mouth-breather n. a stupid person; a moron, dolt, imbecile.
What is the primary purpose and design of our nose?? The easy answer is breathing, right? If you said smelling, consider going ten minutes without breathing and ten minutes without smelling. Are we clear now? The human nose exists to breathe, the mouth has many other functions?but in regards to breathing, the mouth is a back-up system and is intended to only be used in emergencies or when the nose isn’t functioning correctly.
Rob Turner assembled quite a group of research studies on how mouth breathing is detrimental to health here. Most of us understand that we should breathe primarily through our nose, but may not understand just how important it really is to our health.
Nasal breathing is relaxed breathing. Mouth breathing is ?panic? or stress breathing. There are no relaxation techniques that involve any inhalations through the mouth, as this would be counterproductive to the goal.
My intention here is to make it clear that during exercise, you also want to breathe through your nose, at minimum for the inhalations, optimally the entire breath cycle. Why?? Nasal breathing is relaxing, efficient, effective for improving fitness, and health-promoting. Mouth breathing is ?panic? or stressed breathing and is not beneficial in any of those ways.
Here are some of the known benefits of nasal breathing on exercise (as opposed to mouth breathing):
- Increased stamina and endurance
- Prevents overtraining
- Reduced pulse rate
- Decreased stress on the heart
- Improved oxygenation of the blood
- Reduced stress
These all sound like positive effects, right?
Nasal breathing is also one of the best auto-regulation tools you can use for any type of exercise. By auto-regulation I mean that it sets a limit to how hard you can push while staying below the body’s panic and stress threshold where mouth breathing begins. It can also help if you don’t have, or don’t want to get, a heart rate monitor.
In today’s world of exercise addicts and ?harder is better? fitness ignorance, many will see this call for nasal breathing and say that it will be impossible to create a training adaptation if one doesn’t push hard enough to have to breathe through their mouth. Well, the best endurance runners on the planet and the research disagree with you.
The Tarahumara native Indians of Mexico, made famous in the book Born To Run?and renowned for their long-distance running ability, only breathe through their nose while running, although some will exhale through a partially open mouth.
In the study ?Comparison of maximal oxygen consumption with oral and nasal breathing,? Morton et al. found the following:
While breathing through the nose-only, all subjects could attain a work intensity great enough to produce an aerobic training effect (based on heart rate and percentage of VO2 max).
Another study, ?Arterial oxygen saturation and peak VO2 during nasal and oral breathing? by Wood et al. found that during treadmill running, mouth breathing resulted in only a 14 percent higher VO2, and half of that was attributed to the higher breathing rate achievable through mouth breathing. No significant difference was found in the percentage of oxygen saturation between mouth and nasal breathing! These minimal differences won’t restrict training adaptations. Just ask the Tarahumara.
Here’s a personal example. I used to enjoy road cycling on my fixed-gear bike. My main ride was from my house to my parents?? about 30 minutes each way. The hills were long and tough’so tough that time trials have been held on the longer hills. Wearing my heart rate monitor, breathing in only through my nose and out through my mouth, I was able to reach a heart rate of 170 beats per minute while really grinding out pedal strokes (fixed-gear bikes have only one gear, so there is no shifting to an easier gear on hills). Not too shabby, and definitely well above the range needed for an aerobic adaptation.
Now, you may be asking, how can you learn this amazing technique???? It’s your lucky day, because I’m going to tell you for free. Here’s how to do it (snort). Close your lips but keep your teeth slightly apart. Breathe in and out through your nose only. Do this all day, every day, and especially when you exercise. When exercising, as you get into higher levels of exertion, you may have to breathe out through your mouth, just continue breathing in through your nose! If you feel you must switch to mouth breathing, you should lower the intensity of whatever activity you’re doing (that’s the auto-regulation part kicking in). Only breathe through your mouth when required to give utmost efforts in testing or competition. If you are still? having trouble understanding the technique, Matt and I are working on a weekend certification course for?$25,000 per person. Free refills on all drinks…
You might argue, ?Well, I have a stuffy nose all the time and I can’t breathe through my nose when I’m sitting down, much less when I’m exercising! Here are a couple of things you can try if that is the case:
- Apply pressure to the roof of your mouth with your tongue, which helps to open up the sinuses. To find the right spot, put your tongue behind your front upper teeth, then slide it backwards until you find that spot where your’tongue sort of drops into a nice depression. Push your tongue upwards in that spot.See if this facilitates easier nasal breathing.
