Fresh air - free, vital, and of healing value, but not always fully appreciated.

When something happens that’s an improvement it’s common to refer to it as being ‘like a breath of fresh air’. Also, we all know that wonderful, uplifting sensation when you finally drink in oxygen from the great outdoors, after being cooped up at work or traveling.

Despite that, the health value of free, abundant fresh air is still largely undervalued. People are not always aware of the health relevance of being outdoors or letting air into their homes.

This was not always the case.

When humankind ‘discovered’ fresh air’s power

The Victorians changed the face of Britain in their hunger to create resorts for the good of their health. They escaped the pollution of mills and foundries, to take salt water or spa baths, and ‘promenade’ to fill their lungs with clean (often sea) air.

This era also featured a new understanding of the health properties of sleeping outdoors.?

“Living indoors without fresh air quickly poisons the blood and makes people feel tired and seedy when they don't know why. For myself, I sleep out of doors in winter as well as summer. I only feel tired or seedy when I have been indoors a lot. I only catch a cold when I sleep in a room.” Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement (1857-1941).

In the First World War, it was noted that soldiers were less suspectable to dying of gangrene and sepsis if they recovered from injuries outside.

In his 1915 book ‘A Surgeon in Belgium’, British surgeon Henry Souttar explained the initial aim was to relieve the stench of the soldiers’ festering wounds. However, he realised that wounds left open outdoors healed faster. He refers to using ‘liquid oxygen’, too. This was possibly dilute hydrogen peroxide, still used as an infection control substance post-surgery.

Belief in the healing and restorative power of fresh air continued into the 1940s and 1950s. In fact, by then, fresh air was seen as a natural disinfectant, able to clear away various toxins from the lungs and the body’s external surfaces.

In?the journal?‘Modern Hospital’ published in March 1942, a prominent New York City hospital design consultant called Charles F. Neergaard revealed a layout for inpatient care that he had copyrighted. It featured a windowless room.?

This was considered to be a shocking proposition, as the widely held view at the time was that both sunlight and fresh air contributed heavily to disease and general health management.

It is amazing to think that windowless rooms are now a common feature of our lives, including healthcare settings. Buildings are focused on internal efficiency, not on optimising the assets that nature provides.

Is fresh air really that important?

It would be easy to think that we no longer need to concern ourselves with polluted air, cramped living conditions, poor hygiene and the other reasons that diseases spread so quickly ‘in the old days.?

The COVID-19 pandemic flies in the face of that. It vividly illustrates how contemporary and even air-conditioned buildings can still leave us vulnerable to the rapid spread of an illness.?

How many childhood colds and illnesses spread like wildfire in modern classrooms, too?

Interestingly, part of the response to COVID-19 was a return to the 19th-century view (greatly supported by Florence Nightingale) that good ventilation and access to fresh air were key to health and healing.?

It was clear that the coronavirus responsible for this pandemic rarely spread in outdoor settings. Throwing doors and windows open - and encouraging outdoor gatherings – were therefore part of the solution.?

However, as usual, mainstream medical science didn’t go far enough with its adaptation of centuries-old wisdom, and the views of naturopaths. So, we all went back indoors, to centrally heated and sometimes windowless rooms.

Fresh air as a disinfectant

The important thing to appreciate is that fresh air is not simply vital because it means we are avoiding contagious or toxic substances. Nor is ‘clean air’ simply an antidote to respiratory illnesses, or a way of dispersing the molecules that cross-infect people.?

Fresh air kills viruses and bacteria.?

Scientists experimenting in the 1960s concluded that fresh air could be a natural disinfectant, killing the source of infections. It was referred to as the Open Air Factor or OAF.?

A recent?study?on COVID-19 mentions that this “has not been properly recognised for decades. This is despite robust evidence that the OAF can influence both the survival of airborne pathogens and the course of infections.”

Increasing our oxygen levels

Another highly significant advantage of getting plenty of fresh air is that it improves how well we oxygenate our bodies.?

Sealed shut and centrally heated rooms are circulating the same air; potentially air containing condensation and the carbon dioxide we have already exhaled, as well as moulds and dust. It's why long periods in an under-ventilated environment can leave you with headaches, feeling sluggish, and with a low mood.

When we step outside, we fill our lungs with more oxygen, which can then be transported around to our cells. This includes properly oxygenating our brain and stimulating the release of hormones like Serotonin.?

Sufficient oxygen is essential to our ‘human energy factory’ known as the mitochondrion. This is an organelle that densely populates most human cells. Mitochondria carry out the biochemical processes of respiration and energy production.

It is clear that access to sufficient fresh air and natural light enables our mitochondria to do their vital functions, keeping our cells healthy and our energy levels sufficient across our entire body.

Eat better to access more oxygen – and energy

We have already covered the way in which purposeful nutrition can activate our cells to be more responsive to the ‘electricity’ we get from natural light, to support body-wide energy. The same principle applies to eating nutrients that can optimise our ability to benefit from our oxygen intake.

This is particularly important, as having poor nutrition to support our respiratory and vascular health naturally leaves us more vulnerable to infections. Returning to the topic of COVID-19, low levels of key nutrients like?Vit D,?zinc,?selenium,?vitamin C, and?quercetin?may have contributed to its awful impact. There is even a view that the pandemic owes much to latent tuberculosis (TB) that lingers in some human lungs.

What foods can you eat to support improved access to fresh air, and oxygenation of cells?

Foods rich in antioxidants are essential, as they can boost oxygen levels in your blood as well as play a role in protecting your cells from free radicals. Alkalising foods can also be a source of help in boosting your internal oxygen levels. This can be achieved by juicing such foodstuffs as leafy greens, bananas and carrots.

It surprises some people to learn that lemon juice turns alkaline after consumption, so it can help improve how you utilise oxygen internally. It’s one of the reasons it is favoured as a treatment for colds.

Any food that supports your?cardiovascular health?is important to your oxygen levels too. For example, turmeric, nuts, seeds and good quality sources of Omega-3.

Lastly, as already mentioned, vitamin D and minerals such as zinc and selenium all support our ability to produce sufficient cellular energy from both oxygen and light.

Clearly, drinking your first nutrient-packed smoothy of the day in front of an open window, or sat in your garden, could well be a big step forward in protecting your health and energising you for what lies ahead!