by Tami Raco Health Coach & Personal Trainer
You can live weeks without food and days without water, but only minutes without air. Yet something so significant to life is something we often take for granted, and rarely consider the impact it has on our health and wellbeing.
Oxygen breathed through the air supports the body’s metabolic process, helping the body to oxygenate the blood, make use of energy, and eliminate waste. If the air quality we breathe is poor, these functions can become impaired and can adversely affect health.
One of the biggest contributors to poor air quality is pollution. Pollution can come from many things such as emissions, manufacturing, and chemicals. Even the things we purchase and put in our home emit chemicals into the air when they let off gas. A high level of air pollutants can cause respiratory diseases, heart disease, increase risks to certain types of cancers, as well as reduce life expectancy.
Air quality is as important to our health as what we eat and our activity level. Living in an area with a longer winter leads us to being indoors more than during the summer months. We also end up keeping our windows closed, and the air in our home becomes stagnant from not having fresh air come in through windows. In the region of New York that we live, we are fortunate to typically have excellent air quality. (See https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/34985.html). We often go months before we spend significant time outdoors or have our homes open to be ventilated fully with fresh air.
Here are some tips to help ensure that you’re getting fresh air:
•Clean with environmentally friendly products (www.hip2save.com).
•Open your windows for 10-15 minutes every few days to ventilate your home.
•Remove any mold where there is water or moisture.
•Have plenty of green plants (visit this site for some suggestions (www.ecowatch.com).
•Invest in a HEPA filter.
•Clean vents frequently and change furnace filters often.
•Install Carbon Monoxide and Radon detectors.
•Turn off electronics when not in use, including turning off the WiFi when not in use.
•Get outdoors as much as possible.
As Spring approaches and we become extra mindful of fitting in our summer clothes and improving our health, let’s also be mindful of the health of the air that we breath. Pure air, clean water and healthy food are the cornerstones of good health!