- Seat yourself comfortably, and after completing a normal exhalation, pinch your nose and hold your breath while nodding your head up and down at a?moderate pace (don’t rush this). Hold your breath as long as possible, but?not to the point where you’re gasping for air. When you get an urgent?desire to breathe, release your nose and take a breath. You must now remember to breathe only through your nose! Make your inhalations ?gentle??and relax into your exhalations. After this exercise, your goal is to breathe less than before, with an increased level of relaxation. (You may breathe more for one or two minutes after holding your breath, but this’should resolve itself naturally.)
- Finally, start really paying attention to how your body reacts to foods. You may notice that certain foods create a lot of phlegm, mucus, and general sinus congestion. This will obviously make it more difficult to breathe through the nose. Over time, as I’ve learned and incorporated metabolism-boosting and stress-reducing techniques, I’ve?found that nearly all of my sinus/phlegm reactions to foods have?disappeared?except for gluten. My?nose plugs up incredibly fast if I eat a lot of it, and I also tend to’snore when I have it at dinner or later (snoring can be caused by nasal congestion forcing one to mouth breathe). Snoring pisses off my wife and gets me poor quality sleep. Neither of those things help my health or my training, gnomesayin?”
If you have anatomical problems that make it difficult for you to breathe through your nose, I recommend considering one of the following approaches:
http://www.normalbreathing.com/l-mouth-taping.php
Look smarter, be smarter: Breathe through your nose all the time. More discussion on this and other simple health fundamentals can be found in Matt and I’s book Solving the Paleo Equation, coming to a bookstore near you soon or available for pre-order HERE.
Dr. Garrett Smith is a Naturopathic Doctor and trainer to elite athletes. His book, Solving the Paleo Equation hits stores this September. Find out more about?Dr. Smith?at www.drgarrettsmith.com
First one to breathe through the Nose
What if you have a deviated septum?
If you have an anatomical issue, there may not be much you can do about it. If it were me, I’d be looking into any options I could. Mouth breathing is not good, but breathing is definitely better than not breathing….
If you are one to look into things to fix the issue, you could look into cranial-sacral therapy, Rolfing (where the practitioner does the nasal work), or the out-there technique that a small number of physical medicine oriented docs (DCs, DOs, some NDs) do where they do the small balloon up into the sinuses (somebody else help me with the name, I forget it, I had it done once). On a *rare* nighttime TV glimpse recently, I saw it done to one of the suitors on the Bachelorette. I was amazed it made it on air.
Mine isn’t bad. I breathe through my nose 90% of the time. However, during heavy exercise it is really not an option. There is simply not enough air coming through, and it’s more stressful to even try.
From what I’ve heard from several people I know, the surgery for their deviated septum didn’t help things at all, and for one of them, their breathing problems got worse.
From personal experience, I’d highly recommend an osteopath (DO) — I’ve seen amazing results. I had pretty bad malocclusion of the jaw and a nasty cross-bite, which further inhibited my ability to nose breath. I eventually found some osteopathic practitioners who work with dentists to fix this issue via osteopathic adjustments and a non-invasive, gentle dental appliance known as the ALF. My jaw is almost 100% back to normal with full ‘closure’ and this happened over the course of two years — a much better outcome than the insanely invasive surgery that was recommended by conventional orthodontists followed up by braces for three years and a three year recovery period.
Check out the website, which has a list of practitioners who focus on getting people with teeth/jaw/mouth problems back to an anatomically conducive state to nose breathing
http://www.alforthodontics.com
I wish I could give a more robust promotion of this method than personal experience, but hey — I was diagnosed with a deviated septum years ago, and now I don’t have one.
Reviewing the post, I realized I left out an important bit of information. Deviated septum’s, facial structure, and jaw problems tend to be related. In my case, my deviated septum was a symptom of a larger issue, which was poor cranial development in my growing years, leading to jaw problems, breathing problems, and postural problems. Not all deviated septums can be improved with what I mentioned above.
