15 Everyday Life Choices to Maintain Healthy Lungs

Have you ever noticed? How do we breathe and sustain life? The reason behind living is getting oxygen from the environment. But how does oxygen get inside our body? There are two lungs present in the chest. One lung is present on the left while the other is present on the right side of the chest. This pair of lungs work together to make us breathes. So, it is mandatory to take care of our lungs for our longevity. Today, we will discuss fifteen everyday life choices that support us in preventing the occurrence of any disease in the lungs.

Introduction

Lungs are of the major organs of the respiratory system which make us alive by the process of breathing. Lungs play a crucial role in providing oxygen to the whole body organs and removing waste gases from the body. Lungs extract oxygen from inhaled air and move it into the bloodstream, through which it gets distributed in all body parts. After that, the bloodstream brings waste gases to the lungs, which are exhaled by them outside the body.

In addition, lungs also perform the following functions:

Support the senses of smell.
Bring the air to a temperature suitable for the body and also moisturize it to correct the humidity level.
Provides protection to the body from harmful substances. Coughing, filtering, sneezing, and swallowing are some ways of responding to antigens by the lungs.

15 Tips To Get Healthy Lungs

As our lungs do various functions for making us healthy, it is our duty to take care of them. We have listed some easy tips which should be adopted by you for maintaining healthy lungs. Take a look at 15 everyday life choices that help you to get healthy lungs:

1. Healthy Diet

Various lung diseases arise from consuming unhealthy food. Whatever you eat, directly affects your lungs and the health of other major body organs. So, it is preferred to feed your body with healthy meals only. Prevent market and packed food that is high in free radicals, oils, and harmful toxins. Eat home-cooked food as much as you can and add green leafy vegetables in your food such as kale, spinach, beet greens, romaine lettuce, collard greens, cabbage, watercress, and cauliflower. Some other foods for restoring lung health include apples, peppers, pumpkin, turmeric, tomatoes, blueberries, and green tea. Regular consumption of any of these foods will provide longevity to your lungs.

2. Regular Exercise

Doing exercise regularly gives protection to your lungs from numerous diseases. Exercise involving deep and harder breathing is much advantageous for the lungs. You can also include jogging, walking, cycling, swimming, aerobic exercises, weight lifting, or any intense physical workout which makes you sweats.

3. Proper Sleep

Learn to prevent doing extra work and make time for yourself to go to bed. Getting proper sleep is very important for the lungs. Sleeping for 7-8 hours is beneficial in preventing disorders of the lungs as well as the body.

4. Herbal Remedies

Adding some herbal remedies into the daily diet will act as icing on the cake. Natural herbs will work in a synergistic manner and maintain the excellent condition of lungs. Some herbs favorable for lungs are Horehound leaf (Marrubium vulgare), Mullein leaf (Verbascum thapsus), Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serontina), Marshmallow Leaf and root (Althaea officinalis), Plantain leaf (Plantago spp). Include these herbs in your diet and get marvelous health of lungs.

5. Sanitize Hands

Remember washing and sanitizing your hands at regular intervals of time. Wash hands with soap and water because once germs are spread on your hands, they can get direct entry to your lungs when you eat food. So, it is suggested to wash and sanitize hands every time before eating food.

6. Regular Checkup

Regular checkups are necessary to detect any serious lung disorder at an early stage and make it treated. Consult a doctor immediately if you suffer from long-term cough, wheezes, and feeling difficulty in breathing.

7. Avoid Pollutant Exposure

Prevent exposure to pollutants as much as you can. Pollutants can enter into lungs and cause infections. Avoid going outside when air quality is poor. Pollutants generating from industries, chemicals, and car emissions can interfere with the proper functioning of the lungs. Try to make the distance from construction sites also.

8. Plant Air Purifying Plants

Natural air purifying plants like a spider plant, aloe Vera, bamboo palms, money plant, English ivy and Boston ferns are very active in purifying air and toxins. Try to plant these plants at home or nearby your home to breathe in good quality air. Two plants per 100 square feet are well enough to show their action.

9. Quit Smoking

Smoking is worse for lung health. Smoking not only gives rise to lung cancer but also leads to various pulmonary ailments such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, and many more. It is beneficial for you to quit smoking quickly if you want healthy lungs.

10. Drink Plenty Of Water

Make a habit of drinking large quantities of water. It will help you in excreting harmful toxins from the body and improves the flow of blood and oxygen.

11. Avoid Going Into The Crowd

Being a part of a crowd is not healthy for your lungs. You can bring infections with you from the crowd. There is also an increased risk of getting infected with communicable diseases in the crowd. The most affected organ from these kinds of infections in the lungs. If necessary, go to crowded places by wearing a mask and sanitize yourself before entering your home.

12. Breathe Deeply

When we breathe shallowly, it makes the working of only a small portion of the lungs. But breathing deeply will support you in clearing your lungs and full exchanging of oxygen. Deep breaths come from the belly, where the diaphragm sits while shallow breathing comes from the chest.

13. Box Breathing

This exercise is very effective in improving lung functioning and supporting their health. The box breathing exercise can be done by following the given steps:

Bring out all the oxygen from the lungs by slowly exhaling through the mouth.
Inhale slowly through nostrils for about four seconds and feel the air completely filled into the lungs and moved into the abdomen.
Hold down the breath for just four seconds.
Exhale again from the mouth for a duration of four seconds and expel out all the filled air.
Repeat again.

14. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing is also termed as belly breathing. It engages the breathing through the diaphragm. Doing this on a daily basis will strengthen your lungs. Steps to do diaphragm breathing are:

Sit or lie down by relaxing shoulders.
Put one hand on the chest and the second one on the belly.
Inhale air through the nose for just about two seconds and feel the air moving in the abdomen and stomach moving out.
Breathe out for two seconds via pursed lips along with pressing the abdomen.
Repeat again.

15. Pursed Lips Breathing

It is a slow process of breathing and makes the airways open for a longer time than normal. This exercise makes the lungs function easily and improves the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen.

Steps to do pursed lips breathing are:

Inhale air through nostrils slowly.
Purse the lips as the posture of pout or to blow on something.
Breathe out slowly as much you can through pursed lips. The time of breathing out should be at least twice from breath in time.
Repeat again.

Conclusion

As you read above, lungs are important to breathe. If the lungs get diseased, one can lead to death also. But there is no need to worry; one can take proper care of their lungs by above-given points, especially by using herbal remedies in their daily diet. Herbs are natural and prevent lung-related ailments in a natural way.