How does breathing exercise & avoiding pollutants help our lungs

Exercise & breathe harder

Regular exercise is very important activity we could do for healthy lungs. Exercise is good for lungs just as it is for our body. When we exercise, the heart beats more rapidly & lungs get to work harder. The body requires additional oxygen to fuel up our muscles. Our lungs become more active for delivering that needed oxygen while expelling more carbon dioxide. As per an article, our breathing rises from approximately 15 times in a minute to nearly 40 – 60 times per minute.  The muscles between our ribs contract and expand & the air sacs in our lungs work faster to exchange oxygen for CO2 or Carbon dioxide. The more we exercise, the higher the efficiency of our lungs.  Developing healthy & strong lungs by exercise assists us to better resist diseases and ageing. Even if one develops some lung disease, exercise would help to curb the progression & keeps us active longer.

Avoiding exposure to pollutants

Exposure to the pollutants present in air may damage our lungs & foster aging. Lungs easily resist these toxins when they are young & strong. As we become older, they start losing their resistance & get more vulnerable to diseases and infections.

We should give a break to our lungs by reducing the exposure to pollutants:-

• We shall avoid 2^nd hand smoke & not to go out during the peak times of air pollution
• We shall avoid exercising around the heavy traffic as we would inhale the exhaust from the traffic
• If we are exposed to the pollutants at work, we should ensure all the possible health safety precautions.

In many countries indoor pollution is worse than outdoor. Below are certain tips to lower the indoor pollutants:-

• We shall make our homes smoke-free
• Dusting vacuum & furniture at least once in a week
• Open windows more frequently for increasing the indoor air ventilation
• Avoid synthetic air fresheners & candles which could expose us to additional chemicals such as benzene & formaldehyde. Instead we can use aromatherapy diffuser & essential oils to scent the air more naturally
• Keep the home clean
• Install adequate exhaust fans and arrange sufficient ventilation all across the home