to your life and leaving out what does not work. This might mean trying a few methods before you start feeling any better, but never giving up.

COPD is not curable but it is treatable, and the mental side effects that come along with COPD can also be man

Breathlessness on its own can make walking, bending, kneeling, and other physical tasks exhausting and uncomfortable. And then when you add other COPD symptoms into the mix, like coughing, wheezing, muscle weakness, and fatigue, daily responsibilities like cooking can sometimes seem like too much to handle.

Because of this, conserving energy is often a necessity for COPD patients, especially when they experience flare-ups, exacerbations, or begin to lose their physical mobility as the disease progresses. That's when it's time to start looking into effort- and time-saving tools and techniques and ways to simplify and streamline daily tasks.

Nowhere is this more important than when it comes to food and cooking. Diet is a vitally important part of staying healthy with COPD, but it's also easy to neglect when you're not feeling well. Continuing to purchase and prepare healthy, whole meals can get extremely difficult when you're restricted by limited strength and energy every day.

That's why, in this article, we're going to help you find ways to continue shopping, cooking, and preparing healthy meals in spite of the difficulties that come along with having COPD. We'll show you how planning your meals and using a variety of practical tools and techniques can significantly reduce the amount of time and effort you have to spend shopping and preparing home-made food.

We'll teach you some practical shortcuts for meal planning and preparation, show you how to save energy cooking and cleaning, and introduce you to food-related products and services designed to help people with limited mobility. So without further ado, continue reading to learn about 27 useful tools and techniques you can use to simplify grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking with COPD.

Tools & Techniques for Easy Meal Planning

Planning ahead is the cornerstone of efficient cooking. Without a weekly meal plan, shopping and preparing meals is much more stressful and you're more likely to just give up and opt for processed or fast foods.

On the other hand, putting a little extra effort into scheduling your meals helps to streamline the entire shopping, food preparation, and cooking processes. This section will give you a variety of practical tips to help you successfully build the habit of planning your meals ahead for every week.

Writing Your Meal Plan

It might seem like a pain, but taking the time once a week to sit and write down every meal you're going to eat is guaranteed to save you time and effort in the long run. It streamlines shopping, simplifies cooking, and helps you fit healthy, homemade meals into your busy week.

When planning your meals, make sure you consider how much time you have each day and do your best to be realistic. Always have a couple of quick-fix or pre-made meals in mind as a contingency plan for when your schedule changes or you just don't have enough time to cook.

Once you get into the habit of meal planning, you'll start to notice a myriad of benefits. It will remove the stress of wondering “what can I make for dinner?” every evening, and saves time when it's time to make your shopping list.

If you follow a meal plan, you won't find yourself without the ingredients you need to make dinner, because you'll know exactly what groceries you need and you can shop for all your meals for the week ahead of time. By making things as easy for yourself as possible, it will also be easier to stay committed to making home-cooked meals, and easier to resist unhealthy, lazy options like fast food.

Here are some additional tips for weekly meal planning:

• Record your meals in a weekly schedule or calendar so you can easily remember and keep track of your meal plan
  
  
• Plan the most difficult or time-consuming meals for days when you have fewer activities and are less likely to breathless or worn out.
  
  
• Avoid having to cook every single day by planning for leftovers or heating up make-ahead meals (prepared ahead of time).
  
  
• Plan no-cook meals like sandwiches and salads for busy days or use them as a fall-back for when your COPD symptoms act up.
  
  
• Plan slow cooker meals for days when you don't have time for a lot of preparation or cooking. Simply throw the ingredients in the pot in the morning, and you'll have a hot, delicious meal waiting for you at the end of the day.
  
  
• Make your shopping list while you're planning your meals for the week. That way, you can add all the ingredients you need for your meals to your shopping list and take care of two birds with one stone.

Keep Track of Recipes

It's hard to plan your meals if you don't know what to make. That's why building up a collection of your favorite recipes can really help you out.

If you often have trouble thinking of what to make or you're getting bored with your usual meals, it might be time to go shopping for a new cookbook or two. Look for cookbooks with practical recipes that appeal to your tastes and aren't too complex for you to make. Mark your favorite recipes with post-it notes or copy them into a separate notebook so you can easily find and flip through the best recipes.

It's also a good idea to spend some time searching online for recipes and recipe websites that you like. Look for themed recipe blogs that focus on types of food you enjoy and bookmark any sites or single recipes that you want to keep.

You can also use a note-taking and bookmark-organizing application like Evernote to save and keep track of any recipes you find on the web. That way, you can sort your recipes by category and easily track down any recipe you've saved.

Plan Around Themes

Assigning a theme or main ingredient to different days of the week can take some of the pressure and hassle out of meal planning. It could be any theme you want; you could try taco Tuesdays, fish Fridays,  soup Sundays, or casserole Mondays. Whatever you choose, it will narrow down your options and make it easier to pick out meals for the week.

But just because a day is dedicated to a particular type of meal doesn't mean you have to eat the same thing every time. Instead of preparing the same boring meal week after week, use your themed days as an excuse to try out new recipes or variations. For taco tuesdays, for example, you could try a different type of taco every week (e.g. beef tacos, fried fish tacos, veggie tacos, chicken tacos, etc.).

Tools & Techniques to Make Shopping Easier

The long, winding path through the grocery store can be exhausting if you have COPD. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to reduce the amount of time you have to spend shopping for food and supplies.