I think mine is due to wisdom teeth removal. Did not have it when younger, only diagnosed in my 20s. I have no jaw issues. That surgery is a big regret of mine.
When I was on track to get jaw surgery, the dentists recommended I get rid of my wisdom teeth before hand. So I did, and I regret it too. I wonder if I’ll be less wise when I grow up.
But the jaw surgery?! Man I’m so glad I didn’t do that: they would have had to break my upper jaw, take it out, ‘make it wider’ (how the hell?) and then put it back in. My later dentist told me that of all the dental surgery that exists out there, wisdom tooth extraction is the least harmful. I believe him.
It has always been hard for me to nose breath, at least since I had my braces.
I had teeth removed and braces about 40 years ago, before they ever worried about jaws not being wide enough to handle the teeth that were sticking out. ALF sounds like it would have been great for me.
If I stick my tongue at the top of my mouth then it sticks out between my teeth because my teeth were pushed back and jaw was restricted from growing its full size. I wonder if ALF would help me so that my tongue will fit in my mouth.
I do not see anyone that handles the device in the Georgia area. Would any osteopath be able to work with the device or something similar?
The orthodontist who removed your teeth was only doing what they were taught and sadly did something that was not necessary and to some extent damages your facial configuration and may handicap you until you learn through orofacial myology to correct the damage as well as retraining your breathing. Roger Price of the group https://airwayfocuseddentistry.com/ can be helpful in all this and http://www.normalbreathing.com is another fine site to learn from as is my website http://www.buteykonyc.com
Oh, I love my Rolfer, she is amazing! She has been able to really adjust and/or release so many tension areas for me! Her facial work was amazing, especially for my jaw and nose!
neuro cranial restructuring.
You may be talking about a technique done by Dr. Howell called NCR(Neuro Cranial Restructuring). Looks promising, but expensive. Has anyone else tried this?
Orofacial myology corrects most of the issues that may be preventing nasal breathing. Also knowing how to unblock your nose as we teach in buteyko sessions is very important. sometimes, it is necessary for a knowledgeable dentist or orthodontist to supply a special myobrace to reset the jaw gently. Look at the work of the group here who are the cutting edge in the field: https://airwayfocuseddentistry.com/ Roger Price has been able to create a certification program at a University for learning how to teach the proper breathing reduction techniques.
Is there any information about breathing through the nose and mouth while singing?
When you are singing, and talking, the only way to enunciate and make pleasant sound is through exhaling through the mouth. But you can replenish through the nose, especially when you are talking, by slowing down your speech.
And btw, it helps you to really think about what you’re saying, and for others to actually listen!
It’s easy to learn proper oral posture and nasal breathing, and it’s free. Honestly, I wish this was a part of public education in health or gym class and taught to children as a means of basic self-care, and given at least as much emphasis as flossing and brushing your teeth have gotten.
I’ve seen Buteyko mentioned a fair amount on this blog, but one other person worth mentioning (that I can’t help bringing up whenever this topic comes up) is Dr. John Mew and the field of orthotropics.
Anyway, I’ve been using durable cloth medical tape over my mouth every night for months to make sure I breathe through my nose while I’m sleeping. George Caitlin wrote a lot about that in “Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life” based on his studies of Native American tribes. At the time he wrote the book, I’m pretty sure tape hadn’t been invented yet.
I do think making a habit out of nasal breathing and proper oral posture (which go hand in hand) is one of the best things ‘civilized’ people can do for their health. I especially wish that young children would learn the importance of nasal breathing and proper oral posture not only for better health but for more attractive facial development. Think of all the braces that kids *wouldn’t* have to have, and all the wisdom teeth that *wouldn’t* have to be removed.
My facial structure definitely changed (for the worse) after I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed, and my eyesight also got much worse. Looking at pictures from when I was 18 (before I had them out) compared to now (I’m 23), I can clearly see that my eyes used to be farther apart, my jaw was much more pronounced and my chin was wider. I could see the same features even in pictures as far back as 7th grade. I also wonder about any hormonal or other physiological changes that can take place after this. Carelessly pulling out body parts seems to be a popular modern trend and I hardly think it’s without consequences.
