Canada Wildfire smoke 101 – health support.
Every year in Canada we experience thousands of wildfires, which unfortunately effects many families, putting them out of their homes. And in some cases losing everything. Our prayers and thoughts are with them each year. The Canadian National Fire Database estimates 8000 wildfires a year.
Of course other parts of the world experience wildfires, but because I live in Alberta Canada, that is primarily where my attention is focused. Regardless this blog is useful to people all across the world who deal with wildfire exposure.
Along with these wildfires comes a ton of smoke and unseen toxic particles in our atmosphere. Many of us feel the effects of this wildfire smoke and recognize that’s what is causing us to experience new or different health symptoms. But also, some people do experience these new or different health symptoms, and don’t connect the dots, that it is in fact the wildfire smoke effecting their body.
Some symptoms you may experience when breathing in the wildfire smoke;
- Headache or migraine
- Sore throat and a cough
- Excess mucus production and increased nose blowing
- Swelling of the Thyroid gland
- Congestion and wheezing
- Shortness of breath or asthma attack
- Nasal drip and watery eyes
- Bloodshot, burning or itchy eyes
- Dehydration and its associated symptoms
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Inflammation
- Swelling and fluid retention
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhea and constipation
- Skin issues
- IBS and IBD flares
- Sleep disturbances
What is in wildfire smoke that effects our health?
The smoke contains pollutants and chemicals like carbon monoxide, Sulphur dioxide, and heavy metals, which cause systemic stress to all aspects of the body and its functions, including the immune system. Part of this is stress is “oxidative stress”. Oxidative stress poisons and damages cells — it can wreak havoc on our health if we don’t try mitigate it.
Wildfire smoke can travel thousands of kilometers, so whether you are far or near to an active wildfire, you can be exposed to this air pollution. And really, there is no known safe level of exposure for some of these pollutants. This means that smoke can impact your health even at very low levels. As smoke levels increase, your health risk increases. Air quality may be poor even if you can’t see or smell smoke, so it is wise to check your weather app or the air quality index daily, to get an idea of what the air quality is like in your area. Find out who is most at risk here.
Wildfire smoke is a mix of gases, particles and water vapor that contains:
- ozone
- methane
- sulphur dioxide
- nitrogen dioxide
- carbon monoxide
- volatile organic compounds
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Fine particles (PM2.5) represent the main health risk from wildfire smoke. These particles aren’t visible to the human eye and have been linked to a wide range of health effects (mentioned above)
How to support your body during wildfire smoke season;
Every year I put together a list to help people protect and support their body/health when there is wildfires active and smoke present in the environment. Usually I only share on my social media, but this year I decided to create a resource here on my website that you could share with your loved ones and those effected by the wildfires.
A few extra considerations that are not on the Wildfire smoke support 2024 PDF are are;
- Methylene blue which has powerful mitochondria support, helping to improve metabolism and thus detoxification processes. MB also has antimicrobial properties and can act as an antioxidant.
- Aspirin is also pro-metabolic, meaning it increases metabolism and supports detoxification. It also has thyroid protective properties and can protect the cell membrane from damage caused by toxins and inflammation. Take a listen to my recent aspirin podcast episode here.
- Focus on high protein and fiber foods, as both of these are essential for metabolism, detoxification, immunity, and the fibers (like those found in apple skins for example) will bind to toxins and help to removed them from the body through the bowels.
- Walk and move as much as possible, this will help move blood and lymph through the contraction on muscle. As these fluids move through the body, they pick up toxins in the bloodstream and carry them to the excretory organs.
- Support detoxification daily! Your body detoxifies daily, but many of us are not supporting it daily, not even once in a while. Check out my podcast episode here on “Detoxification broken down” and if you think a liver detox would benefit you (the liver being one of the main detoxification organs), you can find out more about my 7 Day Liver Detox here. Use code; LIVRESET50 for 50% off!
- Nasal breathing…nasal breathing can be an effective tool for filtering out toxins. When you breathe through your nose, the air is moistened, filtered and cleaned before getting into your lungs. Nasal breathing also slows our breathing and reduces the amount of air we take in. By breathing exclusively through the nose we can reduce the amount of harmful toxins and air we breathe into our body.
As always, I hope you found this information helpful! Please share with your loved ones and don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or feedback.
Take care!