Can I clean up my lungs when I stop smoking?

Have you ever thought about the damage you have done to your lungs whilst you smoke? Okay so you have heard it all before, but really do you know what's happening on the inside? The following will shed some light into the state of your smokers lungs;

- Smoking can completely paralyze your lungs natural cleansing process

- Irritating gases produce chemical injury to the tissues of your lungs and the airways leading to the lungs. This speeds up the production of mucus and leads to an increased tendency to cough up sputum.

- The excess mucus serves as a breeding ground for a wide variety of bacteria and viruses. This makes you more susceptible to colds, flu, bronchitis, and other respiratory infections

- If you come down with an infection your body will be less able to fight it, because smoking impairs the ability of the white blood cells to resist it

- The lining of your bronchi thickens as the foundations are laid down for you to develop lung cancer

- Farther down, inside your lungs, the smoke weakens the free-roving scavenger cells that remove foreign particles from the air sacs of the lungs. Continued smoke exposure adversely affects elastin (the enzyme that keeps your lungs flexible), predisposing you to emphysema.

- Many of the compounds you inhale are deposited as a layer of sticky tar on the lining of your throat and bronchi and in the delicate air sacs of your lungs. A pack-a-day smoker pours about eight ounces-the one full cup-of tar into his or her lungs each year. This tar is rich in cancer-producing chemicals, including radioactive poloniumm 210.

Can I clean up my lungs when I stop smoking? It really does depend on how much smoking has damaged your lungs but there are ways to speed up the recovery process.

The most important thing to do is to stop smoking before your lungs get damaged. Even if they do become damaged, stop smoking. It is never too late to stop smoking!

You can start taking Vitamin D. Studies have shown that Vitamin D aids better lung function. So if you have been smoking for a number of years your lung defense system against pollution, smoke may have been destroyed. Vitamin D may help aid better lung function.

You can try cleaning your lungs by using herbs. There are several herbs that help to clean your lungs of the build up of tar and other harmful chemicals. These herbs, which include Coltsfoot, Mullein and Horehound, work by causing you to cough and clear your lungs. Mimosa, another herb, can be used in place of anti-depressants, as it helps with side-effects such as headaches and anxiety.

Incorporate resistance and cardiovascular exercise. Make your lungs work harder. Try breathing cleaner air.

Try losing excess weight, eat clean and detox the body. One thing you to remember is that your damaged lungs have taken months and years of smoking to become damaged. It may take a while to get them to function as you would like them to.

You can learn how to detox your lungs with a combination of vitamins, effective exercises and of course quitting smoking. You can learn how to lower your triglyceride levels and significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. There are ways to open up your capillaries that have been blocked due to smoking. You can start to clean up your lungs when you stop smoking. If you can avoid the risk of lung cancer then any safe, natural method of lung repair is worth it right?