What are effective tips for healthy lungs?
- Stop smoking
- Get vaccinated
- Maintain an active lifestyle
- Avoid pollutants
- Eating antioxidants
The current COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of lung health. Our lungs play an important function in aiding our breathing and transferring oxygen to our bloodstreams. Paying little to no attention to its health could lead to an earlier decline in lung capacity. By taking proper care of your respiratory system, your lungs could retain its flexibility and strength up to your senior years as long as you adopt healthy habits. Improve your respiratory function through these 5 effective tips for healthy lungs!
Stop Smoking
Smoking poses a grave threat to respiratory health. About 90% of lung cancer deaths are due to smoking yet it inflicts more health risks than this. It also causes most lung diseases such as COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and asthma.
Harmful chemicals from smoking penetrate your lungs and damage their tissues. This could lead to the narrowing of airways, leading to difficulty in breathing. It also damages the lung cells which in the long run can become cancerous.
No matter how heavy of a smoker you are, quitting can save you more years of your life. Just within 12 hours of being smoke-free can normalize the carbon monoxide levels in your blood. In the long run, it reduces the risk of coronary heart disease too. Quitting as soon as possible may not be easy but your life is always worth the sacrifice.
Get Vaccinated
Respiratory diseases are fatal but they are also vaccine-preventable diseases. Flu or cold can sometimes become so serious that it threatens your lung health. Hence, vaccination is a must to prevent these diseases and in turn, prevent possible lung infection.
Below are the main vaccines offered to prevent lung diseases:
Pneumococcal vaccine
This combats the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia. Depending on the severity, this lung infection can be fatal. To prevent this, two types of pneumococcal vaccines are available for both adults and children.
Flu vaccination
This flu vaccine is essential for people with COPD or asthma for they are more at risk of developing serious complications from flu. Flu vaccines fight their strains by strengthening the immune system.
Whooping cough
This is a lung infection that is characterized by prolonged coughs that last for weeks or months. The vaccine is mostly provided for children and comes with a 5-10 year effect ability.
Maintain an Active Lifestyle
Aside from quitting smoking, one best way to stimulate lung function and health is through engaging in an active lifestyle. Exercise is proven to improve cardiovascular health and respiratory function. It does not just strengthen your physique but the walls of your lungs too.
Regular physical activity can vary from doing sports like swimming, playing tennis or running. You don’t have to do heavy exercises to have healthy lungs, allotting 30 minutes of light exercise a day already makes a big difference. During exercise, two of the important organs of the body come into action: the heart and the lungs. When your lungs are healthy, you keep a large breathing reserve. You may feel ‘out of breath’ after exercise, but you will not be ‘short of breath’.
Avoid Pollutants
Kapag humihinga ka mula sa iyong ilong, bumabiyahe ito pababa sa mga bronchial tubes sa baga. Lahat ng bagay na iyong hininga mula sa kapaligiran ay direktang nakakaapekto sa mga tisyu ng iyong baga, kabilang ang mga pinakamaliit na mga kemikal at pollutant. Kasama dito ang nakakapinsalang usok ng sasakyan, mga partikulo ng alikabok, usok ng tabako, at iba pang mga nakakapinsalang sangkap na mayroon sa hangin.
Maaari rin nitong mapabilis ang pagtanda at mapaiksi ang kapasidad ng baga. Kaya, ang dahilan kung bakit nakakaranas ang ilang mga tao ng igsi ng paghinga kahit sa maagang edad ay isang pahiwatig ng isang mahina na baga. Habang tumatagal, maaari ring humina ang kakayahan ng baga lumaban sa mga lasong mas madali at mas mabilis makaubo ng iba’t ibang impeksyon at sakit, na posibleng humantong sa pagbigay ng baga.
Iyong lubos na responsibilidad na maiwasan ang mga pollutant hangga't maaari. Ugaliing proteksyonan ang iyong sarili sa pamamamagitan ng pagsuot ng face mask kapag lalabas o mag cocommute. Mapipigilan nito ang mga panganib na sanhi ng mga nakakapinsalang usok ng sasakyan at iba pang mga pollutant.
Eating Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals. These are unstable molecules that the body produces as a reaction to environmental and other pressures. They are sometimes called “free-radical scavengers.”
The sources of antioxidants can be natural or artificial. Some antioxidant foods are not hard to find, they are mostly present in fruits and vegetables that can be seen around your kitchen! Pecans, Blueberries, Strawberries, Artichokes, Goji Berries, Raspberries, Kale, and the list goes on. All are great sources of antioxidants that you can include in your diet. If you don’t like eating it the boring way, you can spice it up by making it into a smoothie.
Key Takeaway
Lung health is extremely important yet we often neglect it. Make sure to incorporate these tips for healthy lungs into your lifestyle for the gift of healthy lungs that will help you breathe with ease in the years to come.