Again, again…I wish it was common knowledge. George Caitlin was wishing the same thing back in the 1800’s, and even during that time he noticed the same problems with mouth breathing in civilized societies. If everyone knew that mouth breathing and poor oral posture (which again go hand in hand, just as nasal breathing and proper oral posture) should be avoided as much as falling asleep with a mouthful of Sprite and chewed up Skittles, everyone would be a lot better off.
Wow. I had no idea your facial structure could change if your wisdom teeth were removed.. I’m 22 now and even though they sometimes decide to grow and they hurt like hell, I’m happy I still have them with me.
The sad part is that they will ruin my post-orthodontia smile if they keep growing, and this might also change my bite and maybe worsen my TMJ…
I don’t know if it’s related, but they started growing and hurting about the time I started eating more food. Huh.
They might not actually ruin your orthodonture, or you could always get something like invisilign if they start to effect it. It’s something dentists like to threaten you with. I was told that, too, but I don’t buy it. I had enough room for wisdom teeth to come in.
I used to think that it was funny that no one knew that my brother was related to us (my twin sister and parents), but the more I learn, the more I feel sad for him. He had the worse teeth and had 4 adult teeth removed to get braces at age 12. His face and jaw are much narrower than everyone else. My husband also has terrible nasal issues (deviated septum) and breathes through his mouth frequently because he can’t breath any other way. He’s been doing low carb for a few weeks now (despite my protests) and although I’m not a fan, I have noticed that he breathes a lot easier at night and hasn’t been snoring as much. I really like this whole article and thread!
The work of John Mew to document the structural mechanism that interferes with facial development is extraordinary. In some cases he has identified the root cause, such as pacifiers or thumb sucking. I think however that the deformations resulting from mouth breathing or slack jaw deserve further discussion. So far he has utilized WAPF arguments, and focused on the softening of the food supply. I think he is missing a connection and misinterpreting some information as causal, when the relationship is actually just an association. I think that Mew’s work ties directly into the physiological symptoms documented by Mark Starr. This is all to say that the epidemic is low metabolic function is causing systemic inflammation that results in mouth posture changes which cause structural changes in development.
Yes John Mew and his son are terrific folks. My friend and colleague Patrick McKeown has written a fine book for parents and teenagers called Buteyko meets Dr. Mew https://books.google.com/books/about/Buteyko_Meets_Dr_Mew.html?id=LAA_1DZD2BYC
Good article- thanks Garrett. Been thinking about this recently, and will be mindful of it while training. I’m guessing the answer is yes, but would this apply to athletics like basketball that require lots of irregular starts and stops? at least occasional mouth-breathing seems unavoidable, though maybe I’ll feel differently after trying it.
Also- this reminds me of a favorite (though debunked) evolutionary theory: that we descended from aquatic apes. The story goes that many mammals don’t have volitional mouth-breathing, but we and other aquatic mammals do, which is highly valuable if your goal is not to accidentally breathe in water. i don’t know if this is even true, but I always enjoyed thinking that we are at least partly co-evolved with bodies of water.
Also, also- fixie! Right on. I used to ride a brakeless track bike around NYC. Not the wisest decision for the long term, especially going down bridges, but it was fun.
I broke one rule of fixie-land. I kept a front brake on mine. I also wore a helmet and used SpeedPlays. Good news is, it kept me alive to tell such tales!
Still having issues with nasal congestion at night. The congestion is not due to phlegm/snot; it seems like the sinuses are inflamed. I’ve become skeptical that it is due to stress hormones, since my heart rate won’t be abnormally high when this happens. I’ll typically wake up because my mouth is dry, because I’ve been breathing through my mouth. It even seems to happen on days where I’ve been generally non-stressed and eating tons, including a salty+sugary snack before bed. So I’m thinking it is some sort of allergic reaction, either to food, or something in the bedding. I’m terrible about keeping meticulous track of what I eat. Just from keeping a mental history, dairy might seem like the most obvious culprit, but it is such an easy source of nutritious calories, I hate the idea of cutting it out.
Dairy used to do that to me, too, and too much meat/protein will do that as well. It’s not snot, but extra inflammation. No problems with it now though. Personally, if I eat too much meat and fat things start to tighten up in the nostrils within a few days. Not sure if that will be any help to you or not Derek, but thought I’d share.
