Lung health is vital for a person’s overall health, especially now during a pandemic when the virus is trying to attack the lungs. It’s critical to improve and maintain maximum lung health.
Respiratory problems such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and bronchitis affect millions of Americans. Poorly functioning lungs decrease oxygen flow to the rest of your body and compromise stamina, as well as increase the risk of pneumonia, lung cancer and other potentially fatal lung diseases.
How to Open Up Your Lungs
The best advice for anyone concerned about having healthy lungs is, of course, not to smoke. Here are 10 tips on how to open up your lungs and keep your lungs strong and healthy:
1. Controlled Coughing
It may not sound like it, but coughing is the body’s way of naturally expelling toxins that it has trapped in mucus. Controlled coughing loosens excess mucus in the lungs, sending it up through the airways and eventually out of your body.
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RELATED: Breathing Exercises For Asthma Relief & Stronger Lungs
Doctors recommend you perform this exercise to help clear your lungs:
– sit down on a chair with the shoulders relaxed, keeping both feet flat on the floor
– fold the arms over the stomach
– slowly inhale through the nose
– slowly exhale while leaning forward, pushing the arms against the stomach
– cough 2 or 3 times while exhaling, keeping the mouth slightly open
– slowly inhale through the nose
– rest and repeat as necessary
2. Take a fish-oil supplement every day.
Most airway problems, including asthma, are related to inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are the main ingredient in fish-oil supplements, reduce inflammation.
3. Breathe from your belly for at least five minutes every day.
This kind of breathing, called diaphragmatic breathing, involves training and strengthening your diaphragm so it requires less effort to take in each breath. To do it, inhale deeply through your nose, filling your lungs from the bottom up. If you’re doing it right, your stomach will pooch out. Exhale and repeat.
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4. Brush your teeth twice a day and floss after every meal.
Seems the state of your gums makes a difference when it comes to your lungs. Researchers at the State University of New York in Buffalo found patients with periodontal, or gum, disease were 1 1/2 times more likely to also have COPD. Plus, the worse the gum disease, the worse the lung function, suggesting a direct correlation between the two.
