Here’s A Benefit You Did Not Think of When Losing Weight: Lung Potency in CO2 Emission
After the holidays or in preparation for that summer body, people can often go nuts trying to shed a few extra pounds. But there’s a missing link as to why some succeed and others simply fall short of their weight loss goals: carbon footprint. For ages, nutritionists, physicians, physical fitness trainers and the rest of the health professionals and guru’s have only focused on weight loss being through heat or sweat, muscle getting converted from fat, or excretion via feces.
Deep breathing provides your body’s cells with oxygen, helping you absorb nutrients. Moreover, it stimulates your lymphatic system to get rid of toxins. If your breath is shallow (“chest breathing”), your cells are receiving less nutrients. Your lymph system may be more sluggish, both of which may lead to weight gain.
According to an article in the British Medical Journal, the shocking truth lies actually in the body’s carbon dioxide exhalation levels from the lungs. Here’s how it works. Lost weight requires unlocking carbon stored in fat cells. The human lung is the primary organ involved in the excretion of this fat. That doesn’t seem to add up, right? Wrong. To set out to lose weight without losing lean muscle, one must metabolize the triglycerides stored in fat cells. On a chemical level, to obtain this, triglycerides must be broken down into their component parts. Oxidizing or breaking down 10 kilograms of fat, for instance, will take 29 kilograms of inhaled oxygen. Which will in return, produce roughly 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 11 kilograms of water (H2O). So, although losing weight through proper exercise does happens through sweating, it does also take all that exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide to make it possible.
Food for thought: Fat is made up of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. When oxygen is breathed in, it reaches the fat molecules and breaks them down into carbon dioxide and water. Then, as the blood picks up the carbon dioxide, it sends it to the lungs to be breathed out. Regular exercise along with deep breathing can safely be relied upon to lead to weight loss.
The next time you consider shedding some excess weight, consider incorporating your lungs to their fullest capacity and really putting into work what yoga fanatics have been saying for years: breathe deep and long. It will increase your lung’s strength and get you to your goal that much easier.