I think you might be onto something there. I still am eating a lot of dairy, and a good amount of meat. Not for any ideology, really. Mostly out of habit; ~10 years of WAPF-style eating, so that’s what I got comfortable shopping for, preparing, etc.. Still trying to get a handle of getting more carbs and sugar overall. Thinking about trying to get lots of gelatin daily as well, since I enjoy stuff made with it.
You mentioned before about getting chest pains from too much milk and meat (or was it just pork?). I get a similar pain, always by my spine next to my left shoulder blade, which I know didn’t start until I “converted” to WAPF, which is probably related.
Yeah, too much meat and milk, but pork is the worst. Any exposure at all and I get the pain. Interestingly, I get it if I turn catabolic and start breaking down my own tissues (like if I eat no meat or milk at all), so there is a real sweet spot for me. It’s a pretty wide sweet spot, but I seem to fare the best when I’m eating just enough protein to keep from going catabolic. When carbs and calories are really high this doesn’t equate to much at all.
One thing to try might be getting your air ducts cleaned. We had it done at our house and I noticed everyone start sleeping better. Personally, I noticed less of what you described as sinus “inflammation” as well (as in, difficult nasal breathing without excessive mucus).
We actually just had our air ducts professionally cleaned a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t noticed anything different. I couple of years ago, I decided to shell out lots of $$ and got a chemical free, natural latex mattress and natural organic betting. Didn’t seem to help. I bought some organic wool pillows, and they seemed to help for a bit, then it seemed to wear off. Maybe once the pillows began to collect dust, dead skin, etc(?) I don’t know.
My husband recently found out he has nasal polyps, and they become inflamed if he has too much fructose, so he mouth breathes and snores. He will be getting the polyps removed soon.
As a kid his doc told him he needed to stop breathing through his mouth and breath through his nose. This stopped him from getting braces.
Might be worth talking to a doc?
Not sure. I went to an ENT a long time ago (15+ years), and they used the little camera to go in my nostrils and found nothing wrong (I don’t remember exactly why I had that done then).
I should have mentioned that I only notice this at night, typically when I wake up in the middle of the night, and I think a few times after being in a car with the A/C and re-circ on as well. So maybe I need more fresh air. It’s been impossible to sleep with the windows open here in north Texas, as it’s usually still in the upper 90s when I go to sleep.
A.c. Does it to me for sure.
I learned lately that NONE of Matt’s readers are mouth breathers!
It’s from that extra CO2 breaking down all those carbs.
Matt what do you recommend for macro ratio for some who ways 124lbs 5’7 age 17 im not sure how much calories to take in im doing 2100cals sedentary atm ?
Lean weight in pounds X 20 is a pretty good maintenance formula if you are under 30. For you that’s 2400. An extra few hundred for recovery from eating disorders and actively trying to raise metabolic rate.
Hey, I freely admitted it last time.
In the Buteyko breathing course I took, I learned that you should breathe through your mouth as often as you eat through your nose. (it’s a joke, but a good reminder).
Yes, you “leak” air from your mouth when you talk, but if you slow down your speech, you can replenish the air by breathing back in through your nose, not your mouth, as people generally do.
Buteyko training helped me learn how to stop an asthma attack – and with practice, you can even prevent them.
I highly recommend learning the Buteyko system!
I have always been a mouth breather. To the point where at a young age people would stir me up asking if I was ‘catching flies’? haha I find it pretty amusing now. Over the past few years I made a conscious effort to reprogram my breathing patterns. However at night a lot of the time I still breath through my mouth. I attended one of Paul Chek’s courses on respiration, which was great, but I asked him why I still breath through my mouth at night no matter what. He said its because I have a short middle third (facial thirds) and that it will always be a struggle to oxygenate my body by breathing through my nose.
I definitely notice when I am stressed, or feeling anxious, I try to breath through my nose to calm down, but sometimes it just feels impossible and have to resort to mouth breathing.
Ive had issues with my jaw the last few years and I wonder how much of that is related to chronic mouth breathing. I cycled a bike across Aus a couple of years ago before I was aware of any of this, and I can confirm mouth breathing is actually good if you do want to ‘catch flies’ for a little extra protein when food is scarce..
