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

by Patrick McKeown

The process of breathing has been warped by chronic stress, sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, overheated homes, and lack of fitness.

Overbreathing causes the narrowing of airways, limiting your body’s ability to oxygenate, and the constriction of blood vessels, leading to reduced blood flow to the heart and other organs and muscles.

Most people learn that carbon dioxide is just a waste gas that we exhale from our lungs, but it is not a waste gas. It is the key variable that allows the release of oxygen from the red blood cells to be metabolized by the body. This is called the Bohr Effect. Understanding and utilizing this physiological principle will allow you to stop overbreathing.

taking a large breath into the lungs during rest will not increase oxygen content. It is exactly the wrong thing to do if you seek greater endurance.

When we breathe in excess of what we require, too much carbon dioxide is exhaled from the lungs and, hence, is removed from the blood. It forces that door to a more closed position, making it harder for oxygen to pass through. Breathing too much for short periods of time is not a significant problem, as no permanent change in the body occurs. However, when we breathe too much over an extended period of days to weeks, a biochemical change takes place inside us that results in an increased sensitivity or lower tolerance to carbon dioxide. With

The crucial point to remember is that hemoglobin releases oxygen when in the presence of carbon dioxide. When we overbreathe, too much carbon dioxide is washed from the lungs, blood, tissues, and cells. This condition is called hypocapnia, causing the hemoglobin to hold on to oxygen, resulting in reduced oxygen release and therefore reduced oxygen delivery to tissues and organs. With less oxygen delivered to the muscles, they cannot work as effectively as we might like them to.

Efficient breathing means that fewer free radicals are produced, reducing the risk of inflammation, tissue damage, and injury.

It is no wonder that habitual mouth breathers often suffer from poor energy, a lack of concentration, and moodiness.

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.”

The production of nitric oxide in the nasal sinuses can be increased by simply humming.

Nose Unblocking Exercise • Take a small, silent breath in through your nose and a small, silent breath out through your nose. • Pinch your nose with your fingers to hold your breath. • Walk as many paces as possible with your breath held. Try to build up a medium to strong air shortage, without overdoing it. • When you resume breathing, do so only through your nose. Try to calm your breathing immediately. • After resuming your breathing, your first breath will probably be bigger than normal. Make sure that you calm your breathing as soon as possible by suppressing your second and third breaths. • You should be able to recover normal breathing within 2 or 3 breaths. If your breathing is erratic or heavier than usual, you have held your breath for too long. • Wait 1 or 2 minutes before repeating the breath hold. • In order to prepare yourself for the longer breath holds, go easy for the first few repetitions, increasing your paces each time. • Repeat for a total of 6 breath holds, creating a fairly strong need for air.

When you are able to walk a total of 80 paces with the breath held, your nose will remain decongested. Eighty paces is actually a very achievable goal, and you can expect to progress by an additional ten paces per week.

The need for air signifies an accumulation of arterial carbon dioxide, the goal of which is to reset the respiratory center’s tolerance to this gas. To assist with this, it is very helpful to exert gentle pressure against your chest and abdomen with your hands. Try to maintain the need for air for the duration of 4 to 5 minutes.

There is only one way to change your breathing volume and rate, and that is by slowing down and diminishing the size of each breath in order to create a shortage of air.

If children or teenagers spend five or ten years with their mouths hanging open, their faces will become narrow, their jaws will not develop correctly, and their airway sizes will be reduced. Nasal breathing during the formative years is absolutely essential to help ensure correct development of the face, jaws, and airways.

During physical exercise, there are three ways to reduce air intake: 1. Relax your body and take less air into your lungs. 2. Increase exercise intensity while nasal breathing. 3. Practice breath holding during exercise.