Protecting our Lungs!

As we know with this respiratory virus, it can affect the lungs and their function.

But how exactly does this happen. Well, your lungs bring fresh oxygen into your body. They remove the carbon dioxide and other waste gases that your body doesn't need. Your diaphragm (your chest) tightens and flattens, allowing you to suck air into your lungs. To breathe out (exhaling), your diaphragm and rib cage muscles relax.

Inside the air sacs of the lungs, oxygen moves across paper-thin walls to tiny blood vessels called capillaries and into your bloodstream. Blood with fresh oxygen is carried from your lungs to the left side of the heart, which pumps blood around the body through the arteries.

Now, where does mucus fit into this picture? Well, the airway surface liquid also known as mucus, is a thin layer of fluid covering the surface of the lungs. The major function of mucus is to protect the lungs through a cleaning process against foreign particles and chemicals entering this cavity. That's how your lungs are supposed to work!

Mucus is like a gelatin, a sticky substance that we "do" need for optimal health.

But . . . what can cause excess mucus build up in the lungs on a daily basis?

Well, things like the common cold, the flu, sinusitis, allergies, asthma, fungal infections, mold, age or environmental irritants such as cigarette smoke and pollutants. AND . . . here's the big one . . . if your immune system is compromised.

Mucus is made of glycoproteins and water and their job is to trap pollution and foreign particles before they can do harm to the lungs. However, if you produce too much mucus that is too thick it makes breathing difficult and raises the risk of infection.

Hence, if a virus such as the one that is devastating the world comes also and you have too much mucus production, the chances that you will be infected are much greater than someone that has a regular mucus production.

So how do we fix an overproduction of mucus so we are less susceptible to disease?

Well, the long term fix would be to correct your immune system, but in today's crisis . . . we don't have the luxury of time. The best way to correct mucus production to protect the lungs is with a specific herb that is used for pneumonia and for preventing infection.

But if your looking for something in your house, how about:

Garlic

Celery

Onions

Lemons

Watercress

Parsley

If you'd like more information about this herb, feel free to contact me.