It is easy to take things for granted, things like our health, the people in our lives and even something as simple and automatic such as breathing.
As a child we breathe easily and deeply, as an adult many things change the way we breathe.
Our posture, our stress, and of course smoking. Breathing is the only automatic process that we can control or override.
A child can hold their breath to get something they want. We can stop breathing to swim underwater, and we can breathe slowly and deeply to relax and release stress.
Breathing is certainly a big part of the miracle of living, but smoking interferes with that miracle 24 hours a day. As a smoker every breathe is slightly labored, causing your heart to work a little harder to supply your muscles and brain with enough oxygen to move and think.
But under load such as climbing stairs or exercising that heart stress is more noticeable as you struggle to suck in enough oxygen and many people find themselves puffing on exertion.
An average persons heart will beat 115,200 times per day. If your breathing is just restricted by 5% that means an extra 5760 beats per day. 2,102,400 per year or 42,048,000 over 20 years which is the average time a person smokes.
And it does all of this to not even give you the same energy as a non-smoker.
Your heart is not a super human machine, it will feel the strain, and between the impact of reduced circulation in your arteries and a stressed heart it is little surprise that smoking causes heart disease and heart attacks.
Unless you have been on another planet for your smoking life you would already know this, but have you ever stopped to think about exactly how it affects your heart, and do you care?
The figures above are based on a 5% reduction but it could easily be much more. I see clients who are breathing hard from just walking a short distance from their car to my clinic.
I notice that even after sitting in a chair for more than 30 minutes their breathing remains a little strained. This is a hard way to live, when you reach this stage your life becomes restricted, you have little energy for life and even your sleep will be compromised.
When you quit smoking within a week you will breathe a little easier, and in six months your heart will be much healthier.