What Pollution Actually Does Inside You
PM2.5 particles, the fine matter in smog, are small enough to cross the lung lining and enter circulation directly. A 2019 study published in the European Heart Journal estimated that air pollution cuts global average life expectancy by nearly two years, with South Asia bearing a disproportionate share of that burden. The damage is not only respiratory. Once in the blood, these particles activate oxidative stress pathways, raise systemic inflammation markers, and have been linked to accelerated arterial stiffening. The foods below work on those specific mechanisms, not on pollution itself, which no food can filter out of the air you breathe.
