Perhaps you didn’t know? Correct nasal breathing can help fight viral infections by strengthening your immune system.  

With correct breathing, we can get enough nitric oxide in our lungs and blood, which allows our blood flow through our body interrupted and provide our vital organs with enough oxygen and nutrients.

Pandemija je omejila in upočasnila naše življenje. Večini je to omogočilo prerazporeditev časa in spreminjanje na bolje; razmislek o življenju naj bi zmanjšal preobčutljivost za nenadne spremembe.

In March this year, they published a study on the impact of indoor humidity and the chances of getting a respiratory viral infection. Researchers have discovered a clear connection between dried respiratory mucosa and reducing respiratory resistance to viral infections. Due to new viruses, they are trying to find the cause of reduced resistance.

The way we live, and with that, a stricter attitude towards ourselves causes a collapse of the systems we developed to survive. The most burdened of them all is the respiratory system. The long-term increase of pressures, the fast pace of life, and the number of decisions related to stress caused an increase of breaths per minute: it almost tripled in the last century. There wasn’t any change in the composition of air, so it’s not an adjustment to lower amounts of oxygen (this happens at ascents above 4000 meters), but on to the lack of free time and the greater pressure the surroundings that our body feels.

Our chest volume becomes smaller; we need to use more energy to inhale, so we rather breathe through our mouth. This is one-fifth easier than breathing through the nose due to a different airway through the upper respiratory tract. But this shortcut comes at a price.

Imagine if we drive a car with the brake and gas pedal at the same time.

With nasal breathing, the body receives approximately a quarter of the necessary nitric oxide.

Constant breathing through the mouth and shallow breathing with the upper half of the chest (vertical breathing) activate stress receptors in the upper lungs, further stimulating the fight-or-flight form of arousal and leading to a spiral of sympathetic dominance. With long-lasting and strong activation of the sympathetic mode, which is possible only when overeating or having too much energy, also activates the parasympathetic mode. This reaction has the same function as an emergency brake mechanism, which drastically slows down all body processes. It leads to the freeze response, fatigue, depression, lack of motivation, and creates complex syndromes such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, disorders of the digestive and metabolic systems.

A human is like a car with the brake and gas pedal pressed to the floor during the freeze response. The freeze response is characteristic that the functions no longer follow normal patterns but act unexpectedly and abnormally. The nervous system reacts without any creativity and acts with patterns it already knows, despite these not being the best choice in the current situation.

The freeze response is very common in today’s society and is the main cause of many issues and illnesses. Among them are insomnia, sleep apnea, arrhythmia, oversensitivity to temperature changes, a distorted sense of hunger and thirst, allergies, chemical, and other addictions, ADHD, dementia in autoimmune diseases.

At the same time, you are losing the ability to change your chests and abdomens volume. Due to the reduced efficiency of the diaphragm movement, breathing is less efficient. This increases the need to breathe through the mouth and leads to a dried mucosa and oversensitivity to pathogenic organisms, which we inhale with air. Because of inefficient breathing, other organs’ efficiency begins to decline, which increases the possibility of chronic illnesses even further, such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. How fatal those can be when coupled with a new virus, we already know.

Nasal breathing is healthy.

The nose performs at least 30 functions, all of which are important and help fulfill the lungs, heart, and other organisms’ tasks. The nasal cavity plays a vital function in breathing. It encourages filtration, heating, and moistening of the inhaled air. This gives the air that travels into the lungs the perfect temperature and provides the body with sufficient oxygen. Nasal breathing in an awake state compared to mouth breathing gives half more airflow resistance. The result is a fifth higher oxygen intake due to higher CO2 levels in the blood. Nasal breathing heats up and moistens the air and prevents the drying of the mucosa. It removes many pathogenic organisms and raises nitric oxide concentration in a person’s lungs and blood.

The freeze reflex is very common today and is most commonly the main cause of many issues and illnesses.

Nitric oxide, which is present in high concentrations in the nasal cavity of a healthy person, is important for the immune system’s proper functioning. It expands blood veins and improves blood flow, kills parasites, bacteria, and viruses, and increases resilience. Nitric oxide influences many vital functions: binding and releasing oxygen from red blood cells, regulates blood pressure, and reduces inflammation in the body.

With nasal breathing, the body receives a quarter of the needed nitric oxide. With mouth breathing, that number is noticeably lower, and so is its influence on vital functions. Research shows low levels of nitric oxide in the blood where serious medical conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, arteriosclerosis, and sleep apnea were present.

With correct breathing, we receive enough nitric oxide for our lungs and blood, and we allow blood to flow uninterrupted and guarantee that vital organs receive enough oxygen and nutrients. With wider blood veins, the heart can balance blood pressure, which is required to send off blood to all body areas. We raise the nitric oxide in our blood by slowly breathing through our nose, regular and normal physical activity, and eating food, which eases nitric oxide production.

More and more researches prove that nasal breathing has a calming effect. After just five minutes, the skin’s oxygen level rises by a tenth at the same level of oxygen in the blood, which indicates an improved supply of oxygen to the tissues. Correct nasal breathing facilitates better blood flow through the lungs and raises the arteries’ amount of oxygen.