Take a deep breath. In. And out. That right there…is the essence of life.
You are completely dependent on your body’s ability to draw in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide to go on living. Each breath draws in essential oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere and pulls it deep into your lung tissue. Large passageways branch into increasingly smaller and more intricate structures. Eventually, air is funneled into microscopic channels ending in specialized alveolar sacs that are surrounded by a complex network of interlaced capillaries. The surface of these little spherical bellows is where gas exchange takes place. The average human has about 700 million of these sacs that do this miraculous work.
And yet you probably never think about it. Why? Because it is automatic. Your pulmonary system is receiving instructions from a part of your brain that isn’t fully connected to conscious thought. And thank heavens! Who wants to remember to breathe when there are so many other things to think about? Or who could sleep if breathing were a conscious act?
Just because breathing is automatic doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. Healthy lungs lead to a long and healthy life.
So while you probably know a thing or two about keeping your heart healthy, what do you know about keeping your lungs healthy? Well, here are a few rules everyone should bear in mind…
1. Get Active
When you are at rest, your lungs are only functioning at about 50% capacity. Aerobic exercise like running, cycling, or swimming push your lungs to peak capacity and strengthen your diaphragm (the muscle responsible for drawing and releasing breath). Doctors also state that more intense activity helps counteract the buildup of pollutants, allergens, and dust in the lungs, helping them to cleanse themselves.
2. Breathe Deeply
Focused, deliberate breathing while at rest also benefits your lungs by expanding them to near full capacity. Mindful breathing starts with slowly inhaling through the nose, lifting your chest, and opening your ribcage. Then, exhale completely through the mouth, relaxing the chest, and pushing out as much air as possible. Good posture, and reducing total sitting time also assists with better breathing form.
3. Don’t Smoke
By now, just about everyone knows the dangers of cigarette smoke. It increases risk for lung cancer and other diseases by destroying lung tissue and introducing free radicals which can cause cell mutation. It constricts air passages and severely reduces lung capacity. It also creates a state of chronic inflammation within the lungs and throughout the body. If you do smoke, quitting isn’t easy, but the benefits are immense. It’s never too late.
4. Avoid Pollution
The tiny tissues deep in the cells of your lungs are actually quite delicate and vulnerable to damage if exposed to pollution and chemicals over an extended period of time. Avoid secondhand smoke, outdoor air pollution, and harmful chemicals at home and work.
5. Eliminate Grocery Store Brand Cleaning Products from Your Home
A recent independent research study has linked common household cleaners—the kind that that are found in grocery stores and big box retailers—to lung damage. The 20-year study found using these products as little as once a week can be as damaging to lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years. Researchers are learning that the damage can be extremely serious. What’s to blame? The study mentions common ingredients like ammonia, chlorine bleach, and quaternary disinfectants. But clearly, there may be other dangerous chemicals at work as well. Virtually every cleaning product you’ll find in the grocery store cleaning aisle uses these toxic ingredients. For a safer home, eliminate all such cleaners from your home now and replace them with the safe, yet effective EcoSense cleaners from Melaleuca.
6. Monitor Radon
Radon is a gas naturally found in some rock and soil. If a home is built on top of an area with radon, it can leak into a home through basement floors or foundations. Trapped inside, it can build up to unhealthy levels. Radon cannot be seen or smelled, and yet because it becomes radioactive as it decays, exposure to high levels can cause lung cancer. in fact, behind smoking, it is the second leading cause of lung cancer. To detect radon in your home, use a radon test kit which are widely available at home improvement stores.
7. Prevent Infection
According to the American Lung Association, colds and other respiratory infections can sometimes become serious. Though some illness is simply a fact of life, there are common sense measures you can take that will benefit your lungs, including:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water
- Use a hand sanitizer like Melaleuca’s Clear Defense when you don’t have access to soap and water
- Get your flu shot every year
- Minimize interactions with large groups during cold and flu season
- Keep up on your dental hygiene, including brushing, rinsing, and flossing
- Give your immune system a fighting chance by providing your body with the essential nutrition it needs for complete health; this includes a healthy diet and supplementation with Melaleuca’s Peak Performance Nutrition Pack
8. See Your Doctor Regularly
In addition to abiding by these rules, regular visits with your general healthcare provider can make sure you live a long, healthy life with a set of healthy, high capacity lungs.
Germs can live and thrive just about anywhere in your home. On average there are 62,000 germs on every square inch of your kitchen counters and 250,000 germs per inch on your kitchen faucet! Germs occupy multiple surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom, but also thrive in places you might not think of:
Isn’t it just awful how so many stain remover products almost advise you to wear a space suit when using their product? They instruct you to wear eye protection and a face mask, cover your skin when using it, and wash any part of your skin exposed to it. They actually use the word contamination, telling you if your clothing is “contaminated” with their product, wash it immediately! Not only that, but they strongly advise you not to breathe their products’ fumes, mist, or spray in for very long, but they don’t specify how long ‘very long’ is. And if it’s not good to be around their product ‘very long,’ why would anyone want to be around it at all?
Why would you add ½ cup of chemical toxins to your load of laundry? That’s what you’re doing when you add Clorox® Bleach to your wash. The culprit in Clorox Bleach is chlorine—that toxic chemical with vapors irritating to your eyes and damaging to your respiratory system!
If you’re using Windex® Original Glass Cleaner in your home, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Ammonia is a known toxin that doesn’t belong in any home. But many folks who wouldn’t dream of bringing ammonia into their home use Windex Original Glass Cleaner without a second thought—and yet, Windex is powered by ammonia!
