The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You

by Patrick McKeown

• Increased demand for water

  • Loss of appetite

  • Bad taste in the mouth

  • Increased moodiness

  • Short-term headache

  • Increased secretions of mucus from the lungs by people with asthma

  • Head cold with runny nose, especially during physical exercise

  • Diarrhea

  An integral part of detoxification is a reduced appetite for food, so it’s important to only eat when hungry. To help reduce the intensity and duration of any cleansing reactions, drink warm water regularly throughout the day and continue with reduced breathing exercises.

  In the next section we will begin the first step to improving your BOLT score: nasal breathing. We will look at the functions of the nose, how to decongest it, and learn what nasal breathing offers for health, sports . . . and in the bedroom.

  CHAPTER 3

  Noses Are for Breathing,

  Mouths Are for Eating

  In order to address breathing volume and increase BOLT score, the first step is to go back to basics and learn to breathe through the nose both day and night. As any child is aware, our nose is made for breathing, the mouth for eating. You were born breathing through your nose, and it has been our primary conduit for breathing for hundreds of thousands of years.

  It was only when our ancient ancestors were in dangerous situations that they reverted to mouth breathing to take in greater volumes of air in preparation for intense physical activity.

  It is for this reason that mouth breathing is synonymous with emergency, activating the same fight-or-flight response that our ancestors experienced but these days usually without the accompanying physical exercise to allow our operating systems to revert to normal. From the perspective of breathing physiology, mouth breathing activates use of the upper chest, while nasal breathing results in abdominal breathing. You can verify the difference by sitting in front of a mirror and placing one hand on your chest and one hand above your navel. Once settled, take a moderate-size breath in through your mouth and note the movements of your hands. Next, compare your breathing movements to a similar size breath drawn in through your nose.

  Upper-chest breathing is more likely to be associated with a stress response, while nasal breathing helps ensure regular, calm, steady breathing using the diaphragm. The common misconception of taking a “deep” breath is to puff out the chest and raise the shoulders, but this is neither deep nor beneficial to oxygenating the body. To help deal with stress, the instruction to take a deep breath is actually correct, but a truly deep breath is abdominal, gentle and quiet; the exact opposite of the big breaths usually taken in an attempt to calm down.

  Mouth breathing activates the upper chest, involves larger breaths, and may cause reduced oxygen uptake in the arterial blood. It is no wonder that habitual mouth breathers often suffer from poor energy, a lack of concentration, and moodiness. We all know the stereotype of the mouth breather, portrayed by moviemakers from Hollywood to Bollywood as an idiot. But in case you think I am being unduly critical, I was a mouth breather for more than twenty years, so I know all too well the effects. Furthermore, every time I look in the mirror I see the results from my years of mouth breathing. Dentists and orthodontists have also documented these profound facial changes as a result of habitual mouth breathing: narrow jaws, crooked teeth, sunken cheekbones, and smaller nasal cavities. While orthodontic treatment and the wearing of braces are epidemic among modern-day teenagers, it was normal for our ancestors to have wide faces with perfectly shaped teeth.

  In the 1930s, a dentist by the name of Dr. Weston Price investigated the cause of facial changes and crooked teeth in various countries and civilizations. One of his observations while visiting Gaelic people living on the Hebridean islands off the coast of Scotland was that children became mouth breathers after parents switched from their natural diet of seafood and oatmeal to the modernized diet of “angel food cake, white bread and many white flour commodities, marmalade, canned vegetables, sweetened fruit juices, jams, and confections.”

  Dr. Price’s discovery illustrates the link between modern diet and chronic hyperventilation. Processed foods are mucus and acid forming. Throughout evolution, our diet consisted of 95 percent alkaline-forming and 5 percent acid-forming foods. Nowadays the reverse is true: Our diet is 95 percent acid- and 5 percent alkaline-forming foods. Acid-forming foods—such as processed products, dairy, meat, bread, sugar, coffee, and tea—stimulate breathing. A natural response to experiencing a greater demand to breathe is to open the mouth to take in more air. Over time, the brain adjusts to this larger intake of air, and overbreathing becomes a habit.

  On the other hand, alkaline-forming foods such as fruit and vegetables, along with plain water, are easy for the body to process; they are “breathing-friendly” foods. But while these types of foods are highly beneficial, I’m not saying you need to become a vegetarian. Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet, and meat provides a natural, nutrient-rich source. The most important change is to get rid of processed foods in your diet. They may take up the most space in our supermarkets, but they are effectively suitable food for no one.

  The nose is one of the most important organs in the human body. In his nineteenth-century travels in North America, the artist George Catlin noticed that the Native American mothers paid a lot of attention to their infants’ breathing. If at any time the baby opened its mouth to breathe, the mother would gently press the baby’s lips together to ensure continued nasal breathing. Catlin also noted that the rate of sickness and illness among the native Indian people was very low in comparison with European settlers. In his aptly titled 1882 book Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life, Catlin wrote, “When I have seen a poor Indian woman in the wilderness, lowering her infant from the breast, and pressing its lips together as it falls asleep . . . I have said to myself, ‘Glorious education! Such a mother deserves to be the nurse of Emperors.’” In comparison, Catlin described how the babies of the European settlers slept with their mouths open, gasping for breath in stuffy, hot, and unventilated rooms.

