When we are challenged to learn something new as children, we usually rely on what others say. It may be a parent, a teacher, a book or a TV program. In our adult life, as we continue on our quest for ‘truth’, we have many sources to draw on, One is from experts, often those who are trained in a particular science, and another source is from our own experience. Both are valid and useful.

Breathing can save your life!

• Part One: What are we doing wrong?
• Part Two: What does the science say?
• Part Three: Nose Breathing can have a profound health benefit

Research has been done for over a hundred years with regards to the body’s use of the air we breathe. Much of this knowledge was ignored or used in a very limited way. It has only recently been brought to the attention of consumers in workshops and individual coaching sessions. Anyone can experiment, safely for themselves. So here is a very brief summary of that original research and how it might be relevant for us today.

When you breathe in air through your nose or mouth, it is delivered to the lungs. The oxygen component is then picked up by the blood and delivered to cells throughout the body. What happens at the cellular level is described below:

1904 – Christian Bohr – Denmark
The Bohr Effect – When the level of carbon dioxide in the blood rises, it reduces the affinity of oxygen in hemoglobin. This allows the oxygen to be released and thereby be available to the cells, more specifically to the mitochondria that produce energy for each cell of all tissues in the body, including brain cells. This operates best when the blood is more acidic, has a lower pH than the normal 7.4. This occurs when the body retains a higher level of carbon dioxide.

1931 – Otto Warburg – Germany
Warburg discovered that energy needed for cell metabolism should come from oxygen. He found that in the case of cancer cells this changes to coming from the fermentation of sugar. The higher level of carbon dioxide turns the blood more acidic. This allows the release of oxygen to the cells providing fuel for their optimal energy production.

1952 – Konstantin Buteyko – Russia
Buteyko developed this understanding further and determined that diminished breathing allows the level of carbon dioxide to rise, lowering the pH and thereby facilitating the release of oxygen to the cells, particularly to the mitochondria where the energy of metabolism is produced. In this environment, cancer cells cannot thrive.

How often in life do we learn that quality trumps quantity. It is most apparent in breathing and can be learned by anyone. It takes time and experience to trust this idea and to feel the benefits. In a society that promotes ‘more’ of everything as a sign of success or progress, how can ‘less’ have a chance to impress anyone? First you need to imagine that this is possible and then find out for yourself. Think of how often extra oxygen is administered to a person in distress or one who is chronically ill. It is an attempt to serve the need of the cells in various parts of the body. And yet it depends on the internal environment to benefit the person’s cells.

Why not learn more before we need emergency care?

Read more in Part Three.