Longevity Series Part 1: Breathe the right way to live longer!

Do you ever think about HOW you breathe?

Do you breathe mostly through your mouth or nose?

Why doesn’t your doctor at your annual physical (hopefully you get one of those) check your respiratory rate, the balance of O2 and CO2 or the type and quality of your breathing?

Many chronic respiratory and metabolic diseases can be linked simply to problems with your breathing. Problems such as asthma, anxiety, ADHD, psoriasis, depression, sleep apnea , snoring and more.

There are books that describe the negative health effects of sleep apnea, insomnia and snoring. This can lead to ADHD, diabetes, high blood pressure and even cancer. All because of the way you breathe!’

Changing HOW you breathe can help you live longer and healthier. 

40% of today’s population suffer from chronic nasal obstruction.

50% of us are habitual mouth breathers.

There are many environmental factors that may influence this but one structural thing that has changed anthropologically (even over the past several hundred years) is the shrinking size of the human skull and mouth.

As a result of decreased space in the nasal cavity AND a decrease in airflow thru habitual mouth breathing our nasal cavity gets congested, bacteria flourishes and this leads to chronic obstruction and infections.

Our mouths have grown smaller with the roof of our mouths arching upward thereby decreasing the space in the nasal cavity. We extract teeth due to overcrowding BECAUSE of the shrinking size of the human skull. As a result, we encourage further shrinking in the bones of our skulls. This anthropologic change has had a Darwinian devolving effect on our longevity.

One reason for this is the evolution of our diets. We have evolved to eating softer and more processed foods instead of raw and more course and chewy foods. Chewing less means less bone growth. Just like NOT performing resistance exercises or weight bearing exercises makes your bones weaker, smaller and more brittle.

There’s hope! Studies have been done that show the plasticity of the bones in your skull and face. You CAN increase bone size and density through adulthood. There are devices on the market that can help with this. Eat raw foods. Chew more. Even chewing gum can help!

So should you train yourself to become a nasal breather?

Experiments have been done on athletes that demonstrate an ability to cut total exertion in HALF, improve overall endurance and decrease total respiration rate with a focus on nasal breathing during exercise. Read more in Breath…very interesting if you are looking to feel even MORE bettah’ during and after exercise.

Have you ever noticed during the day how one side of your nose seems congested but the other side is not? This phenomenon is called nasal cycling and was identified by Yogis over 1000 years ago. Health effects? Read more in Breath….

The wonders of nasal breathing were published in The Breath of Life in 1862. It documents indigenous tribes throughout the world who demonstrated vigorous health, perfect teeth and forward growing facial structure. Their “secret medicine”was simply proper nasal breathing.

So how do you train yourself to nasal breathe? 

The indigenous tribes would actually hold an infant’s mouth closed. Today, many breath practitioners promote taping your lips shut. Simply place your lips together and place a postage size piece of 1” CVS or Nexcare durable cloth tape at the center point of your lips. Give it time. Be patient! Do this as long as it takes to retrain your nose…and your brain. Sooner than later you will find yourself keeping your mouth shut all night. Sleeping better means feeling better!

So what is one of the main reasons that nasal breathing has such positive effects on your physiology? 

It is because nitrous oxide production in the prefrontal sinus is stimulated via nasal breathing. Nitrous oxide plays an essential role in increasing circulation thru vasodilation and delivering oxygen to cells. Immune function, weight, circulation, mood and sexual function are influenced by nitrous oxide. Guess what the main ingredient in Viagra is…yes…nitrous oxide!

Why is deep breathing relaxing? 

A typical adult engages as little as 10% of the range of the diaphragm when breathing

Your lungs will lose 12% of capacity from the age of 30 to 50 and will continue declining as you get older. A decrease in lung capacity will force you to breath faster and harder which can lead to cardiac stress, high blood pressure, immune disorders and anxiety.

The main reason that deep breathing encourages relaxation is that the lower lobes of your lungs are highly innervated by the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the RELAXATION part of your nervous system. Taking deep diaphragmatic breaths expands the lower lobes of your lungs thus creating the relaxation benefits.

What is the BEST way to breathe?

Did you realize that the best “evidence-based” formula for inhalation time versus exhalation time is breathing more SLOWLY. The medical “norm” for respiration rate is 12-20 cycles per minute. The secret sauce is 5.5 seconds for each inhale and each exhale or 5.5 total breath cycles per minute. Start practicing this for 10 minutes per day.

Breathing less often makes your body more efficient utilizing the oxygen that is in it. Unfortunately, our society has become one of chronic overeating AND chronic over breathing.

There is interesting data on the importance of maintaining the proper level of oxygen AND carbon dioxide in your blood. Increasing endurance and performance is not simply about incredible O2 …but actually increasing CO2. What this means is that breathing SLOWLY is more important than breathing MORE.

There is SO MUCH more to read and contemplate in BREATH by James Nestor.

If you truly want to maximize your health, then this is a MUST read!