As the wildfires burned out of control in California the last two weeks, the air quality alarms have been sounding off daily and you can see and feel the dry smoky air as you walk outdoors. Individuals with asthma or allergies are warned to stay indoors and many others are going to the emergency room with complaints of respiratory symptoms.
In this situation, we are acutely aware of the vital role our lungs play in providing us the most essential element of life: oxygen. Each breath we take supports our brain, heart, and all our vital organs with the oxygen necessary to keep us alive and healthy. Chapter 5 in YOU: The Owner’s Manual provides an excellent framework to better understand a bodily function that many of us take for granted, how breathing right can help us every second of our lives.
It is amazing when you think of all the different activities that are triggered in your body when you take a deep breath. Do you know how many breaths you take in a minute, an hour, a year or a lifetime? In this chapter you will realize that your lungs will exchange enough air during your lifetime to fill over 10 million balloons. You will also learn that each breath you take helps to clean toxins and waste products from your body tissues.
Many of us know some of these facts but we seem to take them for granted because breathing is such a natural process and we are not conscious of every breath we take unless we train our bodies and our minds to be more attentive. That’s where Drs. Oz and Roizen bring very helpful information to us in these chapters. Understanding the importance of simple behaviors and habits that you can change to improve your breathing and help your body live longer. Consider taking yoga classes to learn how to breathe right and create greater balance in your life. In addition, for those who smoke, you can add years to your life if you follow the Smoking Cessation Plan on page 171.
In Chapter 6, the book shifts gears to give you insights on the inner workings of your gut (stomach and intestines). What I find most fascinating are very recent scientific discoveries that compare our brain with some of the chemical and nervous functions that occur in our gut. Your intestines and your brain have very similar neurotransmitters and hormones. The intestine also comprises a very large segment of our immune system which is the body’s primary defense against invading bacteria.
I also believe that “gut feelings” are part of our primitive early warning system that tells us intuitively when a certain experience just doesn’t feel right. Many people experience stomach problems when they are nervous, anxious, or upset. The intestine is wired and inter-connected with our nervous system and our emotions in more ways than we realize. The authors have rightly called the intestines the “democratic government of your body”.
Dr. Tony
