One Body

One of the core ways to take a true root cause, preventative based approach to health care is to focus on environmental medicine. What this means is to analyze the health of our planet and the health of humans side by side. If you do this on even one topic, you would be hard pressed to not find a correlation. 

There are some  aspects of life and health where we simply have no grip on the reigns. One of these for a lot of us is where  we live. With all the allure of a city when it comes to social life, networking, job opportunities,  and more, it is understandable why so many people in their 20’s and 30’s live in big cities.  However, the drawback of this is the mass pollution we unknowingly encounter on a daily  basis.  

According to the American Lung Association , the most polluted cities in the US by air quality  include LA, Denver, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Phoenix, Sacramento, and more. As populations  increase and time goes on, this problem is only getting worse. Our planet simply cannot keep  up with the fast increasing levels of transportation, industry, and agriculture. In fact, cities in  California make up 6 of the top 10 cities with the worst air quality in the US! Wildfires are a  major part of this and as climate change becomes an increasing issue, this is becoming a  larger threat as well.  

There is a direct correlation between mother nature suffering and our own health suffering as  well. Environmental medicine takes a hard look at the fact that as CO2 and methane levels are  steadily increasing to dangerous levels, the lungs of our planet are being literally choked out.  The Amazon rainforest produces a staggering 20% the world’s oxygen supply and 25% of our  fresh water alongside one half of the world’s species of plants, animals, and insects. When you  pair mass air pollution with deforestation and the death of our rainforests, our earth can’t  breathe. And if she can’t neither can we.  

Why am I discussing this topic? As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, there are some  things we simply cannot control. Whether we live in a polluted city (local problem) or are a  human being on Earth suffering from large scale pollution and increasing gases in the air  (global problem) there are things we can do to lessen the blow. This blog will focus in on how air quality is impacting our health and what we can do to support our bodies and lungs in  today’s world, consequently supporting the earth as well.  

Air Quality and Women’s Health  

Pollution is a major concern for all beings on earth, and especially the intricate and fragile  system of women’s health. Particulate matter in the air, PM, is able to become lodged in the  lungs when inhaled and eventually absorbed in to the blood stream. This now becomes a  chronic concern for the endocrine and reproductive system. 99% of the world is currently living  in a place where they are breathing in air with pollution levels far exceeding WHO’s permissible  limits. Over the past decade alone, we have accumulated evidence that women exposed to  chronically high levels of PM in the air are having children that are born prematurely. One study  in California actually showed a 27% reduction in preterm births in a 10 year period following  the closure of a coal power plant in the area…suggesting at a direct correlation.  In addition, PM and smog has more immediately noticeable effects as well such as acne from  bacteria getting trapped inside our pores and a disputed skin microbiome. Recent research has  even found that the risk of dysmenorrhea is up to one third higher in girls living in areas  exposed to high levels of PM in the air.  

All of this is of course piled on top of the more well known effects of poor air quality such as  higher levels of COPD, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease, heightened allergies, cancer, and  more. Studies have shown a rise in breast and ovarian cancer that correlate with rising levels of  nitrogen oxides and fine PM’s in the air.  

Recall the connection between the health of our planet and of our people. Mother Nature has a  nurturing, feminine/Yin energy and is being choked dry from climate change. All the while,  research has shown that the impact of climate change on women specifically has been vastly  underscored and altogether ignored. As the main caretakers of the households, women in India 

alone are shown to have the majority of contact with cooking fuels and are bearing the brunt of  health defects in a place in the world where a changing climate is most stark.  What can we do with all of this information? There is both a small (localized) and large (global)  scale approach we can take.  

Healing: Individual Approach  

There are ways we can protect our own bodies from the impact of air pollution and rising  climate change if we live in large industrialized cities, or really anywhere at all nowadays. These  range from herbal remedies to household changes from simple consciousness.  • Strengthen the bodies defenses via immune boosting herbs such as echinacea, elderberry,  astragalus, goldenseal, reishi, and oregano.  

• Reduce overall inflammation and stress on the body via herbs such as turmeric,  ashwagandha, wheatgrass, and ginger.  

• Focus on herbs that support lung functioning and respiratory health such as amla, tulsi, aloe  vera, and licorice root  

• Regularly check air quality on a daily weather app and reduce your time outdoors when it  is higher than normal in your area 

• Purchase indoor plants that protect assist in air quality such as Peace Lily, English Ivy,  Bamboo Palm, and Snake Plants.  

• If you can, invest in a quality indoor air filtration system such as Air Doctor • Protect your skin microbiome by using antioxidant rich products with topical Vitamin C and  E in addition to ceramides and niacinamide. Ayurvedic medicine also recommends oil  cleansing with neem oil diluted with coconut oil to protect against air pollution  

These are all small steps and additions to your daily life than can help bolster your internal  systems to protect you against what you are inhaling. There is a large scale approach to this 

issue as well though that focuses in on how we can each become a part of the solution to  protect our earth and focus on prevention so that future generations do not suffer even deeper.  

Healing: Global Approach  

There is no true protection of ourselves without protection of the planet, and there is no true  protection of the planet without protection of ourselves. This is the genuine root of preventive  medicine and our last hope as a species is to realize that truth.  

• If you live in a city, consider forms of public transport to get to and from your destinations.  When you travel in Asian countries you will see that this is far more common and in addition  people are almost always wearing masks on the streets. Both lessons we should stop and  think about  

• Reconsider your frequency of burning at home (open fires and wood burning stoves) as  these have a lesser known but very significant impact on air pollution  

• Cut down on meat and dairy intake or ensure that you are doing all you can to source  sustainably (small farms). Animal agriculture is an epidemic, contributing to over 50% of air  pollutants.  

• Plant trees! Look up what trees are needed to be planted in your specific community, join  gardening clubs, or simply get friends together to plant trees on a weekend. It makes a  difference  

• Raise consciousness and awareness. Simply raising your own awareness around the  severity of how we are impacting our own planet will start to change your daily habits and  routines and how you speak. All of this adds up to a domino effect.  

You will find that through combined steps of both local and globalized efforts, your own health  and the health of the planet will benefit hand in hand. As women, we are profoundly more  impacted by a declining air quality overall state of consciousness in the cities we live in. It is  crucial to realize that as an inhabitant of wherever you live, you are always a child of the earth and everything you do and speak matters. Reading this blog alone will help you to look both  inside and outside at how you can protect your own health and protect future generations to  come as well.