Whether you suffer from limited mobility or simply need to conserve energy when you're feeling breathless and fatigued, simplifying and streamlining your grocery trips can make a huge difference in your life. Take a look at some of the following tips and techniques for getting the groceries you need with less time, effort, and hassle.

Plan Your Route

If long grocery shopping trips leave you exhausted and breathless, then you should try to keep them as short and efficient as possible. The best way to do this is to have a complete list of everything you need before you go, organized in the order you will encounter the items at the grocery store.

As long as you know the store's general layout, planning your route ahead of time shouldn't be difficult to do. Simply do your best as you write your list to arrange the items into categories (e.g. produce, dairy, and frozen) and put them in roughly the same order as they occur in the store.

This way, you can save energy by taking the shortest path possible through the aisles while still getting everything you need. It also greatly reduces your likelihood of having to backtrack and walk all the way across the store for items you skipped over or forgot.

Shop Once

Almost nothing is more frustrating than arriving home from a grocery trip with more than you need and realizing you forgot the items that you went there for. Then, you either have to make do without, or muster up the energy to make another journey out to the store.

That's why you should never set foot in a grocery store without having a plan. Taking some time to sit down and make a list is absolutely essential for making your shopping trips efficient and worthwhile.

First, take a couple minutes to write down all the meals you have planned for the week and the ingredients you'll need to make them. Then, take a look in your fridge, freezer, and pantry to see what ingredients you have and what ingredients you'll need to get.

You should also make it a habit to check your cabinets for how much of any important food staples, like flour, herbs, rice, and canned goods that you have left. If you're running low on anything, it's in your best interest to buy more before you run out so you don't find yourself having to make a last-minute trip to the store on a later date.

Take Advantage of Local Grocery Store Pickup

Photo by Joe Goldberg

Did you know that many grocery stores have a service where they'll pick out your groceries for you, saving you the walk through the store? It's a great way to save energy if all of the walking, lifting, and stooping that grocery shopping requires makes you feel too exhausted and breathless to shop.

Depending on the store, you can either give them a list of the items you need or directly order them online. Then, all you have to do is drive up to the store, and employees will load up all your bags in your car for you.

Get Your Groceries Delivered to Your Door

Many grocery stores also offer delivery services you can use to get your groceries brought right to your house for a fee. This allows you to get all of your shopping done without ever having to leave your home.

There are also many online stores you can use to order groceries for delivery straight to your door. Amazon Prime Pantry, for instance, has a massive selection of groceries and cooking items to choose from and you can get most of them delivered to you in just two days if you pay the annual membership fee for Amazon Prime.

Subscribe to a Local CSA

Being part of a community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is a great way to support local agriculture and get fresh, nutritious produce during the summer and fall.

It works like this: You pay an annual membership fee that is used to support a local farm. Then, during the growing season, you will receive regular boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables grown on that farm—your “share” of the harvest in return for your investment.

Most of the time, you can pick up your box weekly at one of a few pickup centers in your city. Most CSA's will get you a box of fresh produce every week during the summer and fall, but it depends on how your local CSA works and what kind of membership you pay for.

CSA's are a great way to work more fruits and veggies into your diet without having to pick them out yourself. All you have to do is pick up your box of produce, and you'll have most if not all of your fresh fruits and veggies that you need for the week.

Visit Local Harvest's website to see if there's a CSA program that delivers to your area.

Stock Extras

Many non-perishable foods can keep for months, or even years unopened. Use this to your advantage and stock your home with extras of all the non-perishable items you use on a regular basis.

That way, you don't have to worry about running out of ingredients as quickly and can make fewer trips to the store. It can also save you a great deal of money if you take advantage of sales and special offers or buy things in bulk.

Here are some examples of common non-perishable food items that you can stock for months or years before you use them:

• Sugar
• Flour
• Dry beans
• Rice
• Pasta
• Baking powder and baking soda
• Canned goods

Tools & Techniques to Make Cooking Easier

Simplify Your Cooking Prep Process

Oftentimes, gathering and preparing ingredients is the most difficult part of cooking. Chopping veggies, measuring ingredients, and mincing garlic not only takes time, but saps your valuable strength and energy as well.

Here are some tips to help you reduce the amount of time and effort you put toward preparing ingredients for meals.

Rearrange Your Cooking Space

Many cooking inefficiencies stem from a messy or poorly organized kitchen. If you take some time to tidy up your cooking space and arrange your kitchen supplies for maximum utility, you can noticeably reduce the amount of hassle and time it takes to cook.

For example, put items and ingredients you use often front and center in your cabinets and make sure everything is within easy reach. Have a stool handy to help you reach higher shelves and use a grabber tool to avoid bending down for items in lower cabinets and drawers.

Prepare Ingredients Ahead of Time

Instead of doing all your prepping and cooking at once, which can be exhausting, split them up and do them at different times. For example, you could prepare the ingredients for your dinner in the mornings and then cook in the evening, or pre-chop lots of fruits and veggies on the weekend, when you have some extra time and energy.

It can also help to make large batches of meal staples like rice, beans, pasta, or potatoes ahead of time to use throughout the week. If you store them in air-tight jars in the fridge, most foods will keep for at least 3-4 days after you prepare them.

Find Recipes with Fewer Ingredients

Photo by Tim Sackton

Have you ever looked up a recipe online, only to find two recipes for the same dish that have vastly different ingredients? That's because there's more than one way to cook just about everything, and some ways are much quicker and easier than others.

That's why you should look specifically for simpler recipes with fewer ingredients if you want to save energy preparing your meals. Fewer ingredients not only means less dicing, mincing, and measuring, but also means fewer trips to the store for fringe ingredients that you don't keep on hand.