  Nasal breathing is often an integral part of an animal’s survival or hunting techniques. The cheetah, which is considered the fastest land animal on earth, is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 3 seconds. Most high-performance cars cannot accelerate so quickly, with the notable exception of the Bugatti Veyron, which will set you back a million dollars to experience the natural acceleration of a cheetah. With such incredible efficiency and speed, it doesn’t take long for the cheetah to catch up with its prey, but maintaining nasal breathing is especially advantageous during the chase, ensuring that its victim is the first to run out of air.

  The dog is probably the best-known example of an animal that periodically breathes through its mouth—dogs can commonly be seen panting on a hot day or after a long walk to help cool themselves down. But at all other times a dog will breathe through its nose, only using its mouth for eating, drinking, and barking. Nature has ensured that the vast majority of land mammals breathe through their noses by positioning the windpipe so that the back of the nose leads directly to the lungs. In other words, it is not easy for most animals to breathe through their mouths.

  The same is true for humans at birth, but after a few months the windpipe drops down to just below the back of the tongue in order to allow the baby to breathe through both its mouth and nose. Charles Darwin was puzzled by this adaptation in humans: how, unlike most animals, the openings for carrying food to the stomach and air to the lungs are placed side by side. This parallel position seems fairly impractical, as it increases the risk of food going down the wrong way, requiring the development of a complicated swallowing mechanism. The cause for this is likely to do with our ability to speak and to enable us to swim, since both actions require voluntary control over breathing. Had Darwin investigated the negative impact of mouth breathing in human beings, however, I have no doubt that he would have considered the ability to mouth breathe to be
a far worse flaw in the evolution of our species than the risk of choking while eating.

  The rest of the animal kingdom relies on nasal breathing for survival, and mouth breathing usually only occurs as an adaptation within a species. Birds, for example, are predominantly nose breathers, aside from diving birds such as penguins, pelicans, or gannets. Generally, when an animal breathes through its mouth it is a sign of sickness, injury, or distress. Guinea pigs and rabbits will continue to breathe through their noses even under heavy exertion and will only breathe through their mouths if they have developed a breathing abnormality. The same goes for all farm animals, including the cow, sheep, donkey, goat, and horse. Mouth breathing in these animals would be a clear signal to a farmer or pet owner that there is something wrong. Experience tells the farmer that when a cow or sheep stands motionless with its neck extended and mouth open, it is very sick—time to call the vet.

  When it comes to the importance of breathing through the nose, there is no distinction between prey and predator. Nasal breathing is especially advantageous for horses and deer, since it allows them to graze and breathe at the same time, while their sense of smell alerts them of approaching predators. I, on the other hand, as a habitual mouth breather, was admonished as a child for chewing with my mouth open—much to the dismay of my well-mannered table companions. Unlike the horse, I could not eat and breathe through my nose at the same time. And, unlike the horse, I found myself completely out of breath after attempting even light exercise—meanwhile, spend a day at the horse track and you will witness these majestic animals running at speeds of up to thirty miles per hour while maintaining nose breathing.

  To get an idea of the size of the nasal cavity, run your tongue from the front of the roof of your mouth right back as far as it will go. You may be surprised to learn that the roof of the mouth is in fact the floor of the nose! The nose you see on your face comprises approximately 30 percent of its volume. It is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, with the remaining 70 percent of the nasal cavity set deep within the skull. Nature is intelligent and does not waste space; evolution has determined the importance of the nose by the amount of space it occupies within the skull.

  As air enters through the nose, it is swirled through scrolled, spongy bones called turbinates, which condition and guide inhaled air into a steady, regular pattern. The internal nose, with its cul de sacs, valves, and turbinates, regulates the direction and velocity of the air to maximize exposure to a network of small arteries and veins and to the mucous blanket in order to warm, humidify, and sterilize the air before it is drawn to the lungs. The late Dr. Maurice Cottle, who founded the American Rhinologic Society in 1954, stated that the nose performs at least thirty functions, all of which are important supplements to the roles played by the lungs, heart, and other organs. The large amount of space in the skull devoted to the nasal cavity provides an indication of the importance of the functions of the nose.

  To attain a higher BOLT score and improved sports performance, it is imperative that nasal breathing is practiced at all times during rest. If your BOLT score is less than 20 seconds, the only way to avoid overbreathing during exercise is to breathe through the nose at all times, even while training. An exception to nasal breathing can be made for a short period of time during intensive physical exercise, but this kind of training should only be attempted when your BOLT score is greater than 20 seconds.

  The Nose—A Most Important Organ

  In the yoga book The Science of Breath, written over a century ago, Yogi Ramacharaka said this about nostril versus mouth breathing: “One of the first lessons in the Yogi Science of Breath is to learn how to breathe through the nostrils, and to overcome the common practice of mouth breathing.” It seems that little has changed over the past hundred years—if anything, the prevalence of mouth breathing has increased. Extolling the benefits of nasal breathing, Yogi Ramacharaka surmises that “many of the diseases to which civilized man is subject are undoubtedly caused by this common habit of mouth breathing.” Below is a brief list of the functions of nasal breathing:

  • Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the airstream in normal individuals than does mouth breathing, resulting in 10 to 20 percent more O2 uptake.

