1 Simple Tip to Greatly Improve Your Health
And the best thing is it doesn’t cost a thing
Some estimates say 30–50% of adults don’t breathe correctly.
Maybe you didn’t even know there was a correct way to breathe. But there is. That 30–50% of people don’t have enough oxygen getting to their organs, tissues, and cells.
Because they don’t breathe through their noses.
In his book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art James Nestor took part in an experiment by only breathing through his mouth for 10 days.
After 5 days, his blood pressure increased, his heart variability rate dropped, his pulse was higher, and his temperature was lower. And he had less mental clarity.
All this after 5 days.
After 10 days he experienced sleep apnea with his blood oxygen levels dropping below the 90% needed to support body tissue.
If you’re not talking, laughing, or yawning, you should be breathing through your nose. Yes, even when you’re exercising (more on that later).
Everyone should read Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art — it has the potential to be life-changing. Not only that but it is backed up by an astounding amount of scientific and cultural research.
Here I’ll summarise the findings of the book and include some sources for further reading at the bottom of the article.
Mouth-breathing leads to a ton of complications. So many that I’m gonna put them in a giant list.
- low blood oxygen levels
- decreased lung function
- asthma symptoms
- bad breath
- tooth cavities
- gum disease
- ear and throat infections
- snoring and sleep apnea
- chronic fatigue
- low-quality air intake
- slower growth rates in children
- long, narrow faces
- narrow mouths
- overbites
- crowded teeth
- bad posture
- difficulty sleeping
- poor academic performance
Phew, that was a long list (I hope you’re still with me). But it shows the dangers of breathing through your mouth.
These complications might be reversible. By, you guessed it, breathing through your nose.
But why is breathing through your nose better? Well, I’ll tell you.
First, the nose warms, moistens and filters the air.
It moistens and warms the air to room temperature. And it catches things that could cause infection and dumps them down the throat and into the stomach.
By doing this, the nose is preparing the air for the lungs. So they’ll be more efficient at taking out the oxygen. And they can do it safely without infection or irritation.
Second, it increases the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.
Have you ever thought CO2 was a waste gas? Something that we needed to get out of our bodies? Well, you weren’t the only one. But you were wrong.
It performs essential tasks. The more CO2 we have in our blood, the more oxygen passes into tissue and organs. When we mouth breath, we get rid of too much CO2. That means tissues and organs don’t get as much oxygen.
Third, when air passes through the nose, it’s mixed with nitric oxide — the ‘mighty molecule.’
Enzymes in the nose make nitric oxide. But why the ‘mighty molecule?’ Because it lowers blood pressure, increases the amount of oxygen the lungs can absorb, and is important for your cardiovascular health.
It affects immune response, weight, circulation, moods, and sexual function. Ever wondered how Viagra works? It gets nitric oxide into the bloodstream.
Next, it reduces the likelihood of snoring and sleep apnea.
Snoring and sleep apnoea are common. And they can be a sign of something more serious, such as high blood pressure and cancer. Snoring happens because the nose gets weaker when not used for breathing. Use it or lose it. Like any other organ in the body.
But if you breathe through your nose all the time, the tissue in there will get healthier. And the nose can stay open longer. Which will help with snoring.
Finally, it might improve athletic performance.
Not only should we breathe through our noses when we exercise (despite how difficult that sounds), but it might even improve our performance.
Experiments with cyclists showed breathing through your mouth when exercising increases your breath rate. This decreased when breathing through the nose. One nose-breathing cyclist’s heart rate stayed the same even though the intensity increased.
