> What I've Learned. LESS Breath: Better Health? | Mouth Breathing vs. Nasal Breathing. YouTube, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgwxn9mRpAY>. Accessed 16 Aug. 2021. # LESS Breath: Better Health? | Mouth Breathing vs. Nasal Breathing > This video is about the importance of training yourself to breathe properly to improve health and even exercise performance. - Mouth breathing has been linked with reduced IQ - 80% of literature show association between mouth breathing and learning difficulties - Margaret Rogers, *Adenoids and Diseased Tonsils* - George Catlin, *Shut Your mouth and Save Your Life* - Native American women keep their babies' mouth closed while they are sleeping - 70% of the nasal cavity is located deep within the skull - The nose filters, warms and moistens the air → more suitable for the lungs - It also increases levels of nitric oxide, a key signalling molecule - It regulates airflow, preventing overbreathing - Overbreathing leads to hypocapnia, a lack of CO2 in the blood - That's why hyperventilating people breath in an air bag to trap the CO2 - Mouthbreathing makes you exhale too much CO2 - Each 2.5% drop in partial pressure of arterial CO2 reduces bloodflow to the brain by 2% - Patrick McKeown, *The Oxygen Advantage* - Our red blood cells are almost always saturated with between 95% and 99% oxygen - Taking in more oxygen with big breaths is therefore useless - CO2 allows for the release of oxygen from the red blood cells: this is called the Bohr effect - Hemoglobin's O2 binding affinity is inversely related to acidity and CO2 - Scott Jurek is a famous ultramarathoner - In his memoir *Eat & Run*, he says that breathing abdominally is the most important thing you can do - The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico can run 62 miles a day and breath almost only through their nose - Anthropologist Wade Davis lived with the tribal hunters of the Amazon, who breathed through their nose during hunts - *Hatha Yoga Pradipika*: the breath must be controlled - Animals breath the mouth only when they are distressed or sick - Mouth breathing also can bad to poor facial structure - Athletes' attractiveness might be related to a good breathing pattern - You can put some micropore tape on your moth as your sleep to force yourself to breath through the nose during sleep