Some of the links to mouthpieces at the end of the article claim to be able to help re-shape the face over time. You might want to look into them. The least expensive one is the NoseBreathe trainer, IIRC around $20-30…but also the least customized for the individual.
Mouth breathing dries out your tongue and gives you horrible breath.
If I taped my mouth shut when I slept I’d suffocate. I snore big time. Some mornings I wake up and feel like my sinuses are literally sagging into the back of my throat. I assume it’s the massive suction of trying to breath in while snoring that is sucking my sinuses towards my lungs, so they get stretched out and saggy. However, other than sleeping, I always breath through my nose. I hate the feeling of air coming in my mouth.
Do you have a C-Pap? My Dad loves his and it has cured the mouth breathing.
Dr. Garrett,
You mentioned one mouthpiece to re-shape the face, could you mention the names of a few more?
Check the links at the end of the article, I believe several of them describe this process happening.
I think I just found the links to the mouthpieces in the article.
Garrett,
Nice article. What are your thoughts on breathing while swimming (e.g., freestyle)? It’s damn hard to breathe in through the nose without snorting a bunch of water. Also, when breathing out underwater, exhaling through the nose has always seemed awkward to me.
Interesting… I just have a couple of questions:
What about when I yawn? My natural instinct is to inhale as much air as I can through the mouth. Should I “correct” this?
Also, when I laugh hard, I can’t help but breathing in through my mouth. How the heck am I supposed to laugh through my nose? (It can be done, but… it’s awkward and if I think about controlling it, whatever made me laugh stops being funny).
Thanks.
Sounds like you’re overthinking this. Yawning and laughing are spontaneous things that have always used the mouth.
>>Yawning and laughing are spontaneous things that have always used the mouth.<<<
Not according to the Buyteyko people. To hear them tell it, yawning and sneezing are unnatural and should be avoided, or unlearned, or whatever. It seems a little extreme considering that other animals do these and they are spontaneous, as you said, and nearly unstoppable. It just doesn't fit into their theory that it could be other than harmful to take in a bunch of extra air/oxygen, through the mouth. I think the fact that it's a natural and nearly unstoppable phenomenon should probably lead us to question the necessity of constantly breathing through the nose at all cost during any activity, rather than the act of yawning. We tend to take things to extremes. I was watching this butyeko guy give a talk, and you could tell he had his breathing down to an art. It was actually amazing to watch him roll out sentences with just a little nasal inhale in between. But he was talking about all the different times that you might tend to open your mouth and how you could learn not to, like when you're in the shower or whatever. I was trying to imagine how much fun it must be to have sex with a buteyko practicioner who is panting through their nose, or busy thinking about not mouth breathing! "oh yeah, your so hot baby (nose inhale). oh yeah, right like that, do that, oh yeah (nose inhale) oh yeah, oh yeah OH YEAH (nose breathe, Nose breathe, NOSE BREATHE, NOSE BREEEATHE.. etc….. :) Not bash Buteyko in general, just questioning some of what seems like exrtremeness.
Very extreme, and Buteyko has always struck me as a tail wagging the dog approach.
Buteyko is also in disharmony with what is known of metabolic rate. Higher metabolic rate = higher respiratory rate. I’m not convinced that slowing respiratory rate to that of a sloth is a good idea any more than I’m convinced that lowering body temperature to that of a sloth is a good idea.
Well, Artouro Rakhimov, the guy with the really extensive Buteyko pages, says that russian health nuts were obsessed with keeping a low body temp/metabolism in order to live longer. There is a video of Buteyko rolling around in the snow, allegedly to that end. Another thing is that there is this whole theory that we evolved in a much higher CO2 environment, and that we basically haven’t adapted. So, I guess if you accept that, you have to walk around all day every day in a basically totally hostile environment that is essentially oxygen poisoned, learning to breathe as little as possible so as not to die from basically everything. Pretty weird outlook. I have to admit to still being just a little Buteyko curious though. I mean there’s just something about getting a bunch of guys in diapers in a room and … oh, wait…
The idea that we evolved in a higher CO2 environment and haven’t adapted is about as credible as the idea that we should still be eating like caveman.
