Asthma causes the airways to narrow, swell and produce mucus, making breathing difficult. It is managed with prescribed inhalers, and a preventer inhaler must never be stopped without medical advice. Excess weight, acid reflux and vitamin D deficiency each worsen control and are all addressable.
Symptoms of asthma
Symptoms vary, and few people have all of them. These are the ones most commonly reported.
2-minute check
How well controlled is your asthma?
Four questions. Your result appears immediately — we do not ask for an email.
Daytime symptoms in the past month?
Woken at night by symptoms?
How often do you use your reliever inhaler?
Does it limit your activity?
Your asthma appears well controlled
Keep taking your preventer as prescribed even when you feel well — that is what maintains this.
Your asthma appears partly controlled
Worth reviewing with your doctor. Weight, reflux and inhaler technique are all worth checking.
Your asthma appears poorly controlled
Please see your doctor. Poor control carries real risk and usually responds to a review of treatment and technique.
This check is an indication, not a diagnosis. It does not replace medical advice.
When to see a doctor
Arrange a medical appointment rather than waiting if you have:
- A reliever inhaler not working, or needed more than every four hours — emergency
- Difficulty speaking in full sentences — emergency
- Lips or fingers turning blue — emergency
- Using a reliever more than twice a week
- Night waking with symptoms
- Before changing any inhaler or dose
What causes asthma
Asthma is airway inflammation with a tendency to narrow. Nutrition affects the factors that make that worse, not the underlying condition.
Even between attacks, which is why preventers matter.
Allergen, infection, cold air, exercise or reflux.
Narrowing the airway considerably.
Producing wheeze, cough and breathlessness.
Risk factors
- A family history of asthma, eczema or hay fever
- Allergies
- Obesity, which worsens control
- Acid reflux
- Air pollution and occupational exposure
- Smoking, including second-hand
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Respiratory infections in early childhood
How asthma is diagnosed
| Test | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| Spirometry | Lung function, before and after a bronchodilator |
| Peak flow monitoring | Variability over days |
| FeNO | Airway inflammation, where available |
| Allergy testing | Where triggers are suspected |
| Vitamin D | Deficiency is associated with poorer control |
| BMI and waist | Obesity worsens asthma independently |
| Assessment for reflux | A common and treatable contributor |
Not sure which of these you have had?The assessment asks, and tells you which are worth requesting.
Check my health parametersWhat happens if it is left untreated
Stated factually, because these risks are real and manageable rather than inevitable.
- Severe attacks requiring hospital treatment
- Permanent airway remodelling where inflammation is untreated
- Reduced exercise tolerance
- Disturbed sleep
- Side effects of repeated oral steroid courses
- Anxiety around breathlessness
How Health Total treats asthma
Our protocol runs alongside whatever your doctor has prescribed. We do not ask anyone to stop medication.
-
1
Nothing here replaces your inhalers
Preventer inhalers work by controlling inflammation over time and must be taken even when you feel well.
-
2
Address weight where it applies
Obesity worsens asthma control through mechanical and inflammatory routes, and weight reduction improves it measurably.
-
3
Treat reflux, because it drives night cough
Reflux is a common, under-recognised and very treatable contributor to poor control.
-
4
Correct vitamin D
Deficiency is associated with more frequent exacerbations and is near-universal in India.
-
5
Identify genuine food triggers only
True food-triggered asthma exists but is uncommon. Blanket restriction is unnecessary and costly.
What makes this different
A standard diet plan
- Diet suggested as an alternative to inhalers
- Weight treated as unrelated
- Reflux never considered
- Long lists of foods to avoid
How we do it
- Inhaler adherence supported, not replaced
- Weight addressed as a control factor
- Reflux identified and treated
- Only genuine triggers removed
Nine questions. Two minutes.You will see your result before we ask for your name.
Start my free assessmentAudited results
Publication pending. Aggregate outcome figures for this condition — sample size, inclusion criteria, mean and median change, range and dropout rate — will appear here once the audited outcome report is complete and signed by a second clinician.
Under the ASCI Healthcare Guidelines, a success rate, timeline or efficacy claim requires peer-reviewed data or the organisation’s own audited outcome report. We would rather publish nothing here than publish a number we cannot substantiate.
Case studies
De-identified clinical records — the plan as delivered, the markers as measured, and adherence as it actually was. Each signed by the supervising clinician and verified by a second.
Case file 1
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
Case file 2
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
Case file 3
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
The standard each case must meet before publication →
Published with specific, informed and withdrawable consent. Individual results vary.
Why Health Total for asthma
Clinicians, named
Over 200 doctors and nutritionists. Every condition page here carries the name and credentials of the person who wrote it and the person who reviewed it.
Indian food, Indian bodies
Thirty years of treating Indian patients, with plans built from Indian kitchens and read against Asia-Pacific metabolic cut-offs.
Our own data
Outcomes come from audited internal records, not from studies conducted elsewhere on other populations.
Somewhere to walk in
Physical centres across India, which most app-based programmes cannot offer.
Recipes for asthma
Turmeric and black pepper preparation
The pepper is not a garnish. Without it, most of what you drink is not absorbed.
See the recipe →Selenium and zinc seed mix
A spoon a day for thyroid and immune support — and why two Brazil nuts is the limit.
See the recipe →Ginger and tulsi kadha
Symptom relief, made properly. Not a treatment for infection, and we say so.
See the recipe →Articles
Immunity: what actually works and what is sold
A well-regulated immune system is the goal. A boosted one is not.
Read →Asthma, allergy and what food has to do with it
Nutrition has a supporting role here — and being exact about its size matters.
Read →Questions we are asked
Can I stop my inhaler if my diet improves?
No. Preventer inhalers control the underlying airway inflammation, and stopping one because you feel well is one of the most common causes of a severe attack. Any change is a decision for your doctor.
Does dairy produce mucus and worsen asthma?
This is a widespread belief and the evidence does not support it for most people. Milk can coat the mouth and change the sensation of mucus without increasing its production. Unnecessary dairy restriction costs calcium without benefit.
Does losing weight help asthma?
Yes, and the effect is meaningful. Obesity worsens asthma both mechanically and through inflammation, and weight reduction improves symptom control and reduces medication need in many people.
Is asthma caused by cold food or curd?
No. This is a persistent cultural belief in India with no supporting evidence. Cold air can trigger symptoms in some people, which is a different thing from cold food.
Start with your own numbers.Free assessment, free first consultation, and no figure quoted that we cannot substantiate.
Start my free assessmentReferences
- Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) strategy report.
- Indian Chest Society and NCCP guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma.
- [Further references to be completed by the medical review panel.]