There are several popular three-, four-, and five-ingredient cookbooks out in bookstores and online that are full of tasty recipes that are simple to make. There are also websites and food blogs dedicated to simple, easy cooking that are full of recipes that only use a few main ingredients.

Here are some great recipe websites you could try:

• Stone Soup: A blog full of 5-ingredient recipes and simple weeknight dinner inspirations.
• Six Sister's Stuff: A list of 50 easy recipes with six ingredients or less.
• Good Food from the BBC: A list of 40 quick recipes with five ingredients or less.

Buy Pre-Prepared Produce

Most grocery stores have coolers full of pre-washed, pre-chopped, and pre-peeled fruits and veggies in their produce section. While they are a little more pricey than their un-processed counterparts, buying pre-prepped produce can save you several steps and a significant amount of time when you cook.

Drink Green Smoothies

Green smoothies are a great way to get more healthy fruits and veggies in your diet without having to cook. The only prep work you have to do is washing whatever healthy produce you have on hand and tossing it into a blender.

Smoothies are also a great way to use up extra fruit and veggies that are close to going bad. You can make them anytime you're in a pinch for time or make them a regular part of your everyday diet.

You can make fruit or green smoothies with just about whatever you have on hand, depending on your tastes and nutritional needs. Here is an article with 25 easy green smoothie recipes to help you get started.

No-Cook Meals

There will be days when you're just too tired, too breathless, or too lazy to slave over the stove. Luckily, there are plenty of simple, healthy meals you can whip up that don't require any cooking at all.

No-cook meals are often easier to prepare than hot foods and almost always take less time. They are also great for hot, summer days when you don't want to heat up your house by using the stove.

Here are some ideas for no-cook meals and snacks you can try making at home:

• Green Salads: Use whatever veggies and salad greens you have on hand with a light dressing for a delicious meal or side dish. Try adding fruit, nuts, hard-boiled egg, or meats like salmon and chicken for a heartier, more flavorful meal.
• Chickpea Salads: You can make a delicious Mediterranean salad with nothing but canned chickpeas, veggies, and hummus dressing. Add some pre-cooked quinoa to make it even better.
• Sandwiches
• Lettuce wraps
• Tortilla wraps
• Veggie nachos
• Fruit salads

You can also find a variety of no-cook, cold meal recipes online, like on this list from Southern Living.

Single-Pan and Single-Pot Meals

Cooking everything in one big pot or pan can save you a lot of time and energy. It means fewer steps, fewer dishes, and a much simpler cooking process.

Single-pan and single-pot meals can include skillet dinners, casseroles, dutch oven dinners, and slow cooker meals. You can find tons of recipes for one-pan meals online, or easily whip up an improvised meal on your own.

Just about any combination of meat, veggies, and potatoes in a skillet can work to make a delicious, well-balanced meal. Another easy option is to stir-fry whatever vegetables you have on hand and serve them over rice, quinoa, or another healthy grain.

Choose Simple & Easy Foods

If you want to reduce the amount of preparation you have to do to for meals, get the simplest version of the ingredients you can. For example, use frozen or canned carrots instead of peeling and chopping them yourself, or get pre-washed, bagged lettuce instead of a whole head.

Also, consider how difficult a fruit or vegetable will be to prepare before you buy it. For instance, pomegranates, pineapples, and melons take a decent amount of time and effort to prepare for eating. On the other hand, bananas, apples, and berries are require min

Maintaining a healthy amount muscle mass is a constant struggle for many COPD patients, especially those in the later stages of the disease. COPD not only causes weight loss and loss of muscle mass, but it makes it more difficult to build muscle as well.

This is due in part to the nature of the disease, and partially due to COPD symptoms that make it difficult to exercise and build strength. Many people with COPD also get caught in negative habits, like avoiding exercise and meals, or suffer from psychological conditions like anxiety or depression.

All of these things lead to weight loss and muscle wasting, and eventually an overall physical decline. It's not something to take lightly; COPD patients with very low body weight and muscle mass tend to have highest mortality rates and are prone to a variety of complications.

But even though COPD makes it more difficult to build and maintain muscle, it is definitely possible to do. All you need is the right diet, eating habits, and exercise routine to keep your body strong and maintain a healthy BMI.

In this article we're going to tell you everything you need to know about building muscle mass and COPD. We'll explain how the disease affects your muscles, how muscle mass affects your health, and show you a variety of different techniques you can use to better gain muscle and prevent weight loss with COPD.

What Causes Weight and Muscle Loss in People with COPD?

As many as forty to seventy percent of people with COPD experience weight loss and muscle wasting, especially in the later stages of the disease.

There are a variety of reasons why this happens, but lack of exercise and eating too little are the main causes. People who suffer from COPD also have difficulty maintaining their muscle mass because of inflammation and the fact that their damaged lungs need extra calories and nutrients.

Here's a more detailed look at the four main causes of muscle wasting and weight loss in people with COPD:

Too Little Exercise

Most people with COPD have at least some difficulty exercising as a result of respiratory symptoms like shortness of breath. This causes many people with the disease to neglect their exercise needs, which makes the problem even worse.

It's extremely important to get enough physical activity as early on as possible if you have COPD. Those who get diagnosed at early stages of the disease are at an advantage for this reason.

If you stay sedentary for too long, your muscles will get weaker, your respiratory symptoms will worsen, and it will become more and more difficult to tolerate exercise and even mild physical activity. That's why easier to prevent muscle loss than it is to gain it back once it's already gone.

