Breathing clean through green

The most effective plants with some of the highest purification abilities include gerbera daisies, peace lilies, chrysanthemums, bamboo and English ivy.

by Dr. Shawna Eischens — 

The Phoenix area tends to rank high on the list of polluted cities, but is staying indoors the best medicine? Not necessarily. Then how can you breathe in the cleanest air possible?

Building materials, furniture and electronic equipment are known to emit various volatile organic compound toxicants that have been linked to numerous health complaints, including asthma and headaches.

Leaching of trace chemicals can result in indoor air pollution, causing symptoms at even very low concentrations. Buildings with minimal natural ventilation contained higher levels of these toxicants, indicating that outdoor air is of better quality.

Hang in there and breathe in some green. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa.gov) conducted a study on the usefulness of plants as indoor air purifiers and found that the addition of plants to indoor air reduced overall air toxicants. Some of the plant species reduced toxicants by more than 80 percent per day.

The most effective plants with some of the highest purification abilities include gerbera daisies, peace lilies, chrysanthemums, bamboo and English ivy. Incorporating many of these indoor plants into your home or workspace may help you breathe a little easier.

Not so ironically, ingesting green can benefit your health, in addition to breathing green. Chlorophyll and chlorella are powerful green detoxifying agents that have been shown to help us excrete harmful toxicants, including heavy metals. These two green heroes can be supplemented or naturally consumed in foods such as spinach, kale and seaweed.

Capturing the healing power of green goes far beyond asthma, headaches and heavy metal toxicity. Cheers to the color green.

Dr. Shawna Eischens is a naturopathic physician at Pingel Progressive Medicine. Her practice focus spans from pediatrics to geriatric care with strong passions for physical medicine, nutrition, homeopathy and acupuncture. [email protected], pingelprogressivemedicine.com and 602-845-8949.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 33, Number 1, February/March 2014.