Happy Elite Tip Tuesday friends and family! We are wishing health and wellness to everyone, as we are all working to do the best we can with what we know and what we don’t know.  This week we will dive into respiratory health.  These spongy air-filled organs help deliver oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.  That is an obvious statement but still worth saying so that we can begin to understand just HOW VITAL our respiratory system is in over all wellness.  We’ll talk about the lungs and respiratory system and what you can do to keep them in tip top shape!

Importance of Healthy Lungs and Respiratory System

There are five main functions of the Respiratory System:

1. Inhalation and Exhalation Are Pulmonary Ventilation—That’s Breathing
2. External Respiration Exchanges Gases Between the Lungs and the Bloodstream
3. Internal Respiration Exchanges Gases Between the Bloodstream and Body Tissues
4. Air Vibrating the Vocal Cords Creates Sound
5. Olfaction, or Smelling, Is a Chemical Sensation (this process of smelling involves the nervous system)

You can read in more detail and watch a videos demonstrating the respiratory system here.

As you can see and feel– if anything is obstructed, infected or off in the respiratory system this can have many different affects on the body.  You may not be able to smell or taste, you may not be able to speak as well, and energy levels can decline due to lack of oxygen.  Breath is life.  Some say you can’t live without love but really you can’t live without breath.  This is why it is extremely important to take care of your lungs and respiratory system!

Nutrients and Supplements for Respiratory Health

We interact with fungus, mold, bacteria, chemicals, pollution, and many more contaminants that affect the quality of our respiratory health every day.  Some things are completely unavoidable.  Luckily, there are things you can do daily to make sure you are caring for your lungs and respiratory health.

Cell Food helps oxygenate the blood as well as detox the body on a cellular level.  This is a great supplement to help with seasonal allergies, asthma, COPD, high altitude sickness, and other respiratory issues.  You simply add it to your water and drink.  It adds a slight citrus flavor to the water and is easy to drink down.  The bottle is also small and handy to take with you on the go to add to your water for extra energy.  It can also be helpful if wearing a mask has significantly lowered your oxygen intake. Cellfood may help make it more tolerable when you have to go out and wear your mask.

Chlorophyll is another great nutrient that you can add to water to help increase oxygen as well as red blood cells in the body.  Red blood cells are responsible for delivering oxygen to all the cells in the body.  Focusing on making sure your red blood cells are healthy and thriving is key to proper oxygen levels in the body.  Plus Chlorophyll is AWESOME for hot summer days because it contains electrolyte minerals like magnesium and potassium– helping the body conserve the water it needs!  It is also good for assisting the body in high altitude environments.  Bonus points: it works as an internal deodorizer for breath or body odor!

Herbs for Respiratory Health

If you love working with herbs we have some really great herbs that can be very helpful for maintaining or improving respiratory health.

Mullein can be useful to help reduce dry coughing, relaxes tightness in lungs, assists with ear aches, and more.  This is an extremely useful herbs for respiratory symptoms due to infections from bacteria or viruses.

Oregano is POWERFUL.  It can help clear air passages with its smell and properties.  It can be beneficial for a wider range of issues in the body due to it’s ability to fight bacteria, fungus, and viruses.  Oregano oil is also available in capsules if the flavor is too much or in a nasal spray for sinus congestion.

Turmeric and Ginger are both powerful herbs for respiratory health.  They both can help reduce and breakdown mucus in the respiratory system.  Turmeric and Ginger actually look like the bronchi in our lungs– the passageways that deliver air to the blood system.  They are also helpful for inflammation which can occur in the body due to infection.

Black Seed Oil is another fantastic herb for lung/respiratory health.  It contains a powerful nutrient called thymoquinone which is a powerful antioxidant.  It can be helpful for those dealing with asthma or other respiratory issues.  Put it on topically to condition the skin and make it glow!  Here’s a blog we wrote on Black Seed Oil for more info.

There are also several respiratory formulas like Lung, Bronchial, & Sinus Health by Natural Factors.  This formula includes an amino acid called N.A.C.  This amino acid improves respiratory conditions by acting as an antioxidant and expectorant, loosening mucus in your air passageways. As an antioxidant, N.A.C. helps replenish glutathione levels in your lungs and reduces inflammation in your bronchial tubes and lung tissue.  It also contains mullein along with other beneficial herbs for the respiratory system.  This formula can be used as a detox method to help rejuvenate the lungs.

Breathing Exercises 

Support respiratory health with breathing exercises!  Ever heard of Wim Hof?  This clever man came up with a specific style of a breathing exercise that can help strengthen the lungs and more.  It’s a bit extreme but very powerful.  Here is a guided video for a step by step guide.   If you want to try a lighter more simpler breathing exercise try pursed lip breathing!  Here is a guided video for more info.  If you’re really curious about breath and all its intricacies– watch this Ted talk about metabolism, breath, and weight loss.

Thanks again friends for reading and for caring about your health.  Keep the good work up, caring for your health, is caring for others’ health– beyond just wearing a mask.  And remember a lil honey goes a long way, so keep up the kindness– times are tough for all of us (for some more so than others)!

As always, do what you feel is best for YOUR body — if you aren’t sure, ask your doctor.  We are health ENTHUSIASTS not licensed practitioners.