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Satya Dev Tiwari, MD & CEO at Voll Sante Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals Pvt. Ltd Every winter, millions of people in north and western India wake up to a thick grey blanket of smog. From November to February, the air often becomes dangerous to breathe. The Air
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Quality Index (AQI) regularly crosses 400–500 (anything above 300 is considered “severe”). Crop burning in Punjab and Haryana, millions of vehicles, factory smoke, and cold air that traps everything close to the ground turn the season of festivals and weddings into a silent health emergency.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 5: This isn’t just “fog” that makes your eyes water. It’s a direct attack on your lungs that can harm you as much as years of smoking, even if you’ve never touched a cigarette. A major 2023 study in The Lancet showed that lung cancer in Delhi’s non-smokers has shot up because of air pollution.
Here are the eight main ways this polluted air hurts your lungs and body:
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Instant irritation: Within hours of breathing bad air, your throat and chest feel tight, you cough, and you wheeze. Harmful gases irritate the airways like chilli powder in your nose.
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Tiny invisible particles (PM2.5) slip deep into the lungs and create “free radicals” – angry molecules that damage lung cells, almost like rust eating metal.
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Over weeks, the airways get thick and scarred. Even non-smokers start coughing up phlegm every morning – an early sign of COPD (chronic lung disease).
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The tiny air sacs that put oxygen into your blood start breaking, just like in heavy smokers. Many Delhi patients lose 15-20% of their lung power every year.
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Lungs slowly turn stiff and fibrous, making every breath feel harder.
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Cancer risk increases: Chemicals stuck to the pollution particles can change DNA and cause lung cancer. City residents are 2-3 times more likely to get it.
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Your lungs’ natural cleaning system (tiny hair-like sweepers called cilia) stops working properly, so colds, coughs, and pneumonia become common and last longer.
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The damage doesn’t stay in the lungs. Those tiny particles enter the blood and raise the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and in children, permanently smaller lungs.
This is happening right now to millions of us.
The good news? You can fight back from the inside.
Your lungs depend on a strong immune system, and the right food gives your body the tools it needs. Vitamins C and E, Zinc, Omega-3 fats, and good protein act like an internal shield – they calm inflammation, repair damage, and keep the lung cleaners working.
But in most Indian cities, getting enough of these nutrients is tough. Fast food, stress, lack of sleep, and expensive vegetables mean 7 out of 10 urban Indians are low on Vitamin C and Zinc. On top of that, pollution itself uses up these protective nutrients faster. It’s a losing battle unless you do something extra.
This is where smart, targeted nutrition supplements can help fill the gap.
One Indian company, Voll Sante, has created two products specially designed for people breathing polluted air:
Voll Pro Respi is a plant-based, protein-powered lung support formula designed to help people breathe easier in polluted and post-illness conditions. It contains NAC (a compound doctors use in hospitals to thin stubborn mucus), turmeric, ginger, bromelain, and quercetin.
Together, these ingredients help open the airways, reduce inflammation, and clear out trapped smoke and dust particles from the lungs. The protein component supports stronger respiratory muscles, which play a key role in better breathing capacity. The formula also helps boost glutathione, the lungs’ most important natural antioxidant.
Many users report coughing less, feeling less heaviness in the chest, and breathing more comfortably within a few days – without any of the side effects associated with steroid-based options.
Vollcee Z – a plant-based daily immunity tablet that gives 100% of your daily vitamin C from real amla (Indian gooseberry), proper doses of zinc and magnesium, plus black pepper extract that helps absorb these ingredients 20 times better. It keeps your defence system strong when pollution is trying to weaken it.
Voll Pro Respi Protein Powder and Vollcee Z are widely available on Voll Sante Website and platforms like Amazon as well.
Winter smog may be outside your control, but how hard it hits your body is not. A few small daily habits – eating more colourful fruits and vegetables when you can, staying hydrated, and adding science-backed nutritional support – can make a real difference.
This year, don’t just wait for the air to get better. Give your lungs the backup they desperately need.
Divya Agarwal
