We have all been breathing our entire lives so there does not seem like much to discuss here, but there is in fact a right way and a wrong way to do it. Humans are designed to breathe through their noses, but it is very common for many individuals to breathe through their mouths due to nasal obstructions, chronic allergies, bad habit, or a variety of other reasons. Being that we breathe all the time, it is easy to think that however we are doing it is completely normal; however, incorrect breathing habits (i.e. mouth breathing) can lead to health issues such as periodontal diseases, bad breath, ear/throat/lung infections, chronic fatigue, brain fog, and many other issues (Cafasso 2019).
To begin with, there are a variety of health benefits of breathing through your nose such as allowing the air to be moistened, warmed, and filtered which can prevent drying of lungs/bronchioles as well as preventing dust/pollen/pathogens from entering further into the body, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated which leads to a reduction in stress and anxiety, prevention/treatment of sleep apnea, and others (Kummer 2019). Nasal breathing has also been shown to improve nitric oxide levels (Dillon 1996) which is shown to help regulate brain blood flow, cellular immunity, healthy blood viscosity, and many other functions (Douillard 2019).
Aside from the simple health benefits of nasal breathing, avoiding mouth breathing can prevent negative aesthetic effects. Chronic mouth breathing prevents an individual from maintaining proper tongue posture, proper tongue posture being when the tongue is resting against the roof of the mouth rather than settled at the bottom of the mouth (Sutton 2017). Not maintaining proper tongue posture, especially when an individual is younger and their facial structure is more malleable, can lead to a narrowing of the palate, resulting in their cheeks, chin, and jaw becoming less prominent over time. Although there is little evidence to suggest that these effects can be reversed with proper tongue posture, it is useful to know and share this knowledge so that parents can ensure that their children practice nasal breathing in order to help maintain proper tongue posture and avoid any negative and preventable effects on their facial structure.
This is actually something that I messed up for a long time so considering that we can mess up something as basic as breathing should make us all feel better about ourselves.
Cafasso, J. (2019). Mouth Breathing: Symptoms, Complications, and Treatments. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mouth-breathing
Dillon, W. C., Hampl, V., Shultz, P. J., Rubins, J. B., & Archer, S. L. (1996). Origins of Breath Nitric Oxide in Humans. Chest, 110(4), 930–938. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.110.4.930
Douillard, J. (2019, January 18). Change Your Life Overnight with Mouth Tape: 20 Reasons to Nose Breathe While You Sleep. John Douillard's LifeSpa | Ayurveda + Natural Health. https://lifespa.com/mouth-tape-20-reasons-nose-breathe-sleep/
Kummer, M. (2019). Benefits of Nose Breathing. MichaelKummer. https://michaelkummer.com/health/nose-breathing-benefits/#the-disadvantages-of-mouth-breathing
Sutton, J. (2017). What You Need to Know About Proper Tongue Posture. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/tongue-posture
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post! I never really thought about it but I am a mouth breather. I found this article where the researchers obstructed the nostrils of rats so that they were forced to breath through their mouths. 15 weeks later, the rats with obstructed nostrils took twice as long to navigate a maze than controls. Additionally, they had fewer brain cells in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus (which is for memory) than the controls (Tsubamoto-Sano, 2019). I never knew that mouth breathing could have so many negative consequences!
References:
Tsubamoto-Sano, N., Ohtani, J., Ueda, H., Kaku, M., Tanne, K., & Tanimoto, K. (2019). Influences of mouth breathing on memory and learning ability in growing rats. Journal of Oral Science, 61(1), 119-124. doi:10.2334/josnusd.18-0006
Hi Jason! Interesting post! I have actually been to multiple yoga sessions where they explain the importance of breathing correctly, through the nose. While some people may not believe in the effects of yoga, there is actually quite the science behind it...
ReplyDeletePranayama and Kapalabhati are both techniques of breath regulation used frequently in yoga. How does this impact us physiologically? Turns out, it has an effect on our EEG activity. These techniques not only have an impact on our stress levels, but also our reaction times (Saoji et al., 2019). I have cited the article below for a read if you are interested, but overall pretty neat stuff!
Saoji, A. A., Raghavendra, B. R., & Manjunath, N. K. (2019). Effects of yogic breath regulation: A narrative review of scientific evidence. Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine, 10(1), 50–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaim.2017.07.008