Breathe In Life To Enhance Your Paleo Diet Journey
Paleo or non-Paleo, people these days have renewed sense of awareness on the importance of feeding the body with good food for fitness and health.
But the thing is, Paleo diet is just one of the major components of a healthy, fit and disease-free body.
Think about it, the human body can go for several days without food, or water for a day or two but air? You cannot last for several hours without breathing. This brings us to the fact that breathing is the most vital component of life and health.
Understanding The Importance Of Breathing
Now, you may be thinking, “Breathing does not need much of my attention. I do it naturally.” Or “It’s not as if I have to choose or decide whether to breathe or not, right?”
True, breathing may not be as challenging as sticking to your Paleo diet, but the question is, are you breathing properly?
The World Health Organization has defined health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Hmmm…interesting right? You may be feeding your body all the Paleo diet goodness and you may be free from affliction, but it doesn’t neesssarily mean you are optimally healthy! Let that sink in for several seconds.
We feed our bodies to give it the energy it needs to perform bodily processes and functions. Our energy comes from the cells of the body, which is fueled NOT by food, but by oxygen.
Suffice it to say, oxygen is the key source of energy our bodies need.
Not food.
Not your carefully prepared Paleo diet recipes and meals.
Of course, this little fact does not mean it diminishes the importance of proper diet. Diet will remain important. So is exercise. There is just no getting around it.
It is oxygen that provides the energy for the body to perform its metabolic processes, including the absorption of vitamins and minerals, respiration, circulation, extraction of waste and digestion.
What does this mean to you? Without a good supply of oxygen, all your efforts to stick to Paleo diet can all go down the drain if you will not provide your body adequate levels of oxygen to make the most out of the nutrition you feed it with.
The Cost of Improper Breathing
Ever wondered why exercise is recognized as a critically important component to good health? Not just to build muscles, but to promote deep, rejuvenating breathing. And by the way, muscles also need oxygen to develop properly, so don’t skip on those cardio exercises if you want a well-rounded fitness program.
Most of us are shallow breathers. It is only when you feel stressed or you are in a certain emotional state that normal breathing patterns change drastically. When you are having an anxiety or panic attack, you will notice that you have rapid, shallow breaths.
So to complement and enhance your Paleo diet, you should adapt healthy breathing exercises. By performing a healthy breathing ritual every morning, you can effectively stimulate your lymphatic system to eliminate toxins and wastes from the body more effectively.
Do Yourself A Favor And Breathe Properly
If blood is pumped by the heart, the lymphatic system needs deep diaphragmatic breathing in order to function properly. A simple exercise that you can perform along with your usual morning ritual is to inhale in the count of 4, hold your breath for 16b counts before you exhale your breath at the count of 8.
For your guidance, think of this ratio 1:4:2
Try to perform this breathing exercise all throughout the day.
