Our lungs play a huge role in keeping us healthy and well, but we do not see the relevance until we experience problems with breathing. That is why, just like the rest of our body, the lungs need daily care and attention.
When we breathe, we feed oxygen to every cell in the body. Because of this, you aren’t prone to health problems such as respiratory illnesses, heart diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among others. For this reason, if you want to have healthy lungs, you need to be more attentive to its overall condition.
Who has healthy lungs?
People who have never had any issues with their breathing, or those who have never inhaled air in polluted places have healthier lungs than those that grow up in polluted areas. The man with the healthiest lungs is probably an ultramarathon runner who spends hours and hours training his lungs while running. By working the muscles that contract and expand the lungs, you can train your lungs to be strong. It isn’t too late for anyone to build healthier lungs. You just need to know the things that you should and shouldn’t do. Here are some of the do’s and don’ts that you can follow:
Do’s:
Diaphragmatic Breathing
If you’re thinking of how to keep lungs healthy naturally, then the breathing technique that you can use is diaphragmatic breathing. This is often used by people who experience lung problems such as asthma and chronic bronchitis.
Diaphragmatic breathing makes use of the diaphragm muscle by concentrating on it as you breathe in. It will result in a much deeper inhale.
You can see this technique also being used by professional singers to increase their lung capacity.
Exercise As Much As You Can
Regular exercise will take you closer to the path of someone having healthier lungs. When you exercise, the heart beats faster, and the lungs work harder—according to research, breathing increases from at least 15 times a minute to 40 to 60 times a minute. This will mean that your lungs will definitely be having a workout and would quickly exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide.
Counting Your Breaths
Another simple way to improve your lung capacity is by increasing the length of your inhalations and exhalations. It can be done by counting how long your natural breath takes. After knowing the count for the average breath, you’ll add one more count to each inhale and exhale. This will conveniently extend the length of time that it’ll take to fill and empty the lungs, resulting in stronger lungs.
Don’ts:
Smoking
It is widely known that smoking is the major cause of lung cancer and COPD. It narrows the air passages and causes swelling in the lungs. As you smoke continuously, the lung tissue would be destroyed over time and may trigger effects that can result in cancer.
So, if you smoke, this is the time to stop now and let your lungs breathe in clean air.
Exposure to Indoor Air Pollutants
Many indoor air pollutants can result in lung
problems. From dust, VOCs, mold, secondhand smoke, and radon, all of these will prevent you from achieving your goals of having healthy lungs. That’s why make sure to have filtered and ventilated rooms for easier breathing.
Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution
Air pollution is something that we often experience every day. The air quality outside is usually unhealthy to breathe, be it due to traffic congestion or factory buildings spewing up smoke. These things are bad for our lungs. That is why one of the ways to avoid them is by wearing face masks, which can minimize the risks that they bring.
Thus, remember all of these do’s and don’ts, and you will be on the right track to successfully being a man or woman who has the healthiest lungs!