If you have COPD, sticking with you doctor-prescribed exercise routine and being active is the only way to prevent physical decline. There are only two choices when it comes to your muscles: use them or lose them.

Too Little Food

Many people with COPD experience worsened symptoms when they eat. Some patients feel breathless from the energy and act of eating alone, but eating can also cause the stomach to swell and put pressure on the lungs, causing discomfort and shortness of breath.

Because of this, many patients avoid eating or are not able to finish their food at mealtimes. This leads to weight loss and malnutrition, which then causes muscle weakness and wasting. Malnutrition also suppresses your immune system, which significantly increases your chances for infections, exacerbations, and hospitalization.

That's why proper diet and calorie-rich foods are so important for people who have COPD. If you don't eat enough calories and nutrients to sustain your body's needs you will have less energy, you will lose weight, and your body will begin breaking down its own muscles out of necessity.

Depression

It takes a lot of energy and mental strength to cope with getting diagnosed with COPD. It's normal to feel a great deal of anxiety, especially at first, but for some people it can lead to serious depression.

Depression makes it easy to give up on the habits and activities that keep you healthy. It can make you feel too exhausted and anxious to get out of bed, let alone keep up with your prescribed exercise, diet, and treatment regimens.

Because of this, many people with COPD who get depressed let themselves become sedentary and malnourished. This leads to a loss of muscle mass as well as weight loss that can lead to even worse depression and COPD symptoms.

Mental health and physical health are closely intertwined, which is why it's very important to seek help if you are struggling. Look out for the symptoms of depression in yourself and loved ones with COPD, and don't hesitate to talk to a mental health professional if you're having trouble coping on your own.

Untreated anxiety and depression can lead to a variety of health problems and it's no way to live your life. It's possible to find hope and happiness in the midst of managing a chronic illness, and your doctor or psychiatrist can help you take the first steps toward feeling better.

Inflammation

Studies show that people with COPD produce more inflammatory compounds than healthy individuals and show signs of inflammation all throughout their bodies. Researchers have found that this chronic inflammation could be part of the reason that COPD patients are especially prone to muscle wasting.

Inflammatory molecules inhibit the body's ability to generate muscle mass, which makes it difficult to build strength and reverse muscle loss. Instead of putting its energy toward rebuilding and maintaining your muscles, your body has to focus its most of its energy on repairing the tissue damage caused by inflammation.

Chronic inflammation also saps your energy and makes you feel fatigued, which makes it even more difficult to exercise and maintain your muscle mass. This makes people with COPD even more prone to muscle loss, weight loss, and adopting a sedentary lifestyle.

Increased Calorie Requirements

Many people with the disease don't realize that COPD makes you burn more calories than healthy adults. Lungs damaged by COPD have to use up to ten times the amount of energy to breathe, which means you have to eat more food to make up for it.

The more your lung function declines, the more energy it takes to breathe, which means that your calorie needs will likely increase as your disease progresses. If you don't eat extra food to make up for the extra calories you burn, you're bound to lose weight and possibly even muscle as your body breaks down its muscle and fat reserves to get the energy it needs.

Since eating can already difficult and exhausting when you have COPD, many patients are unwilling or unable to get the extra calories and nutrients they need from their meals. That's why many doctors recommend calorie-dense foods like milk and nuts; it allows you to get more sustenance from a smaller amount of food, so it's easier to eat enough to meet your body's needs.

The Dangers of Weight Loss & Muscle Loss for People with COPD

Both a certain amount of muscle and a certain amount of fat are necessary to stay healthy and strong, especially if you have COPD. Additionally, both weight and muscle mass are closely related; weight loss usually leads to muscle wasting and muscle wasting can also lead to weight loss.

If you have COPD, it's not just important, but vital to stay at a healthy weight and keep up your muscle mass as much as possible. It's considered to be a very bad sign if you start losing weight or muscle mass quickly, and reversing the loss is the only way to preserve your lung function and health.

Research shows that COPD patients with a BMI under 20 have less energy, worse symptoms, and quicker respiratory decline. A low BMI also puts you at risk for infections, exacerbations, hospitalizations, and other serious complications.

Another consequence of being underweight is malnutrition, which can be devastating for someone with COPD. Being underweight and undernourished depresses your immune system, causes muscle wasting, and leaves you without enough energy to exercise or do normal daily activities.

This starts a downward spiral that leads to even more muscle loss, more difficulty exercising, and worse COPD symptoms. Because of this, low body weight and muscle mass (if not treated and reversed) are considered reliable predictors of a quicker overall decline in physical health.

Rapid, severe weight loss is a sign of a very serious problem, and you should never ignore it. If you have COPD and experience significant unexplained weight loss, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor without delay.

How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle Mass with COPD

Since weight loss and muscle wasting is such a common and serious problem for people with COPD, researchers have spent a lot of time studying how to prevent it. Luckily, scientists have so far found a variety of methods to reduce muscle wasting and help COPD patients build muscle mass more effectively.

The Importance of Strength Training

Many people with COPD have difficulty exercising, and for a long time researchers believed that breathing difficulties were the main cause. However, it turns out that lack of muscle strength, not just shortness of breath, is the culprit behind many COPD patients' lacking tolerance for exercise.

Because of this, researchers believe that strength training is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health when you have COPD. It not only prevents muscle wasting, but also can improve your exercise endurance, emotional health, and overall quality of life.