What a stressful way to live. I agree that breathing through the nose is probably best in general, but when you get to the point of trying not to yawn, pant, sneeze or talk naturally, I have to think the stress will outweigh any benefits.
Matt, isn’t reducing oxygen intake somewhat analogous to restricting water intake? I.e., higher metabolic rate = higher need for fluid consumption, but it can still be very therapeutic to reduce fluid consumption in order to raise body temperature. Increased CO2 concentration is associated with higher metabolic rate, and by reducing how much you breathe you increase CO2, which for me has increased my temps and pulse.
I think you’re missing the whole point here with Buteyko. Higher metabolic rate means more CO2 released from the muscles lowering the blood pH which triggers the hemoglobin to release O2 bound to it into the cells (Bohr effect). Once the CO2 saturates beyond your threshold in the blood it trigger an increases in the respiratory rate to exhale the extra CO2. Our breathing is activated more by the need to exhale CO2 then by the need to inhale O2. Your O2 saturation is usually at 95-97% normally, so breathing a lot more O2 doesn’t help much. If you’re a heavy breather you’re exhaling a lot more CO2 normally and your threshold is low, so just a bit of CO2 on the blood during exercise will cause you to breath a lot more. If you practice Buteyko you basically “train” your brain to deal with higher CO2 levels on the blood and therefore can breath a lot easier and shallower during exercise (Buteyko calls it resetting your breathing center). Athletes get this benefit by heavy exercise, which also increases the threshold they can deal with of CO2 in the blood. I’ve seen olympic runners finish a grueling 1000m or a 5k and look like they went for a stroll. I’m sure their metabolic rate is pretty high after a run like that. That’s the basis of Buteyko.
I know the basis of Buteyko, but there are some incorrect bases of it. I challenge anyone to show me an increase in body temperature and resting heart rate using it. I challenge anyone to achieve Olympic athlete status on a track and maintain a high resting heart rate and body temperature as well.
Check out Patrick McKeown’s new website
http://oxyathlete.com/
Cool!:) Been experimenting w/ strict nose-breathing during running for the last couple of weeks.
What do you recommend for someone with sleep apnea due to the soft palate collapsing during sleep? I never breathe through my mouth, but I have to sleep on my side.
A former pro bike racer I know is now having very expensive dental work done due to mouth breathing when training and racing. His dentist said it’s similar to what happens to crack users from having a dry mouth.
Bikers are notorious dieters, too, trying to lean down to as light a weight as possible. I would suspect that could be as a factor, too, and not just the mouth breathing.
My wife used to be a mouth breather. She grew up with a father that smoked at least one pack of cigarettes / day. When I was a kid, I could hardly stand to hear other kids in the classroom breathing through their mouth. My own mom always told me to breathe through the nose and I hardly do it through the mouth (only when I work out very intensively). Back to my wife: I mentioned at some point that I noticed her mouth-breathing, especially when she was focused on some task requiring attention. She would not notice herself at all. At first, I thought she was allergic or had a chronic cold but then, as we talked about it, it seemed clear that her upbringing in a polluted atmosphere could have been the culprit. Today, she does not do it but it took some time to lose the habit …
If I find my sinuses/nose are getting routinely stuffed up, I usually start the day with a few cycles of neti pot sinus irrigation. I use warmed, filtered water, 1/2tsp of salt, and sometimes a little eucalyptus oil and/or goldenseal tincture if there is any kind of infectious process.
This usually opens things up quite nicely, and allows me to breathe through my nose all day long…
Great to see some interesting discussion regarding mouth versus nose breathing. Id just like to reply to Karens post. The feeling of suffocation when you first learn to breathe through your nose does go away quickly. Its just a matter of sticking with it and conditioning your body to breathe a more normal volume of air. There are exercises which are very useful in making the switch. These are based on the Buteyko Method. Everyone can learn to breathe through the nose. For me, learning to breathe through the nose was a very positive life changing benefit.
