Benefits Supporting Nasal Breathing
It will come as no surprise that scientists have studied nasal breathing for years, and research has shown that nasal breathing yields many benefits for holistic health. Among these benefits, the most notable are; improved oxygen quality, enhanced athletic performance, decreased stress/anxiety, and better sleep.
Higher Quality of Oxygen
When you breathe through your nose, the oxygen you bring into your lungs is of higher quality than the oxygen you breathe through your mouth due to the filtering of your nose hairs-cleaning the air before reaching your lungs. An added benefit to nasal breathing is the increased nitric oxide production, helping open airways and improving oxygen absorption in your bloodstream.
Improved Exercise Performance
Top-end athletes are familiar with nasal breathing techniques when exercising and how powerful the results can be for enhanced performance—breathing thru your nose results in slower respiration, thus increasing performance by increasing the tolerance for CO2. An added benefit is preventing side pain due to mouth breathing while running or high-impact cardio.
Lower Stress and Anxiety
If you’ve ever experienced severe anxiety, healthcare professionals probably advised you to take a few deep breaths to slow down your breathing. However, this can be misleading as the proper advice would be to take a few deep breaths thru your nose. In addition, if you were to take deep breaths thru your mouth when stressed, the results would be shallow breaths exaggerating the problem. Mouth breathing can result in rapid, shallow breaths, leading to hyperventilating.
However, when you breathe through your nose, it allows you to breathe slowly, calming your mind and fighting through anxiety feelings.
Better Sleep
With so many Americans lacking quality sleep, especially as we age, breathing through your nose can improve your sleep in multiple ways and could eliminate snoring. Nasal breathing while asleep helps you wake up more refreshed, as it allows you to avoid dry mouth & sore throats, supporting better oral health.