In fact, studies comparing COPD patients who followed an exercise plan focused on aerobic activity with patients who followed a strength training regimen show that strength training often leads to better outcomes. Patients who undergo strength training tend to see the biggest improvements in their muscle mass and exercise tolerance.

What is perhaps most telling, however, is the fact that COPD patients who do strength exercises report the largest improvements to their quality of life. This is likely because strength training helps patients feel stronger, gain mobility, and do more daily activities without feeling tired and fatigued.

Strength training is like a positive feedback loop that leads to better strength, better mood, and better health. It goes like this:

• The more muscle you build, the more exercise you will be able to handle. The more exercise you can handle, the more muscle you can build.
  
  
• The more muscle you build, the better you can manage your COPD symptoms. The better you can manage your COPD symptoms, the more you can exercise.
  
  
• The more you exercise, the less depressed and anxious you will feel. When you feel less depressed and anxious, it makes it easier to exercise and eat a healthy diet.
  
  
• When you eat a healthy diet, your body is better nourished. When you're better nourished, you'll have more energy, which allows you to build even more strength.
  
  
• The stronger you are and the better you can manage your symptoms, the more mobile and active you can be in your daily life. This leads to even more physical activity, more strength, and a better quality of life overall.

Strength Training Exercises for COPD

Resistance exercises like push-ups, squats, and weight lifting are the most effective ways to build body strength and muscle mass. Many people enjoy strength training using weights and other equipment you can find at the gym, but you can also do effective strength training exercises with minimal equipment at home.

You can buy a small set of light free weights for lifting at home and choose exercises that use your own body weight as resistance to build strength. If you have severe COPD symptoms or limited energy, there are a variety of chair exercises you can do that are designed specifically for people with limited strength and mobility.

Most doctors recommend doing strength training sessions at least three days a week in order to see an improvement in strength and muscle mass. You should start slow, doing only as much as you can handle without feeling too breathless or fatigued.

You can add in extra muscle groups and repetitions as time goes on and your strength and endurance increases. Just make sure you talk to your doctor before starting any new exercise routine, and don't be afraid to ask for advice, either.

Here are some examples of resistance exercises you can do to build strength and muscle mass:

• Leg lifts
• Bicep curls
• Squats
• Knee raises
• Chair exercises

If you are having difficulty exercising on your own, consider joining a pulmonary rehabilitation class. It's like a special exercise and education course for people with respiratory diseases, and doctors recommend it to anyone who has COPD and struggles to keep up with their exercise plan.

At pulmonary rehabilitation you can learn how to better control your symptoms when you exercise, use your medications effectively, and even get opportunities to learn and practice new exercises. They often also include dietary education, mental health support, and group therapy sessions to allow patients to share their worries, struggles, and successes.

Use Supplemental Oxygen

Shortness of breath is one of the major barriers that prevents many people with COPD from exercising and eating as much as they should. Luckily, many patients find it much easier to do both of these things when they use supplemental oxygen at the same time.

Using supplemental oxygen at mealtimes can reduce breathlessness and fatigue while you eat, making it easier to get the calories and nutrients you need to stay healthy. When you exercise, supplemental oxygen can help you keep your respiratory symptoms under control so you can have better endurance and build more muscle.

If you regularly struggle to breathe when you exercise or when you eat, talk to your doctor about using supplemental oxygen during these activities. Your doctor will assess your lung function to determine your oxygen needs and help you learn how to manage your oxygen flow and concentration when you do different activities.

Talk to Your Doctor about Supplements

When it comes to building muscle and maintaining a healthy weight, many COPD patients need some extra help. Studies show that supplementing your diet with certain nutrients like protein or creatine can prevent muscle wasting in people with COPD and help them gain weight and muscle mass more quickly.

Some doctors recommend protein shakes or other nutrient-rich shakes to people with COPD who have trouble getting enough calories from their meals. Shakes are quick and convenient to prepare, and take very little energy to drink compared to solid foods.

It is important to always get your doctor's approval before taking new supplements, using nutrient shakes, or significantly changing your diet in any way. Your doctor can ensure that what you're taking is healthy and won't interfere with any of your other treatments or medications.

Supplements known to improve muscle and weight gain in patients with COPD:

• Creatine
• Protein shakes
• High-calorie nutrient shakes

Eat More Meals

When you eat a lot of food all at once, it can cause your stomach to expand and press on your lungs. For people with COPD (and especially emphysema), this is a common problem that can cause extreme discomfort and make it difficult to breathe during and after meals.

These symptoms can make it difficult to finish meals or cause people with COPD to dread or avoid eating food. That's why doctors recommend patients who struggle with breathlessness at mealtime to change their eating schedule to include more meals and smaller portions.

Instead of three large meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), many doctors recommend that people with COPD eat six smaller meals spaced out throughout the day. Doing this cuts the size of each meal in half and gives your stomach time to digest and empty in-between meals.

This way, you can eat smaller portions that won't cause discomfort but still get enough food to prevent weight and muscle loss. It's a great solution if you struggle with breathlessness because it allows you to get all the calories and nutrients you need with a much lower risk of triggering breathing difficulties at mealtimes.

Prioritize Your Food

If you have trouble finishing meals because of breathlessness or other COPD symptoms, it can be helpful to prioritize the food on your plate. Eat the most calorie-dense and nutrient-dense foods first, that way you get the most out of your meal even if you can't finish it all.

If you often feel full or breathless before finishing a meal, it can also help to limit the amount of water and other liquids you drink. If you avoid drinking before or during meals, you'll have more room in your stomach for food. You can make up the fluids by drinking more water in-between meals, instead.

