You know that feeling you get when you take a breath of fresh air in nature? There may be more to it than a simple lack of pollution. When we think of nutrients, we think of things we obtain from our diet. But a careful look at the scientific literature shows there is strong evidence humans can also absorb some nutrients from the air.
In a new perspective article published in Advances in Nutrition , we call these inhaled nutrients "aeronutrients"—to differentiate them from the "gastronutrients" that are absorbed by the gut. We propose that breathing supplements our diet with essential nutrients such as iodine, zinc, manganese and some vitamins. This idea is strongly supported by published data.
So, why haven't you heard about this until now? Breathing is constant We breathe in about 9,000 liters of air a day and 438 million liters in a lifetime. Unlike eating, breathing never stops. Our exposure to the components of air, even in very small concentrations, adds up over time.
To date, much of the research around the health effects of air has been centered on pollution. The focus is on filtering out what's bad, rather than what could be beneficial. Also, because a single breath contains minuscule quantities of nutrients, it hasn't seemed meaningful.
For millennia, different cultures have valued nature and fresh air as healthful . Our concept of aeronutrients shows these views are underpinned by science. Oxygen, for example, is technically a nutrient —a chemical substance "re.