How to Repair Lungs From Smoking

Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your lungs, so congratulations on taking that first step. After three months of not smoking, your lung capacity can increase by 30 percent, and within 10 years, your risk of developing lung cancer will be cut in half, according to the Canadian Lung Association. Human lungs are adept at self-cleaning, but smoke damages the fine hairs responsible for filtering out chemicals and foreign particles, called cilia. Your lungs will continue to clean themselves by sending up mucus and coughing if they have not been too badly damaged. Additionally, certain foods and vitamins, ways of breathing and regular exercise can all help rebuild your lungs.

Things You'll Need

• Magnesium
• Plants or trees
• Ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Ground pepper
• Fresh ginger
• Garlic
• Honey
• Lemon
• Fresh thyme

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Instructions

• 1

  Exercise in some way every day. This does not mean you need to become a jogger right away, but be sure to at least go for a brisk walk every day. This not only improves you lungs' capacity to handle more oxygen, but also helps your circulation and heart.

• 2

  Strengthen your lungs by trying deep-breathing exercises. Lay on the floor with one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest, close to your neck. Typical breathing comes in short bursts, but you want to focus on taking long deep breaths that fill your stomach and chest area. Let your belly button push out away from your spine as your inhale for 5 seconds, until your chest rises as well. Once you feel like you will burst, exhale slowly for 7 seconds. This helps drain your lymphatic system and increases the efficiency of the lungs and blood vessels.

• 3

  Take 400 mg of magnesium every day. This mineral relaxes the bronchial tubes leading up from your lungs and relieves some of the pain experienced when you are short of breath.

• 4

  A forest is a great place to get exercise and fresh air at the same time.

  Spend time outdoors. Plants and trees clean the air of toxins and produce oxygen. Breathing clean air can assist in the process of your lungs' recovery.

• 5

  Prepare home remedies with herbs and foods, especially those recommended for sufferers of chronic bronchitis. Tea prepared with licorice root is a popular home remedy, as are cabbage juice and other fruit and vegetable juices in daily doses. Ginger is a powerful remedy. It can be mixed as a powder with pepper or cloves, and taken with hot water. It can also be made as a tea with fresh ginger, lemon, thyme, garlic cloves and honey.