If you have trouble building up an appetite, try starting your meals with a treat or a food that you really enjoy. You will dread eating less if you have something to look forward to, and starting with a favorite food might whet your appetite and make it easier to continue eating.

Here are some examples of nutrient-dense foods to add to the beginning of your meals:

• Eggs (cooked in oil)
• Nuts and nut butters (e.g. peanut butter)
• Milk and cottage cheese
• Meats (chicken, fish)

Eat More Protein

Protein is necessary for your body's basic functions, and it's something your body absolutely cannot do without. If you don't get enough protein in your diet, your body will take it from the next-best source: your muscles.

This type of muscle wasting is a problem that happens often in COPD patients who are weak and malnourished. That's why it's so important to maintain a healthy diet when you have COPD.

When the food you eat isn't enough to meet your body's energy and nutrient requirements, your body will not hesitate cannibalize your own muscles for the nutrients it needs. The solution is to make sure that you are eating enough and have a balanced diet with protein-rich foods.

Most doctors recommend that you get most of your protein from lean meats and plant protein sources. Adding extra portions of chicken, fish, eggs and beans to your meals is a healthy way to add more lean protein into your diet.

On the other hand, you should avoid the less-healthy fatty meats and processed meats like bacon, sausage, and ham. Also, if you need to make room for more protein in your diet, it's best to eat fewer simple carbs like sugars, white breads, and white pastas.

Here are some examples of healthy proteins to add to your diet:

• Fish (salmon, cod, tuna, etc.)
• Chicken
• Lean beef
• Eggs
• Tofu
• Beans & Legumes

Consult a Dietitian

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can't manage a healthy diet on your own. COPD can make getting proper nutrition very difficult, especially because it causes you to need extra calories and nutrients.

If you have trouble gaining muscle or continue to lose weight despite your best efforts, it's time to talk to your doctor or a licensed dietitian. They can help you figure out exactly how many calories you need to eat and what amounts of different nutrients your bo

Changes are occurring within us, both physically and emotionally, our entire lives and yes, one day those changes become stressful and even hard to manage, we call it old age.

Vitality you once had as a young man or woman seems to be fading away, however, it is not gone. This does not go without saying that the aging process can be physically and mentally exhausting even painful, but there are measures you can take to manage the changes that are happening in your body and mind.

In this article, we will take an in-depth look at a few of the changes occurring in your bones, heart, and lungs as you age.

Once you understand some of these changes, you can begin implementing goals into your daily life to make the most out of the vitality in you.

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Your aging bones, why are they thinning?

Age-related bone loss is a gradual decline in bone mineral density. This means that with increased age there can also be a reduction in bone formation, which can result in osteoporosis, bone thinning, and it is perfectly normal.

Bone thinning can occur in men and women, and it puts so many people at risk of breaking bones more easily. Of course, more broken bones means limited mobility and less independence which is something you can work to avoid.

By using the research below, you will have the tools to set goals to in the form of exercise and diet geared towards improving your bone health.

Pursuing one or all of these goals will help you to maintain your bone health and density as you age.

#1. Start doing these effective exercises for enhancing your bone density and bone health

As we grow older it becomes exceedingly harmful to associate older age with a decline in our physical activity, especially when healthy bone density depends on how much you work out your bones.

By exercising regularly, your bones adapt to the changes in force, and your body will generate more cells which strengthens bone density and your overall health.

There are specific types of exercises that will offer the most effective results for building and maintaining strong bones; weight bearing exercises and strength-training exercises.

• Weight Bearing exercises describe any activity you do on your feet that works your bones and muscles against gravity. Activities include:
1. Brisk walking
2. Climbing stairs
3. Jumping up and down or jumping rope
4. Hiking
5. Jogging
6. Step aerobics
7. Tennis
8. Yard work
   
   
• Strength-training exercises involve resistance added to movement in order to make muscles work harder. This can involve:
1. Using free weights
2. Resistance bands
3. Weight machines
4. Push ups
   
   
• Flexibility exercises are to be performed when your muscles are warmed up so that your joints are able to move gently and slowly without pain. For a person at risk of osteoporosis, avoid bouncing, twisting, flexing your spine, and bending at the waist while stretching.
  
  
• Stability and balance exercises will help your muscles work in conjunction with your brain. This is very important to reduce the risk of falling. Try some of these exercises:
1. Standing on one leg
2. Closing your eyes and standing on one leg
3. Tai chi
4. Modified yoga poses

If you are eager to create an exercise training program specific for enhancing your bone density and strength, start by incorporating one of each of these types of exercises into your daily routine. By doing so, you can prevent or reverse almost 1% of bone loss per year.

Your program should be personalized to your body, and should avoid high-impact exercises, bending, and twisting. Also, it is always prudent to speak with your doctor or physical therapist to ensure the exercises you want to accomplish everyday are a good match for your body and bones.

#2. Incorporate calcium and vitamin D rich foods in your diet for stronger bones

Food and drinks can play a critical role in osteoporosis prevention, and by incorporating these foods into your daily diet can prevent further bone thinning.

Important nutrients for strong bones include: Calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K.

Here is a table with foods that are rich in bone heathy nutrients:

Changing your diet entirely can be intimidating. So try making it more simple by adding one food source from the table above into one meal a day.

From there try starting a meal plan, you can begin your research by searching the most cost effective ways to prep meals for your dollar and your body.

Time to take better care of your aging heart

The most common threat aging has on the heart is increased stiffness of the large arteries, called arteriosclerosis, and this will often lead to heart disease.

