Five Respiratory Health Hacks
We’ve all heard hundreds of times now from the media that those with respiratory health challenges are at especially high risk if they contract the COVID-19 virus.
Many with…
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Asthma
Emphysema
Cystic Fibrosis
Chronic Bronchitis
Are now living in terror in self-isolation, doing everything they can to avoid going to the grocery store, placing their hope in their masks to protect them, and a lot of smokers are finally regretting indulging a foolish bad habit for decades. Fortunately, there are some biohacks they can implement to address their respiratory conditions so that they can venture outside, see their friends, and lead normal lives without unbearable existential anxiety weighing on them.
Here we’ll delve into five approaches for managing respiratory challenges, which aren’t painfully obvious like getting some regular aerobic exercise, drinking a lot of water, and of course NOT smoking cigarettes, cannabis, or vaping.
Take time to breathe
During this anxious time, you may be more short of breath than usual, which those masks that we all have to wear exasperate. Try to spend a bit of time daily just breathing, as little as 6 deep breaths have a notable effect on our stress levels and cortisol. You can take a minute or two to do diaphragmatic breathing, in the morning when you wake up, in the evenings before bed or when you get your mask off after running some errands.
During this stressful global episode, it’s an especially good idea to habituate some sort of daily meditation practice, spending 10–20 minutes daily focusing specifically on your breathing.
You’ll want to look into the tantric or QiGong breathing techniques for men and women, maybe read the book, The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity, which explains a number of empowering breathing techniques. This is not just a wuwu pseudo-spiritual thing, a pilot study was done in 2015 at the University of Michigan which validated mindfulness meditation as an intervention for COPD. The study explains that those with COPD suffer especially from Dyspnea, the sensation of shortness of breath, which is really caused by low-level anxiety that we may not be aware of. Dyspnea is, of course, something we should all be a little more conscious of now that we are all stuck inside and tend to watch more fear-mongering media, but it’s a bigger problem for those with respiratory conditions. One of the notable findings of the study was that the meditators became much more aware of the low-level stress causing the shortness of breath. They became more apt to take a minute to breathe deeply and catch their breath.
The Gut-Lung Axis
The body is a holistic system so you shouldn’t be surprised to know that there’s a connection between gut health and respiratory function. Take steps to assuage gut inflammation.
- Start with diet, cut the bad stuff that your gut is going to struggle with; sugary junk food, white bread, etc. And eat more of the anti-inflammatory foods; broccoli, avocados, blueberries, carrots, olive oil, spinach, and salmon.
- Feed your gut biome the probiotic foods that the healthy bacteria in your gut crave; organic yogurt, Kefir, Sauerkraut, raw cheese, and drink a little apple cider vinegar.
- Supplement BPC-157, a natural gut peptide that works systemically to rapidly heal gut dysfunction.
Get Plants
One of the silver linings of the coronavirus lockdowns is the air pollution improvement in cities where fewer people are now driving their vehicles around. Air pollution, of course, aggravates respiratory challenges, but there is also air pollution in your home, especially now in the springtime when it’s not quite warm enough to keep a window open to get some fresh air. Ideally, get a fancy air purification unit and set it up in your living room, but if you can’t get your hands on one, plants help. Plants breathe and as they respire, they filter out the toxins and microscopic pollutants in the air.
Do a Nasal Wash Daily
When you breathe in through your nose you get more oxygen than inhaling through your mouth. If you’re a little more conscious about breathing in through your nose, you’ll breathe a little better. The issue, especially during the wintertime, is that we get some buildup in our nose, you can blow your nose with a tissue but you will be pleasantly surprised at invigorating nose-fulls of air you get after doing a nasal wash. This is done simply and safely with some warm water, a little salt, and a Netti pot ideally, but a funnel will do. You tilt your head all the way to the side and pour warm water through your nasal cavity, into one nostril and it will run out the other.
Try it, you really will breathe better!
Supplement Sea Moss
It might surprise you to learn that Sea Moss is powerful respiratory medicine, it’s documented use dates back to the 1800s when the Irish used it to prevent and treat respiratory diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia. Why does Sea Moss have this effect? It’s a natural, bioavailable source of Iodine.
Iodine is an outstanding mucolytic agent, this means that it thins the mucous that builds up in our lungs and can impair breathing resulting, chronically, in disease.
The results of a human clinical trial were published in the European Respiratory Journal in 2011 which points to Iodine deficiency is a significant factor in respiratory conditions
Thus, presence of iodine deficiency diseases in children with [Chronic nonspecific diseases of lungs], has a definite significance during and outcome of chronic bronchopulmonary process, which requires additional and regular introduction of iodine-containing preparation and thyroid hormone.
A collaborative 2015 paper by Singaporean, Taiwanese, and Korean researchers identified Iodine’s antiseptic properties, noting
Furthermore, iodine is a scavenger of free radical oxygen species, contributing to anti‐inflammatory properties.
A recent paper out of King’s College London names Iodine as a preventative measure for COPD and pneumonia.
An older Japanese study found that gargling an Iodine solution was an effective preventative against respiratory infections.
Sea Moss also contains Potassium chloride which assuages the inflammation of the mucus membranes and clears the lungs of phlegm.
Infinite Age in the USA offers Sea Moss Advance
- Which combines Bladderwrack with Burdock Root, and Irish Sea Moss.
- Sea Moss has a pungent, strong taste that many do not like — “It tastes like the ocean” some report, which is why ours is capsuled.
- Two capsules contain 500 milligrams of Bladderwrack and 250 milligrams of Bladderwrack, which is the clinical efficacious dose.
This sea moss is a multi-vitamin in a moss, it’s nutrient-dense, with 92 of the 102 minerals that make up the human body.
- Wildcrafted, harvested from the sea, not “factory farmed” in a swimming pool.
- Verified as pure and non-toxic by an American spectroscopy lab (view COA).
- It contains a number of Iodine’s cofactors, Vitamins A, C, E, F, and K along with B vitamins, magnesium protein, beta-carotene, pectin, and sulfur which empower immunity.