I learned to nose breathe this past year after a life time of mouth breathing, or at least since I was a tween and started using drugs. I suspect that has lot to do with my narrow palate. It seemed impossible at first and there was quite a bit of stress and panic feelings. I managed to do it though, even at night, just by willpower and pretty constant attentiveness. Now it’s pretty much habit. I still find myself slipping at times, especially if I’m working physically and bending over a lot. But more often than not, it’s due to mechanical blockage. If I simply blow my nose, I can nearly always ease back into nose breathing. If not, the nose clearing exercises seem to work very well unless I’ve got a bad cold or something. I definitely can’t sleep on my back at all, or I start snoring. I’ve noticed that my partners have also almost inevitably started snoring when sleeping on their backs. I usually start snoring and snap myself awake, even before I’m totally asleep. Catlin reported that the Indians always slept on their backs, but that they put something under the chin to keep the mouth closed. At least that’s how I remember it.
I’ve found that with the nose clearing exercise, you can do pretty much anything that is work and causes you body to produce CO2, while holding the nose. I sometimes walk fast for a few paces, or jump up and down, or even wiggle around in bed. it doesn’t take much to get a little air hunger going. Breathing shallow for a while also seems to do the same thing, but it takes longer. The shallow breathing also seems to shift me into an easier shallower breathing mode, ala Buteyko. It is all stressful and uncomfortable though, because air hunger really seems to be the key.
Another thing that certainly helps is a clean environment. I just spent yesterday cleaning my room thoroughly because I was having trouble breathing due to dust and finding myself slipping into mouth breathing a lot. Last winter it got so bad that I dragged my futon out into the yard in the middle of the night. I felt like I was getting asthma or something.
I’m glad I learned to mouth breathe. I think it’s been a helpful, if not maybe even an essential step in my recovery. I can’t point to anything miraculous, but I feel better about myself and I guess more secure in a way, that I don’t have to be basically gasping for air all the time. If you think it’s not possible, don’t give before you really give it a good try. Part of the process is just getting over the panic that you’re sure you can’t get enough air other than by mouth breathing. If I had the bucks, I would definitely be looking into othodontic/osteopathic palate widening, even at 46, because there is just not room for me to comfortably hold my tongue in the normal position. And, while I can nasal breathe, it still doesn’t feel easy and comfortable much of the time, and I think that’s because my nasal passages are probably too narrow.
I learnt Buteyko years ago due to anxiety and hyper ventilating. Weird how most people these days equate deep breathing with health….. of course, there’s so much bullshit around. I’m just glad I don’t do it anymore.
Myobrace is another helpful appliance in training the tongue where to sit and expanding the palate. My sinuses have been messed up since I had braces. I later learned that braces actually push the teeth further back into the skull making the throat opening even smaller.
I’ve been exercising with nasal breathing for well over ten years, after reading about Buteyko’s research in an effort to eradicate the last vestiges of a propensity to asthma. It took a while to adapt at first and I had to slow down – especially when temperatures were colder – but after a few months or so I found (to my surprise) that I was able to perform at any intensity I wanted, as assessed either by subjective effort or heart rate, without feeling the need to switch to mouth breathing. My exercise repertoire is varied and includes steady-state running, intervals, sprints, hill-walking, skiing, weight training and other variously strenuous activities. Asthma is now only a memory – don’t get colds much either and hardly remember a respiratory infection of any kind. Since resting heart-rate has been mentioned, mine is in the 40-42 range (typically 45-48 if measured while relaxed during the day). Don’t know about core temperature, though. I’m in my sixties, if that’s relevant.
Any advice for swimmers? I exhale under water through my nose but doubt I could inhale through my nose on freestyle.
My 8 year old daughter ‘mouth breathes’ because she has a structural nose problem – a deviated septum. In the UK they won’t do a septoplasty operation till she is 16 to fix the septum. We have started using a myobrace to expand her jaw and teach her a better jaw posture. Do you know if I should push for a septoplasty as by the time she is 16 her breathing and development will be fixed? Any advice gratefully received.
I’ve been nose breathing for about a year now, its not turned me into a super fit person as I am 76 but some great benefits, first thing my nose cleared of mucus in less than 24 hours, no more back pain or neck pain, my posture is very good, I don’t get anxious any more, I used to worry about things but I now just get them sorted, for my age my health has improved, I have succeeded in sleeping with my mouth closed, no more restless nights, sadly I started to tell my brother about it, he just said don’t be stupid everybody breaths through the mouth, he just dismissed it.