This happens when plaque builds up in the coronary arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle, it can cause high blood pressure, or hypertension.

With all of the evidence and information surrounding the causes of heart disease, comes a plethora of preventative and manageable measures one can take everyday to relieve some symptoms and maintain your livelihood with heart disease.

#3 Start doing more physical activity for a healthier heart

Physical activity is one of the most important aspects of preventing and even reversing some risk factors associated with heart disease. Your heart is a muscle, and like any other muscle they must be utilized regularly or they will fatigue and weaken.

Cardiac based exercises aim to restore people with heart disease to health, and exercise has been found to reduce the likelihood of dying from heart disease.

So the question remains, how much exercise is right for you and your heart?

Of course this can be discussed with your doctor, but a basic 30 minutes a day five days a week is recommended by the American Heart Association.

Physical activity can be defined as any type of movement, if you’re moving, you’re likely burning calories. However being physically active when you struggle with heart disease can be daunting.

Take expert advice and start small by integrating some of these steps into your daily routine:

• Start slow:
• do less reps (repetitions of movements), use light weights or no weights, go short distances, move at a slow pace
  
  
• Always begin you workouts by warming up your muscles and bones
• take a short brisk walk around your house or neighborhood. Light jogging or biking are other options for more advanced exercisers
  
  
• Allow yourself to rest after aerobic exercise
• Give your heart time to come down to a normal heart rate. Try stretching and deep breathing exercises in-between activities
  
  
• When it is hot outside, exercise in the morning or evening, or consider walking around the grocery store
• Adding heat to a workout can rapidly increase your heart rate
  
  
• When it is cold outside, cover your nose and mouth when exercising, or consider walking around the grocery store
• Breathing in cold air can cause discomfort in your lungs, making it harder to breath
  

#4 Maintain a heart healthy weight

It is very important to maintain a healthy weight when your heart is at risk of arteriosclerosis and heart disease, this means balancing the calories you eat and drink with the calories burned by being physically active.

If you are determined to maintain a healthy weight, ask your doctor or research the ideal weight for your gender, height, and age. Find out if you need to gain or lose weight or stay relatively the same.

Maintaining a consistent and healthy weight over a long period time of has extremely important health benefits that your heart will thank you for:

• Controlled blood sugar levels
• controlled blood sugar levels are connected to reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels and subsequently reduce the risk for heart attack, stroke and heart-related death
  
  
• Effectively burn fat
• Burning fat reduces the level of unhealthy cholesterol in your blood.
  
  
• Regulated cholesterol levels
• With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels and it becomes difficult for blood to flow through your arteries

#5 Start a diet focused on heart health

Diet is critical when heart health is in question, and what you eat has a large impact on how your heart functions. Nutritionists recommend fiber as the most essential nutrient for a healthy heart.

Soluble fiber: Is found abundantly in oats, barley, beans, apples, citrus fruits and carrots. Soluble fiber is so imperative for a healthy heart because its properties bind to cholesterol and sugars preventing their absorption into your bloodstream. Bottom line, It helps reduce cholesterol.

Insoluble fiber: comes from whole grains like whole wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, beans and vegetables, such as cauliflower, green beans and potatoes.

Beyond fiber, you can follow this list below to incorporate other heart healthy nutrients in your diet like omega 3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, folate, quercetin, lycopene, magnesium, plant sterols and stanols.

1. Leafy green vegetables supply a wealthy dose of vitamin k and will help protect your arteries and prompt proper blood clotting.
   
   
2. Dark green vegetables are packed with nitrates that can reduce blood pressure and relieve arterial stiffness.
   
   
3. Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole wheat bread, brown rice, and quinoa have been proven to improve heart health because of the high fiber content and subsequent reduction of systolic blood pressure.
   
   
4. Berries like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are packed with antioxidants and protect against oxidative stress and inflammation which contributes to heart disease.
   
   
5. Avocados are a source of monounsaturated fats
   
   
6. Fish like salmon are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids 
   
   
7. Walnuts contain fiber and micronutrients like magnesium and copper
   
   
8. Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants including flavonoids
   
   
9. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, and lots of antioxidant properties
   
   
10. Almonds are an incredibly good source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and fiber
    
    
11. Seeds including chia seeds, flaxseeds, and hemp seeds are all great sources of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids
    

#6 Get a goodnight's sleep

Sleeping better and sleeping more are underrated goals associated with promoting heart health, but it should become a high priority if you are dedicated to improving your heart and your livelihood.

Lack of sleep leads to health problems that will negatively impact your heart, these include:

• High blood pressure. During normal sleep, your blood pressure goes down. If you are not sleeping well your blood pressure will stay high for a longer amount of time. High blood pressure is one of the leading risks for heart disease and stroke.
  
  
• Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that causes sugar to build up in your blood, a condition that can damage your blood vessels and subsequently your heart. Getting more sleep and better sleep can help improve your blood sugar control.
  
  
• Obesity. Not getting enough sleep can affect a part of the brain that controls hunger, leading to unhealthy weight gain and more heart issues.
  
  

Sleeping is not always an easy goal to task yourself with, even if you do not have a sleep disorder, sleeping better and sleeping more is a job that requires discipline and consistency.

