Today you will learn about 5 Ways to Strengthen Your Respiratory System!
When you envision yourself at 100 years old, you don’t tend to imagine yourself tethered to an oxygen machine, do you?
Just as with all areas of our body, we want to ensure that we are paying attention and looking after our bodies’ essential systems. In order to maintain good health throughout our lives, we need to have strong lungs.
Do you find yourself continually panting after minimal movement? Do you often feel like you have lost your breath after a simple task? Then you certainly need to strengthen your respiratory system.
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Strengthen Your Respiratory System
Why is respiratory health so important? Well, your lungs are responsible for breathing in vital oxygen while breathing out the unnecessary carbon dioxide. This process is fundamental for your body to function, so you want it to be working as efficiently and effectively as possible. In fact, you might not even know how good you can feel when your respiratory system is functioning at a higher level.
Here are five ways to strengthen your respiratory system and improve your respiratory health.
1. Uphold Your High Standards of Hygiene.
Many of the diseases and viruses that can affect your respiratory system come as a result of poor hygiene and insufficient hand washing. One of the simplest ways to decrease your chances of getting one of these ailments (such as the common cold or pneumonia) is to be diligent with your high standards of hygiene.
Unfortunately, these bacteria and viruses can flourish almost anywhere, so to decrease the likelihood of catching one of these viral respiratory diseases, make sure that you always wash your hands before eating, after riding public transport, coughing or sneezing, and after using the bathroom.
If you frequently ride public transport or frequent crowded areas, opt to carry an alcohol-based antibacterial gel or hand sanitizer around with you and use it multiple times a day.
Respiratory diseases are incredibly common in today’s society, so if you do find yourself with an ailment, make sure to consider undergoing the most effective chesty cough treatment available as soon as possible.
2. Drink Enough Water.
Many people don’t realize how being dehydrated affects their lungs. Whenever you are dehydrated, your lungs expand to supplement the lack of water, which then makes them weak and their functions laborious.
For your overall well-being, and your respiratory system, ensure you are drinking six to eight glasses of water a day.
3. Maintain an Exercise Routine.
If you already have a respiratory disease, then you may avoid exercising; however, regular aerobic exercise can significantly improve respiratory ailments while also strengthening your respiratory system. (That being said, always consult with a professional physician before beginning an exercise routine.)
Start by walking 30 minutes a day, three to four days a week. Eventually, build up to jogging, cycling, and swimming. These particular aerobic exercises are significant for enhancing the amount of oxygen in your lungs and bronchi and will increase the capacity of your system.
In addition to cardiovascular activity, look to add regular yoga into your routine. A regular yoga practice ensures that your brain is getting all the oxygen it needs, which helps with your overall health. As yoga is centered on breathing deeply and paying attention to your respiratory system, it is a sure way to strengthen and enhance the power of your lungs.
If going to a regular yoga class isn’t for you, at least learn some yoga breathing techniques. Focus on mindfully taking deep, long breaths, which will send fresh oxygen deep into the bottom of your lungs. Not only will this strengthen your respiratory system, but it will also reduce anxiety and help you remain calm, cool and collected.
4. Quit (or don’t start) Smoking.
You have heard it a million times before, but the worst thing you can do for your respiratory health (and overall health in general) is to smoke. Every time you light a cigarette, you are damaging your lung and respiratory health.
Smoking produces inflammation within your system, which in turn speeds oxidative stress in your respiratory cells. Over time, this causes the cells to die, which can lead to emphysema, chronic lung disease, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer.
While the best choice is never to start smoking, if you are still smoking, then you need to commit to yourself to quit today. Depending on how old you are, how much you smoke, and how long you have been smoking for, you may be able to undo some (or most) of the damage that you have done to your lungs.
That being said, quitting smoking is easier said than done. Even if you have tried and tried to break the habit, you need to try again and keep testing for a method that works for you.
Unfortunately, even if you aren’t personally a smoker, you can still damage your lungs by inhaling second-hand smoke, which could lead to bronchitis. For this reason, you need to follow the other steps to strengthen your respiratory system, so that you can protect yourself against second-hand smoke, as well as allergens, bacteria and viruses.
5. Drink Herbal Tea Daily.
Herbal tea has many benefits for your entire body and health, as it is a wonderful source of catechins which combat disease. In fact, pulmonaria (Lungwort) is a herbal tea which is often used to improve respiratory functioning.
You need to improve other areas of your life (exercise, diet, etc.) for significant changes, but drinking a daily cup of herbal tea will assist in your journey to robust respiratory health. Think of it as an example of a minor addition to your lifestyle that could aid in producing a sufficient impact.
Conclusion
By following these five steps and looking after your overall health and well-being, you will be a lot closer to having the air flowing through your lungs quickly and naturally for the rest of your life. As long as you commit to looking after your respiratory system today, you can start to reverse the damage that you have already caused on the system, and work to make it healthier and stronger over time.
What do you do to improve your respiratory health? Have you found any solutions that work well? Let us know in the comments below!
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