HEALTH PORTFOLIO (H-Portfolio)
H-Asset: Pulmonary Wealth
Our pulmonary wealth is an H-Asset that keeps on giving breath after breath throughout our lifetime. That first slap in the delivery room sets off a natural life force that should support us through our retirement years. Reducing respiratory H-Problems (health-problems) should be one of your H-Investments that should be watched closely, because breathing problems can destroy an H-Portfolio that you have been working on for many years. Protecting your pulmonary wealth might just have gotten easier.
Perry (2017) reported on a small study that found that vitamin B supplements could be an important investment in preventing long-term damage from a known pollutant. This article discussed PM2.5, a particularly dangerous pollutant that is present in unhealthy amounts in places more than 92 percent of the population lives. PM2.5 has been found to have severe impacts on health, causing respiratory ailments, systemic inflammation, stress, and even mutations to cells. The study concluded that people who received the vitamin B supplements for four weeks, had less damage and health concerns than those who did not.
Building your own H-Portfolios that includes H-Investments such as nutritious foods, vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements in order to maintain overall health might not make sense to you. But, if you want a good return on your H-Investment, now might be the perfect time to buy-in and get your MUST HAVE H-Investments in place.
Diversify:
Review of the H-Investments
B vitamins and folic acid:
My H-Investment: A B vitamin and folic acid combination is already a daily MUST HAVE for me, but current and future research might expand on this H-Investment. I take 1 B vitamin and folic acid capsule, 1 time a day. In addition, I eat foods that are rich in B vitamins and folic acid, which includes avocados, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mixed greens, sweet potatoes, eggs, and various seeds and nuts.
History of this H-Investment: Perhaps supplementation can also play a role in the prevention of long term H-Problems related to air pollution. The dosage used in the above mentioned study was 2.5 mg folic acid, 50 mg Vitamin B6, and 1 mg Vitamin B12. This dosage may not work for everyone, but for those of you who suffer from respiratory aliments it might be reasonable to include B vitamins and folic acid in their regimen and judge for yourself after taking it for several months.
Incentive Spirometer:
My H-Investment: I have mentioned this MUST HAVE before with my Immune Wealth series. This $10.00 H-Investment continues to give me a great return on my money. I use an incentive spirometer for 3-4 minutes, 3-6 times a day, depending on the severity of the respiratory problem.
History of this H-Investment: As a licensed physical therapist, I have recommended incentive spirometers to respiratory patients for many years. It was not until I realized that spirometers do not need to be used only for patients in the hospital. You have probably seen an incentive spirometer on a patient’s night stand on a hospital visit. Every member of your household should have their own separate spirometers. This H-Investment has been around since 1970. Incentive spirometry has been found to decrease post-operative infections, and improve lung function in individuals with asthma, COPD, or other chronic respiratory conditions. It stands to reason that those of us with “normal” pulmonary function will benefit from using the spirometer to promote our own improved respiratory function.
HEPA (high-efficiency particulate arresting) air filter:
My H-Investment: I have used a portable, Honeywell HEPA air purifier for at least 15 years to improve the air quality in my home, especially on days when high level of pollutants are in the air. I use a quiet model HEPA air purifier that has a low, medium, and high setting.
History of this H-Investment: HEPA filters were first developed in the 1940s, to filter radioactive particles during work on the Manhattan Project. These specialized filters have the capacity to filter 99.97 percent of potentially compromising particles in the air. HEPA filters can be used in homes to improve air quality.
Close windows:
Photo credit: Lisa Williams My H-Investment: Identifying your own risk factors for disease is a logical approach. Therefore, I close all my windows and doors when the air quality index levels indicate high levels of pollutants in the air. I also use my HEPA air filter to improve my indoor air quality.
History of this H-Investment: The EPA was developed in the 1970s to address environmental and pollution concerns. This governmental body has been instrumental in evaluating and monitoring air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental/air pollutants. In response to the widespread use of smart phone technology, the EPA even developed an app, AirNow, to monitor your local air quality index.
H-Dividends
By considering your H-Asset, Pulmonary Wealth, as carefully as you would consider your own financial nest egg, you will improve your pulmonary health and never have it run out. This will lead you to significant returns and dividends on your “H-Investment”!
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LEARN HOW “H-INVESTMENTS” CAN MAKE A HEALTHIER YOU
What you invest in your health IS an important decision, and Dr. Lisa Williams can help you organize, prioritize, and maximize your H-Investments, using her unique Health=Wealth concept that will create health and balance, and empower you to invest and manage your own H-Portfolio. Take that first step and invest in your health and Contact Lisa today to schedule a free 15-minute phone, in person, or Skype consultation to discuss your individual health concerns. For over 30 years, Lisa has been helping people successfully overcome and manage a wide variety of ailments and conditions such as sleeping problems, stress management, digestive problems, sports injuries, orthopedic issues and musculoskeletal problems, among others.
About Lisa’s Fund Your Health Blog
Lisa developed the Fund Your Health Blog to inspire people to achieve their health and wellness goals, by sharing what she has learned throughout her career and from her own personal journey. With Lisa’s relentless pursuit to restore the natural healing process, she reviews specific health assets (H-Assets) and recommends sound health investments (H-Investments) for building health dividends (H-Dividends) that are the key to a healthy lifestyle and will pay off in years to come. Yes, it is all about the H’s in her Health Portfolio. Using her approach will empower you to find your own solutions for a healthy lifestyle.
About Dr. Lisa Williams
Lisa has developed a business culture of health equals wealth and a core philosophy that bridges the gap between health and wealth using what she calls H-Portfolios (Health Portfolios), which leads to overall health. Lisa’s quest for health answers began nearly 30 years ago, when she needed to start building her own H-Portfolio, and this led her to create a multi-pronged approach to health and wellness, and pursue other areas of medicine and attain her acupuncture license. Lisa has managed several health clinics and consulted in multiple corporate, health and wellness industries and branches of medicine. Her areas of practice and experience have included corporate wellness, fitness, health and beauty, internal medicine, neurology, pain management, pediatrics, rehabilitation, schools, scoliosis management, sports injuries, and weight loss clinics.
References
Air now. (2017). Retrieved from https://airnow.gov
Jat, K. R. (2013). Spirometry in children. Primary Care Respiration J, 22(2), 221-229. doi:10.4104/pcrj.2013.00042
Kotani, T., Akazawa, T., Sakuma, T., Nagaya, S., Sonoda, M., Tanaka, Y., . . . Minami, S. (2015). Effects of incentive spirometry on respiratory motion in healthy subjects using cine breathing magnetic resonance imaging. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 39(3), 360-365. doi: 10.5535/arm.2015.39.3.360
Perry, J. (2017, March 14). CNN.Vitamin B an unlikely weapon in the war against pollution, new study suggests. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/14/health/vitamin-b-pollution/index.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov
Photo credit: Lisa Williams
Disclaimer: This material is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Information on this site is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. Doing anything recommended or suggested on this website/blog must be done at your own risk.