Now that you understand how impactful a restless night’s sleep can be for your aging heart, here are some ways you can sleep through the night, fall asleep quicker, and sleep more consistently:

• Find a pattern in your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day, avoid sleeping in, even on weekends, limit naps to 15 to 20 minutes, fight giving into drowsiness before bedtime

• Control your exposure to light, and blue light in particular. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone controlled by light exposure that helps regulate your sleep-wake patterns. Your brain emits more melatonin when it’s dark, making you sleepy, and less when it’s light, making you more alert.
  
  
• Exercise during the day. Even light exercise such as walking for just 10 minutes a day improves sleep quality
  
  
• Keep your room dark, cool, and quiet

#7 Oxygen therapy may benefit heart patients with intense breathing complications

Congestive heart failure means that your heart can no longer pump blood as well as it should. It is most common as you age, because over time your heart begins to weaken.

There are 4 stages of heart failure and treatments vary based on the stage and condition of an individual's heart. Oxygen therapy or supplemental oxygen is commonly prescribed for patients in certain stages of heart disease.

While this is not a cure for heart failure, oxygen therapy can help you breathe in the extra oxygen your heart is unable to pump on its own. Utilizing supplemental oxygen could be a wonderful option for you if you are eager to be more active and mobile by reducing your shortness of breath.

There are a lot of personal goals you must be willing to set in order to reap the benefits of supplemental oxygen therapy. One place you can start is understanding the benefits of using a portable oxygen concentrator.

The first several, most obvious, benefits of using a portable oxygen concentrator:

1. You won’t have to worry about a lack of oxygen or your oxygen tank running out- this peace of mind alone will open reduce anxiousness and open up space to care for your loved ones and expand on new and exciting endeavors
   
   
2. It is much more discreet and lighter weight than bulky oxygen tanks
   
   
3. You can find a sense of independence just being able to move about the house more easily
   
   
4. You will have the ability to exercise without shortness of breath, improving your heart beat, bone structure, and mental health
   
   
5. Sleeping better is very important for avoiding heart problems associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.
   
   
6. Stamina and vitality boosts when you are capable of accomplishing tasks you couldn't do before due to breathing implications and tiredness
   
   
7. Overall mood increases when steps 1-6 kick in

Aging lungs

Lung health requires growing attention as we get older, but it is not something to become discouraged or shy away from.

The loss of strength and ability to breath easily as we age is a normal development in many people’s bodies, whether it is due to genetics, inhaling smoke, or working in a hazardous environment.

While there are natural effects of aging lungs, you do not have to accept a fate that leaves you immobile, unhealthy, and bored. Instead use the goals listed here to help you reduce the breathlessness associated with lung disease, and reduce your risk of lung problems over-all.

#8 Your lungs need more physical activity

If you are struggling with COPD or any long-term lung conditions, regular exercise and physical activity can help improve your breathing threshold, allowing you the freedom to breathe more easily while going about your daily activities.

It can be very uncomfortable to become quickly out of breath for anyone with or without healthy lungs, and motivation to exercise is sometimes hard to muster up.

That being said, It is important for the health of your lungs to avoid temptation of letting another day go by with no exercise. By accomplishing more physical activity, you become more fit and capable to handle daily activities with ease.

The first step towards a more active lifestyle, is to ask your doctor or physiotherapist for the best exercise plan that falls within your lung capacity and is safe for you. From there, you can begin to develop a high quality exercise program. It should be built up over time to allow your body to adapt and strengthen at your own pace.

If you reach a point where you are too breathless to talk, slow down the pace, or take a short pause, don't feel discouraged. Instead, remind yourself that the more you do, the more you will be able to do!

Intermittent exercises can help you to deal with shortness of breath when you are beginning to implement physical activity into your life. To accomplish these exercises, you will move for 1–2 minutes, and in between movements you rest or slow down your pace.

Aerobic exercises are the best form of physical activities for lung disease patients because these exercises involve large muscle groups moving in rhythmic and steady movements.

By using multiple muscle groups at one time, your heart and lungs will be working hard to move oxygen to all of your muscles involved, and subsequently enhancing the capabilities of your lungs.

Here are some examples of great aerobic exercises for your lungs:

• Walking
• Biking
• Swimming
• Jogging/ running
• Elliptical
• Low-impact aerobics works outs
• Water aerobics
• Dancing 
• Hiking
• Low intensity kick boxing

#9 It is never too late to quit smoking, even if you already have COPD

While quitting smoking won't cure COPD, kicking the habit can stop the rapid rate of decline in lung capacity that happens in smokers with COPD.

By quitting smoking, you're giving your lungs more capacity, this means more chances to exercise, and more exercise leads to more freedom accomplishing daily activities with less shortness of breath.

Studies show that COPD smokers who quit:

1. Have fewer COPD exacerbations
2. Have fewer hospital admissions
3. Have less risk of dying from COPD

Quitting is much easier said than done, and like kicking any habit, it may take a few attempts before anything really sticks. Oftentimes, hearing your doctor tell you, “Quitting is your only option” will get the ball rolling in the right direction.

And for patients with COPD, quitting is a nonnegotiable treatment plan.

There are countless efforts you can take to kick the hardest habit in the book, and it may take time and research to find the right process for you.

Here are some places to start:

• Do not smoke at all
• Stay busy
• Attend a stop-smoking group or follow a self-help plan
• Drink more water and juice
• Drink less or no alcohol
• Avoid individuals who are smoking
• Avoid situations wherein you have a strong urge to smoke
  

#10 Limit exposure to air pollutants

As you age, you must also grow aware of the air surrounding you. Over-saturation in the air, usually meaning relatively high humidity or pollution, can introduce a variety of respiratory issues.Those with pre-existing lung issues are particularl