6 Methods to Better Lung Health

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There are so many facets of our general health it can be hard to keep track of. From your oral health to your mental health and physical health, it is tough to ensure everything is above board. If you are one of the 300 million people around the world with asthma, you know just how irritated your lungs can get based on a change in the temperature, if there’s a bit of dust, or if you eat certain foods. This is why it’s so important for you to keep your lung health on track. Let’s show you some practices that can make all the difference.

Look at Your Home First

There are little ways you can make your home less triggering. If you have a conditioning unit or HVAC unit, an HVAC service can ensure it is functioning at its optimum while also not dispersing triggers like pollen, pet dander, and dust. Lots of people feel that their AC unit triggers their asthma symptoms, either because the air is too cold or because the aforementioned triggers have been dispersed. Additionally, making sure that you get rid of triggers in the house like dust by regular cleaning and using natural cleaning products will ensure you don’t experience asthma flare-ups.

Staying Active

Exercise is one of those things that keeps the heart healthy but it’s also excellent for our lungs. You might have been recommended that you go swimming because it’s excellent for your lungs, but the important thing to remember is that if you have very severe asthma, you build up gradually. Lung health is only going to improve if you progress a little and often. 

Rather than attempting to run for one mile continuously and suffer for days, you’ve got to start with a more manageable distance and gradually expand by 5%. This means that you will be able to manage your symptoms better and you will also be progressing in the right direction. It’s also important to remember that something like strength training also counts as a cardiovascular workout if you do them with minimal rest, but it’s important to “listen” to your lungs and if you need a break, do so.

Training Your Diaphragmatic Muscles

On the topic of exercise, you can train the very source of your asthma symptoms. A lot of people don’t think about the lungs as a muscle, but that is exactly what they are. There are simple things that we can do to ensure that we improve muscle strength beyond cardiovascular exercise. These include:

• Improving your posture. Standing upright with your chest outwards instead of hunched over means you have more air entering your lungs. 
• Invest in a lung strengthener. There are many lung-strengthening devices on the market that constrict the amount of air you are breathing through a tube, forcing your lungs to work harder. 
• Performing breathing exercises. Breathing exercises come thick and fast and it’s about making sure that you know how to strengthen your lungs. When you are performing any form of breathing exercise to strengthen your lung capacity, you need to feel that pull, which is why a lung strengthener will work.
• Buteyko breathing. Buteyko breathing is something that works on the principle that we are all over-breathing. It can be hard for us to take in enough air as asthmatics and there’s a lot of information out there on Buteyko breathing, with a lot of people swearing it has cured them of their asthma.

The Right Supplements

Supplementation is certainly not a replacement for traditional asthma medication but it’s important to know the right supplements that could boost your lung function. Some of the beneficial supplements include: 

• NAC. 
• Ginseng. 
• Cordyceps. 
• Curcumin.

This article provides information on each of these supplements. There’s also a lot to be said for more common supplements like vitamin D, vitamin C, and vitamin A.

Drinking More Water

It’s something that we don’t consider but when we are experiencing asthma symptoms it’s because there is a thin lining of mucus inside our lungs. Drinking more water helps to keep the lining thin, which will help your lungs do their job far more efficiently.

Use a Salt Pipe

While there’s only anecdotal evidence at this stage, many people throughout history have sworn by spending time in salt mines to improve their lung health. A salt pipe may help you if you tried a variety of things that haven’t worked. When it comes to improving your lung function it’s about making sure you have, in addition to a well-controlled asthma routine, that you look at lung health as a combination of minimizing triggers, strengthening your lungs, and following the right protocols for you.