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As you age, your lungs start feeling everyday life’s wear and tear, limiting their normal functioning. When your lungs start losing their elasticity, air begins to build up, minimizing the space your diaphragm needs during a contraction when you breathe. Unfortunately, it will cost you more than quitting smoking to keep your lungs healthy. Dr. Carlos Nunez of CHW Cares advises exercising and eating a balanced diet to keep your lungs healthy and enhance their function. For instance, your doctor will recommend diaphragmatic breathing to improve sufficient oxygen exchange, stabilize your blood pressure and minimize stress. Though breathing occurs normally, stressful situations and tension from everyday life might force you to unlearn proper breathing.
How Can You Enhance the Health of Your Lungs?
- Increase antioxidants in your diet
Introducing smoke, alcohol, and stress to your body facilitates the development of free radicals, which are likely to damage your lung cells. Unfortunately, the free radicals are unstable and might result in cancer. However, eating foods rich in antioxidants like apples, broccoli, asparagus, and blueberries might help eliminate the radicals from your air passages, thus enhancing the health of your lungs for normal functioning.
- Go for the appropriate vaccines
Protecting your system from infections like pneumonia and flu is very crucial for your respiratory health. Flu is likely to affect your whole body, leading to complications like pneumonia and other severe health issues including congestive heart failure. On the other hand, pneumonia causes the formation of fluid-filled sacs in your lungs, making it impossible for you to breathe. Fortunately, you can protect yourself by getting the flu shot to prevent it from causing pneumonia.
- Minimize your exposure to pollutants
You might need to pay attention to your environment, especially if you have a lung condition. Watch out for worrisome warnings like the level of air pollution and do something to minimize your exposure. Smoke and other pollutants in the air will most likely irritate your airways, forcing symptoms of lung disease like chest tightness and wheezing to worsen.
- Improve the quality of your air indoors
Though it is hard to know when to enhance your indoor air quality, indicators like mildew smell might prompt you to act fast. Check your workplace or move into different rooms of your house looking for indicators to know your next step. To improve your air quality, you might opt. to use a dehumidifier, quit smoking indoors, and fix possible leaks that might breed molds.
- Exercise frequently
Frequent exercises improve your lung capacity by a significant percentage. Exercising also helps strengthen your cardio-respiratory system, making it possible for you to inhale more oxygen.
- Practice pursed-lip breathing
The breathing technique, usually a recommendation for individuals struggling with chronic lung illness, allows the patients to control their breathing, especially in stressful situations. By releasing the air trapped in your lungs, opening your airways for long, and enhancing your breathing pattern, pursed-lip breathing promotes relaxation and improves the functioning of your lungs.
Breathlessness is not necessarily a guarantee that your lungs are not properly functioning. Besides lung function likely to affect how you breathe, other issues like your lifestyle will affect your breathing. Contact your doctor to know what will most likely affect the proper functioning of your lungs.
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