  • Nasal breathing warms and humidifies incoming air. (Air entering the nose at 42.8˚F/6˚C will be warmed to 86˚F/30˚C by the time it touches the back of the throat, and a cozy 98.6˚F/37˚C—body temperature—upon reaching its final destination, the lungs.)

  • Nasal breathing removes a significant amount of germs and bacteria from the air you breathe in.

  • Nasal breathing during physical exercise allows for a work intensity great enough to produce an aerobic training effect as based on heart rate and percentage of VO2 max.

  • As discussed in the next section, the nose is a reservoir for nitric oxide, an essential gas for the maintenance of good health.

  Now compare the benefits above with the effects of mouth breathing:

  • Mouth-breathing children are at greater risk of developing forward head posture, and reduced respiratory strength.

  • Breathing through the mouth contributes to general dehydration (mouth breathing during sleep results in waking up with a dry mouth).

  • A dry mouth also increases acidification of the mouth and results in more dental cavities and gum disease.

  • Mouth breathing causes bad breath due to altered bacterial flora.

  • Breathing through the mouth has been proven to significantly increase the number of occurrences of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

  The Nose: A Great Source for Nitric Oxide

  Until the 1980s the gas nitric oxide (NO) was considered a toxic substance, causing smog and producing harmful effects in the environment. When the first article appeared discussing the importance of nitric oxide, the scientific community found it difficult to conceive that a gas so toxic outside of the body could play such a highly important role within it. And although nitric oxide is a relative newcomer to the field of medicine, there are now over one hundred thousand research papers devoted to this gas, providing an insight into how it has captured the attention of doctors and scientists alike.

  In 1992, nitric oxide was proclaimed Molecule of the Year by the journal Science and was described as a startlingly simple molecule that unites neuroscience, physiology, and immunology and revises scientists’ understanding of how cells communicate and defend themselves.

  In 1998, Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro, and Ferid Murad were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery that the gas nitric oxide is an important signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. When I first began to read about the benefits of nitric oxide, I was astounded as to how one simple gas could influence all major systems and organs, help keep us free from disease including cancer, promote a longer life, and even perform better in bed.

  Strangely, despite these life-changing attributes, it seems that few people outside of the field of medicine are aware of this gas and its tremendous benefits to health. Of the hundreds of people I have spoken to with high blood pressure, poor cardiovascular health, asthma, and other ailments, not one of them was aware of the importance of nitric oxide.

  When it comes to nasal breathing and breath-hold exercises, nitric oxide plays an important role. Nitric oxide is produced inside the nasal cavity and the lining of the thousands of miles of blood vessels throughout the body.

  Scientific findings have shown that this extraordinary molecule is released in the nasal airways and transferred to the lower airways and lungs through nasal breathing. In the respected medical journal Thorax, researchers Jon Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg from the world-famous Karolinska Institute in Sweden state, “Nitric oxide (NO) is released in the nasal airways in humans. During inspiration through the nose, this NO will follow the airstream to the lower airways and the lungs.”

  Recognizing the importance of the role of nitric oxide in oxygenation of the body, Dr. Mehmet Oz recommends inhalin
g from the diaphragm as it “brings nitric oxide from the back of your nose and your sinuses into your lungs. This short-lived gas dilates the air passages in your lungs and does the same to the blood vessels.”

  Nasal breathing is imperative for harnessing the benefits of nitric oxide, working hand in hand with abdominal breathing and helping to maximize body oxygenation. Think of the nose as a reservoir: Each time we breathe gently and slowly through the nose, we carry this mighty molecule into the lungs and blood, where it can do its work throughout the body. Mouth breathing bypasses this special gas, missing out on the important advantages that nitric oxide provides for general well-being.

  Nitric oxide plays an important role in vasoregulation (the opening and closing of blood vessels), homeostasis (the way in which the body maintains a state of stable physiological balance in order to stay alive), neurotransmission (the messaging system within the brain), immune defense, and respiration. It helps to prevent high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, keep the arteries young and flexible, and prevent the clogging of arteries with plaque and clots. All these benefits reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke—two of the top three killers in America.

  As we age, blood vessels lose flexibility and reduce blood circulation throughout the body. It is no coincidence, therefore, that as men grow older, conditions related to reduced blood flow—including erectile dysfunction—become more prevalent. The potency of nitric oxide in opening blood vessels becomes clear when you realize that this simple gas plays a significant role in erection of the penis. This discovery, in fact, led to the production in 1998 of Viagra, a very popular drug that received thousands of hours of free media time and generated sales of billions of dollars for the manufacturer, Pfizer.

  There are many causes of habitual mouth breathing, including swelling of the tissue in the nose to form nasal polyps. In a study of a group of thirty-three men with nasal polyps, the authors found that erectile dysfunction was significantly higher in this group. Furthermore, when the men underwent surgery to remove the polyps and allow restoration of nose breathing, erectile dysfunction was significantly ameliorated.