Top Strategies and Supplements to Protect Your Body During Wildfire Season

Note: All brand names mentioned have been 3rd party tested by ConsumerLab to be of high quality, purity and value. I have no affiliation with these products. 

Wildfires are burning around the world right now, from California to Siberia, and each year’s fire season seems to get longer. Unfortunately, the indirect effects of wildfires can be felt thousands of miles away. And wildfire smoke emits damaging microparticles and gases into the air we breathe, leading to acute health crises and long-term damage. 

Particle pollution can happen in places where wildfire smoke is not even visible, and it can cause irritation and damage to sensitive lung tissues via oxidative stress. Children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with asthma, allergies, and pre-existing respiratory disease are particularly at risk from the pollution caused by wildfires. And there’s even growing concern that air pollution contributes to neurocognitive disease, like dementia. 

Here are some key strategies for staying SAFE during this wildfire season:

1. Protect Yourself From Particle Inhalation

The best defense is a good offense when it comes to preventing the inhalation of pollutants. Here are some proactive steps you can take to monitor and mitigate your risks: 

• Stay informed about your risk from the effects of wildfires by checking your area’s air quality index (AQI) each day via trusted websites like airnow.gov. You can even sign up to get a daily air quality report via email as a reminder. In addition: 

• Have well-fitting N95 or KN95 masks on hand to help protect you from those invisible microparticles on high-risk days - and remember that any old mask won’t do. Cloth, dust, and surgical masks are not sufficient to block these particles. 

  • Your mask should have 2 straps that run behind your head and be specially-made to protect from at least 95% of particles (hence the label N95, KN95, or even P100).

  • Make sure you buy your masks from an authorized distributor since the market is saturated with counterfeits after the COVID shortages.

• In some cases, it will be safer to stay indoors. But even then it’s wise to use an air purifier with a HEPA filter to clean your air. You will also want to keep your windows closed to prevent infiltration and avoid using air conditioning if your unit works by pulling in air from the outside (though most do not). 

2. Keep Your Workout Indoors

While the best part of summer might be the chance to get outside for a run or hike, you will likely be doing more harm than good if you do it on a day when the AQI level is orange or above. This is not the time to be macho and force yourself to workout no matter what.

• Exercising on days when pollution is high will only drive dangerous fine particles further into your lungs as you breathe deeply.

• While I recommend avoiding outdoor exercise in this situation, short walks of moderate intensity (such as taking the dog for a brisk walk) pose less of a risk than spending hours outside. 

3. Use Nutrients to Stave Off Harmful Effects 

Preliminary studies have shown that certain foods have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that may protect your lungs against oxidative stress. Here are a few items to add to your grocery cart: 

• Green tea (i.e. Trader Joe’s Organic Green Tea) & black tea

• Onions and apples (with peel)

• Strawberries

• Brussels sprouts 

• Beans 

• Brazil nuts (Just 1 per day for selenium)

• In general, aim to “buy the rainbow of colors” in the vegetable aisle; or better yet, your local farmer’s market.

4. Invest in Antioxidant Supplements

Evidence suggests that some high-quality supplements can help protect your body from the effects of the oxidative stress caused by wildfire pollution. Here are a few you can try that have evidence to back them up: 

• Vitamin C is one of the cheapest and most effective antioxidants used to neutralize smoke-related inflammation. 

Consider: NatureSmart Ester-C. Start off with 1000mg/day and increase up to 3000mg/day (in divided doses) during times when your pollution exposure is the highest. (But remember, too much Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and other side-effects, so this is not a “the more, the better” situation.) 

• Glutathione is often referred to as the “master antioxidant” because it is found in every cell in the body and its activity protects us against a variety of diseases. It is highly concentrated in the lung lining and, more specifically, it protects against many inhaled oxidants. However, it becomes depleted quickly when we’re exposed to persistent wildfire smoke. 

The only problem with taking glutathione as a supplement is that the body has a hard time absorbing it. The solution is to take N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) supplements instead. NAC is the precursor to glutathione, it has more bioavailability, and is helpful in breaking down mucus in the lungs.

Consider: Life Extension NAC 600mg up to 1-3 times/day during pollution exposure. It’s best taken on an empty stomach, though I personally need to take it with food to reduce side-effects such as nausea. Click here for more information. 

• You might be interested to know that NAC could also be helpful in lessening the symptoms of both COVID and influenza. In fact, this supplement is so effective that the FDA has recently looked into requiring a prescription for it (which would ban it as an over-the-counter, unregulated supplement). But as of now, it is still safely available through trusted sources such as Life Extension. 

Protecting yourself from the harmful side effects of particle exposure caused by wildfires involves being proactive. Luckily, there are ways to protect both your short and long-term health.

May you and your family stay healthy & safe this season!