The basic idea behind the respiratory system is that your body needs to breathe. More than just filling your lungs with oxygen so you don't suffocate as you know it, oxygen works in every cell of your body, not just your body as a whole. Each and every cell in the body needs oxygen so they can reproduce, move, build and turn food into energy. I never thought eating had anything to do with the respiratory system, but I learned that the only way food works as fuel is with oxygen involved!

When you breathe air into your respiratory system (you take about 20 breaths each minute), it goes in through your nose and mouth and into your lungs. You're able to pull in the air by flexing your diaphragm, and when you exhale it relaxes to push the air back out. Your lungs expand as you breathe in, then contract as you breathe out.

There are all kinds of fun facts about the respiratory system. For example, each minute you breathe in around 13 pints of air. Also, cold weather itself doesn't have anything to do with cold season. You don't get sick with a cold because you're out in freezing air, but because you tend to be inside more and around others. When they breathe, cough and sneeze their germs go flying into the air, and if you're sharing a room with them you're likely to breathe them in and get ill.

Learn more about issues that affect the respiratory system at the Mens Health Forum. It's free to join, so visit http://www.MensHealthForums.com/ and become a member today!