Contributed by: Healthians Team
We all know that physical activity (exercise) is instrumental in preventing heart and blood vessel disease. But in urban environments, air pollution and exercise can be an unhealthy combination. This is particularly true if you have asthma, diabetes, or heart or lung diseases. People living in metropolitan cities are regularly exposed to air pollution levels far beyond the limit recommended by the World Health Organization. When air pollution levels are high, exercising may offset or even reverse the beneficial effects. City doctors say that pollutants in the form of nano dirt particles can enter the body and suppress immunity, increase vulnerability to respiratory disorders, heart attacks, and cancer, and reduce the overall life expectancy.
Air Pollution can come from a variety of sources, including:
- Vehicular exhaust
- Flowers, trees, and shrubbery pollen
- Small-scale industries like brick kilns
- Dust
- Suspended dust due to construction activities
- Combustion of fuels
- Agricultural activities, such as animal husbandry
- Industrial emissions
How Does Exercise Make This Worse?
The effects of outdoor air pollution can be particularly harmful to fitness enthusiasts. One explanation for this elevated risk may be that while exercising, the breathing rate increases to 50 to 60 breaths as against the normal average of 16 to 17 breaths per minute. This causes a reflexive switch from predominantly nasal breathing to oral breathing, which bypasses the nasal defenses of nose hair and makes way for to several particles to enter the lungs through the mouth. The minuscule toxins get deep into a person’s lungs and bloodstream, weaken organs and contribute to cardiovascular diseases.
“In the current scenario, inhaling two to three times more toxins is equal to smoking 20 cigarettes a day,” said Dr. Arvind Kumar, founder of Lung Care Foundation and head of the chest surgery at Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi. More and more health experts insist that it’s ideal to work out early in the morning when the air pollution levels are the lowest.
How Does It Affect You?
The devastating impacts on people’s health and economic well-being due to air pollution include:
- Chronic headache
- Irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin
- Damage to airways of the lungs
- Increased risk of development of asthma
- Chronic coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
- Aggravation of pre-existing lung and cardiac functions
- Increased risk of heart attacks and strokes
- Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
What Can You Do?
Can you ignore pollution? No, of course not! But that doesn’t mean it should make you give up on exercise entirely unless advised by your doctor. Here’s what you can do:
- Find a “green environment” for your daily regimen
- Avoid close proximity to traffic environments
- Avoid exercising during peak traffic hour
- Exercise early in the morning as pollutant levels are lower during this time.
- Work out at home
- Install a high-performance air purifier
- Take steam at least once a week to clear your respiratory system and soothe any inflammation
- Place air-purifying plants such as aloe vera, ivy, and spider plant at home or in the office.
- Consume fruits that are rich in vitamin C, magnesium, and foods rich in Omega fatty acids.
- Drink herbal ginger and Tulsi tea.
