Our role is to educate people on what a healthy diet consists of. It is important to understand the importance of a healthy diet and to understand the benefits of stopping smoking.

It is very important to eat a balanced and varied diet when you have a respiratory condition, as this helps you to maintain your strength and fitness as well as to fight off infections.

Weight and BMI

It is important to think about your weight/BMI when you have a respiratory condition. If you are very overweight your heart and lungs have to work harder to supply oxygen to the tissues/muscles.

If you are underweight or struggling to eat enough you may find it difficult to perform daily activities such as shopping and socialising.

Eat well guide

Protein

Protein is used in the body to build and repair structures, such as muscles, including those used in breathing.

Try to eat protein rich food twice a day, which can include:

  • Meat                              
  • Fish                              
  • Eggs          
  • Dairy

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are used in the body to provide energy.

Try to include this in every meal:

  • Potatoes   
  • Rice
  • Porridge
  • Pasta         
  • Cereal         
  • Bread

Sugar

Try to eat these less frequently:

  • Cakes                            
  • Biscuits                         
  • Sweets                 
  • Chocolate

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables supply essential vitamins and minerals to the body to help fight off infections, including chest infections.This food group can be eaten in any form; fresh, frozen, juiced or tinned.

Aim for five portions each day.

Dairy

People with a respiratory condition can have weaker bones. This may be due to medication or by being less active. Weaker bones can lead to a condition called ‘Osteoporosis’, whereby the bones can easily break.

Dairy foods that are high in calcium, which strengthens teeth and bones, include:

  • Cheese   
  • Yoghurt
  • Milk (including soya milk)

Smoking and COPD

Smoking is the main cause of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). At least 4 out of  5 people who develop the disease are, or have been, smokers. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and permanently damaged by smoking. This damage cannot be reversed. Around 10 to 25% of smokers develop COPD.

There is a whole list of harmful chemicals that are in a cigarette, includingB

  • Butane (lighter fluid)
  • Cadmium (batteries)
  • Acetic acid (vinegar)
  • Methane (sewer gas)
  • Arsenic (poison)
  • Carbon monoxide
  • Nicotine
  • Ammonia (toilet cleaner)
  • Paint
  • Methanol (rocket fuel).

Health risks related to smoking

As well as COPD, bronchiectasis and pulmonary fibrosis, there are other health conditions associated with smoking, which include:

  • Ulcers
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Asthma
  • Stroke
  • Cancer
  • Poor circulation

• Impotence • Ageing.

Quitting timeline

This is what happens inside your body when you stop smoking:

  • 20 minutes: blood pressure and heart rate returns to normal
  • 8 hours: nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood reduce by half and oxygen levels return to normal
  • 24 hours: carbon monoxide will be eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris
  • 48  hours: there is no nicotine in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved
  • ​​​​​2 to 12 weeks: your circulation improves
  • 3 to 9 months: cough, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function increases by up to 10%
  • 5 years: your risk of a heart attack reduces to about half compared to that of a smoker
  • 10 years: your risk of lung cancer reduces to half of that as a smoker. Your risk of a heart attack reduces to the same as someone who has never smoked.

Electronic cigarettes

If you are smoking e-cigarettes the NHS still considers you to be a smoker. E-cigarettes have chemicals in them that are not in traditional cigarettes. We won’t fully understand the long term effects of e cigarettes for another 30 years.

If you want to quit smoking, you can replace normal cigarettes with e cigarettes for one year as an aid to stopping smoking altogether.


All of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) treatments are available from the NHS with a prescription, and they can also be bought from pharmacies without a prescription and other shops (such as supermarkets). We recommend that you speak to your local NHS stop smoking adviser, your doctor or pharmacist for further advice.

Smoking cessation

Contact Smoke Free Sefton to book your appointment.

Call the team of advisors on 0300 100 1000 or text QUIT to 66777 to arrange an appointment at one of the many locations across South and North Sefton.