I was wondering, are there any diets or foods in particular which could help improve ones lung capacity, or breathing in general?
I am not a doctor but I believe that exercise is probably the best way to increase your lung capacity.
Yeah I know, that doesn’t answer your question. Sorry.
I don’t see how eating anything could possibly help here 'coz all atheletes would be gobbling it all day every day. It’s got to be aerobic excercise, running’s pretty good, is that an option?
Yeah, I was just wondering if there are any particular foods that would work well in conjunction with an exercise program (running etc.), rather than eating my way to better lungs. I remember hearing that red wine is good for cardiovascular a while back, though I’m not sure if it’s true, and I was wondering if there would be any variation on the typical balanced diet if I wanted to increase my lung capacity specifically.
About 15 years ago, my chiropractor, Gary Young, told me that pecans were bad for the lungs. That was the day I decided I needed a different chiropractor.
More recently, I saw an episode of Scientific American Frontiers, or some such, the one with Alan Alda. It was about holding one’s breath underwater for an extraordinary time. The world champion showed Alda how to do an exercise underwater to expand the lung capacity prior to a record attempt. Perhaps you can find it online.
Smoking cigarettes does not increase lung capacity . . .
But most people don’t know that if you eat 3 cigarettes per day, the nutrition within the tobacco actually helps increase your lung capacity. Who woulda thunk it!
No, there really aren’t any magical foods that will permit you to suddenly increase your aerobic capacity, but you can certainly choose some foods that will help you to support your exercise effectively.
For starters, whenever you exercise, you are injuring your body or otherwise stressing it so that it will feel compelled to grow back stronger, super-compensated. You’re going to want a balanced diet that gives you enough calories to let you run/ride/swim/whatever effectively without gaining weight, so be prepared to simply eat more. Get a good supply of protein (you don’t need to run out and buy a huge tub of powdered whey or anything, just make sure that you get some, probably at least 70g/day or something similar), nutrients from a diverse range of food sources (make an effort to include fruit, vegetables, etc.), and some decent carbohydrates before and during exercise. My personal thoughts are that you don’t need to go on some super stringent fat-cutting program when you eat your recovery food, but you definitely want some good carbohydrates when you are actually about to work out/working out. If the exercise is short (under an hour or something), you can probably skip any special nutrition to work out, but if you go anywhere near two hours, you need to be prepared to eat.
What exactly are you seeking to do with your enhanced “lung capacity”?
It is true, or at least it is currently believed to be true. I’m not sure what the evidence for it consists of.
You are only supposed to take a moderate amount of red wine. 1 glass a day is enough.
YOu can certainly improve your cardiovascular system thru exercise, and your rbc by exercise and moving to a high altitude. You can make your body more efficient, and you can stop smoking and move out of the city.
However, as far as your exact question, I dont know anything that will increase your actual “lung capacity”, which is the number, size, and capacity of the alveoli, if it is already healthy and mucus free. If there was anyway to increase lung capacity, i.e. the size or numbers of alveoli, or to regenerate them, then lung disease would not be the problem that it is.
I’m hoping to improve my breathing for when I play the trombone, so I can play longer phrases. That’s what I meant by lung capacity. I’m currently getting stuck into the exercise, and I don’t smoke, so I just wanted to be sure there wasn’t any “magic formulas” that I was missing out on that could help give me a slight edge. I should have put this in the OP, sorry.
Once a person is done growing, lung capacity does only one thing: Decline. How fast is dependent on quite a lot of things, including exercise, proper nutrition, smoking status, chemical exposures, infections, etc. But it is a one-way trip. One loses alveoli with time; they don’t regrow.
Measurements of lung capacity may show some variability, including improvement, especially if the capacity was temporarily compromised by fluid, infections, mucous plugging, etc. Clear the plugs, tests will show improved lung capacity.
The real race is to see if someone dies from something else before the lung capacity declines so far that it kills one. Most people’s lung capacity would last them to 120 or so, but some lose it quicker than that.
It’s always something 
I suspect a few lessons in good breath control would be helpful. Do you know of a voice teacher who might be willing to give you a lesson or two? I don’t know about the technicalities of the trombone, but I can’t imagine that it’d hurt.
There is some evidence, but nothing conclusive, that consumption of fish (and fish oils) may reduce things like chronic bronchitis and asthma.