Just like your heart’s job in the circulatory system, your lungs work is (mostly) involuntary. That is, we breathe without thinking unless we override the process by consciously manipulating the movement of our diaphragm.Â
You’re probably trying it right now.
At all other times, however, we don’t give our respiratory systems much thought. As a result, you may not know some of the most interesting factoids about this most life-giving of bodily systems. Let’s change that, shall we?
Your Lungs Aren’t the Same Size
Our bodies are generally symmetrical, but this symmetry is not absolute. Case in point, your right and left lungs are not the same size and shape. This is because your left lung has to be a little smaller in order to accommodate your heart. As a result, the right lung is the larger of the two. Of course, you’ll want to keep both your lungs healthy, no matter their size, and chyawanprash from American Neutraceuticals can help you do just that.Â
The Lungs Float in Water (In or Out of the Body)
If you’re a dedicated swimmer, you likely know that taking a deep breath of air helps you float. This is because the lungs are inherently buoyant. The numerous alveoli are never fully empty of air, and thus serve as tiny bubbles, which cause the lungs themselves to float. Even if you were to take a lung out of a body and chuck it into a lake, it would still float just fine. No other body organs can boast the same.
An Unfolded Lung Would Be the Same Size as a Tennis Court
Our lungs pack an incredible amount of surface area into a tiny package. This is because the lungs have to come into contact with air in order to extract oxygen, which then goes to feed the brain and other organs. If the lungs had a small surface area, not much respiration could be accomplished, and our personal and evolutionary potential would be much diminished. Therefore, if you were to unpack a lung, it would take up a great deal of space, about as much as a tennis court, in fact. Of course, with all that vulnerable area, there are many attack vectors by which lungs may be made ill. With that in mind, keep your lungs healthy with Pulmo-Gen from Genestra.Â
Our Lungs Eliminate a Lot of Waste
When we think about the waste our bodies eliminate, we immediately think of feces, urine, and sweat. Of course, all of these waste products are important, but the lungs actually have a bigger role. Much of the waste our bodies produce (70%, in fact!) is eliminated as gas by, your guessed it, the lungs. Protect your lungs for this vital job with numerous respiratory products by Maharishi Ayurveda.Â
Speed Round!
Many of the other fun facts about the respiratory system are not well known, but are self-explanatory. Therefore, we’re going to give them to you without much analysis.
- People exhale about .6 ounces of water per hour, more if you’re exercising.
- Women and kids breathe faster than men.
- We only absorb a quarter of the oxygen we inhale. The air found on Earth contains about 21% O2. Only 5% of the total volume is absorbed, and the remaining 16% is exhaled.
- Humans breathe in over 200 ounces of air every single minute.
There you have it, 8 fun facts about the respiratory system. We hope that you’ve gained a slightly better appreciation for the function of your lungs, and now know a couple new tactics to promote the health of these vital organs.
