Love Your Lungs
For Better Lung Health
Love Your Lungs For Better Lung Health
Sometimes we take our lungs for granted. They keep us alive and well; for the most part, many of us don't need to think about them. Over the past two years, the pandemic has taught us just how important it is to love our lungs.
By adopting certain healthy habits, you can better maintain the health of your lungs, and keep them working optimally well into your senior years.
Here are some simple things we can do to keep our lungs as healthy as possible.
5 Ways To Keep Your Lungs Healthy
- Stay active. Our heart beats faster when we exercise, and our lungs work harder to deliver more oxygen while expelling more carbon dioxide. Creating strong and healthy lungs through exercise helps us resist ageing and disease better.
- Decrease indoor pollutants. Try to increase indoor ventilation and avoid exposure to harsh chemicals, including strong cleaning agents and synthetic air fresheners. This can be achieved by dusting and vacuuming regularly (an excellent way to increase exercise!), like mould, dust and pet dander can irritate your lungs.
- Why not try breathing exercises to help maintain and increase lung capacity and strengthen your breathing muscles, making it easier to keep your lungs healthy. The British Lung Foundation has put together an exercise handbook.
- Contribute towards decreasing air pollution. While a large part of pollution may come from industry and transportation, there are still many things we as individuals can do to make a difference to our air quality. The British Lung Foundation has produced a report on The Invisible Threat: how can we protect people from air pollution and create a fairer, healthier society.
- And our favourite… Laugh more! It’s an excellent workout for your stomach muscles and helps increase the air your lungs can take in. Like sports, jogging, or breathing exercises, a good laugh clears out stale air to make room for fresh air that can reach more parts of your lungs.
For more information on Love Your Lungs Week, visit The British Lung Foundation.
