Breath Series - Part 3

As the third (and final?) installment to the Breath Series, let's look at some fun facts about the breath and lungs.

Q: What do the lungs look like?

My very favorite thing about the lungs is that they look like upside down trees. It reminds me of just how connected we are to nature, that we are in fact natural beings. The trachea is like the main trunk of the tree. The first two branches are the bronchi. The "twiggier" branches are the bronchioles. And if this were a cherry or apricot tree, the fruit could be the alveoli. Compare these illustrations below:

And the next time you pop a sprig of broccoli into your mouth, just check out the similar structure it has to our lungs. The little tips look just like happy little alveoli. There are even studies being done to show that smokers that consume greater amounts of broccoli (and all cruciferous vegetables) drastically lower their risk of developing lung cancer! And don't the words "BROCcoli" and "BRONCHiole" have some similarities? Just sayin.

Q: Why do we die without oxygen?

"Oxygen is required to complete the total breakdown of glucose for the the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy for life. Many people think that humans need oxygen to breathe, but actually people need oxygen to recycle the spent electrons and hydrogen ions (H+) produced as byproducts of aerobic exercise. -Open Me Up, DK Books

Q: Why do yogis breathe in and out through the nose?

"The nasal cavity serves to warm and humidify the air before it enters the lungs. It can also recapture some of that heat and moisture as the air is exhaled through the nose, but not the mouth. For this reason, breathing through the mouth increases the rate of water and heat loss associated with the process of respiration." -Susan Whittemore, The Respiratory System, p. 33

Q: Do mammals breathe differently than other animals?

"Mammals breathe in and out of the same pathway. In other words, fresh air meets "dead air" and diminishes the rate of oxygen diffusion in the blood. Birds, for example, have a unidirectional flow-through lung that avoids the dilution of incoming air with dead air. This allows for a higher rate of oxygen diffusion."  -Susan Whittemore, The Respiratory System

Fun Lung Facts:

• When resting, the average adult breathes around 12 to 20 times a minute.
• The total length of the airways running through the two lungs is 1,500 miles or 2,400 kilometers.
• The total internal surface area is estimated to be equal to the total area of one side of a tennis court.
• The lungs are the only organs that can float on water.
• Scientists say that if all capillaries surrounding the alveoli are unwound and placed end to end, they will cover a staggering 616 miles or 992 kilometers.
• An average person breathes in around 11,000 litres of air every day.
• At the time of birth, a baby’s lungs are not inflated and are actually filled with a fluid that is secreted by the lungs. When the baby moves out of the birth canal, a sudden change in environment and temperature triggers the first breath which usually takes place 10 seconds after the baby is delivered from the birth canal.

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