6 Easy Ways to Cleanse Your Lungs
It is vital to cleanse your lungs every once in a while. It helps keep your lungs clean and healthy. Keep in mind that the lungs are one of the major organs in the body, and keeping them healthy is essential to your survival.
Suppose you are a smoker or have been smoking for many years, breathing pollution, toxins, and other harmful substances. Cleansing your lungs and living in areas with fresh air sounds like a good idea. But cleansing your lungs takes more than just drinking vitamins and teas, living in non-polluted areas, or inhaling essential oils. No scientific studies back up the claims of companies selling these products either.
There are plenty of ways to cleanse your lungs naturally and safely. Keep reading if you are looking for tips and ways to do that.
Helpful Ways to Detox or Cleanse the Lungs
Cleansing your lungs naturally is the best way you can keep them healthy. While you cannot undo any damage done to your lungs (if any), you can always keep it strong by detoxing it. Here are easy ways to do it.
Regular exercise
Exercising improves your lung capacity and function. Your muscles work hard to increase the body’s breathing rate. It promotes a higher oxygen supply to the muscles and improves blood circulation. This makes the body more efficient in releasing excess carbon dioxide produced while exercising.
As the body adapts to regular exercise, the muscles will learn to use oxygen more effectively. It will also produce less carbon dioxide. If you have COPD or asthma, consult your healthcare provider before engaging in an exercise program. They can also suggest the kind of exercise suitable for your condition.
Steam Therapy
Another good way to cleanse your lungs is through steam therapy. This cleansing involves steam inhalation by inhaling the vapor coming from hot water to help open the airways. The steam helps loosen the mucus in the lungs, making it easier to expel. Additionally, warm steam helps moisturize the lungs, making it easier to loosen the mucus and improve breathing.
In other studies, steaming is helpful in soothing sore throat. However, steaming is only an effective temporary solution. More studies must be done to fully understand steam therapy’s benefits to the lungs.
Controlled Coughing
Our body’s natural way of expelling toxins trapped in mucus is through coughing. Controlled coughing, on the other hand, helps loosen any lung mucus and remove them. If you have COPD, this exercise helps clear the lungs. To do this, you must do the following:
- Sit on a chair with relaxed shoulders and feet flat on the floor.
- Fold your arms over the stomach.
- Inhale slowly through the nose.
- Exhale slowly while leaning forward as you push your arms against your stomach.
- Cough 2 or 3 times while exhaling as you open your mouth.
- Inhale slowly through your nose.
- Rest and repeat as necessary.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Eating anti-inflammatory foods is also helpful in cleansing your lungs. Sometimes, inflamed airways can make breathing difficult and cause the chest to feel heavy. Anti-inflammatory foods can help reduce swelling and relieve the symptoms of congestion. Some of the foods considered anti-inflammatory are:
- Cherries
- Lentils
- Blueberries
- Turmeric
- Leafy greens
- Olives
- Beans
- Walnuts
Drinking green tea was also found to be both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, which helps cleanse your lungs. It also reduces your chances of developing COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), but the results are inconclusive. Although drinking tea doesn’t hurt, there’s no substantial evidence that it will work.
Postural Drainage
Postural drainage is one of the oldest methods of removing mucus from the lungs. It has been proven to improve breathing and health and prevent lung infections. To do postural drainage, do the following:
a. On your back
- Lay down on the floor or a bed. Make sure you’re comfortable.
- Place pillows under the hips. The cushions ensure that the chest is lower than the hips.
- Inhale slowly through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Make sure to exhale twice as long as inhaling. This is called 1:2 breathing. Continue doing this for a few minutes until you feel relieved.
b. On your side
- Lay on your side and rest your head on your arm or pillow.
- Place two pillows under your hips and repeat the same 1:2 breathing pattern.
- Continue to do this for a few minutes and repeat on the other side.
c. On your stomach
- Place a stack of pillows on the floor and lie down with your stomach on it.
- Keep your hips above the chest and fold your arms under the head for support.
- Do the 1:2 breathing pattern again and continue to do this for a few minutes.
Chest Percussion
Chest percussion or percussion is another method that helps clear up the mucus from the lungs by rhythmically tapping the chest walls. A healthcare professional or respiratory therapist uses a cupped hand to tap on the chest to help dislodge mucus. Combining this method with postural drainage can be an effective way to clear the airways.
We cannot avoid trapping mucus in our lungs. But with regular lung cleansing, eating healthy, and exercising, you can keep healthy lungs.
