You can survive for days without water, weeks without food but not for many minutes without getting some oxygen into your lungs. Does it matter how the oxygen gets there or in what quantity? Many researchers are now understanding that how you breathe impacts your health every minute of the day and night. Do you breathe through your nose or through your mouth? Apparently 25-50% of us breathe through our mouths and are probably suffering for it. Did you know you can absorb up to 20% more oxygen from a nasal breath than from a mouth breath?

Nasal Breathing - The benefits.

• Your nose filters germs and pollutants from the air you breathe

• Air is humidified and warmed as it passes through your nose

• Nasal breathing passes Nitric Oxide (NO) into your lungs (more about NO later)

• Reduce snoring and Sleep Apnoea

Mouth Breathing - The Downside.

• Forward head posture and neck/back pain.

• Snoring and obstructive apnoea

• Dehydration (ever wake with a dry mouth?)

• Dry mouth = increased mouth acidity = increased risk of cavities

• Bad breath due to to altered bacterial flora

Nitric Oxide

Never heard of it, am I right? Well it's pretty amazing stuff, if you can believe it in 1992 the journal Science named Nitric Oxide "molecule of the year". It's a gas which influences all major body systems and has potential beneficial effects on reducing our risks of disease (including cancer), promoting a longer life and even helping our performance in bed. Produced within the nasal cavity and also the many thousands of miles of our blood vessels Nitric Oxide (NO) plays a key role in the flexibility and elasticity of those blood vessels. Nose breathing draws the NO deep into our lungs where it maximises oxygenation of our blood and assists in the delivery of NO all over our body. Mouth breathing means we miss out on this hugely beneficial phenomenon.As well as improving the efficient working of our Immune system through it's Anti-viral/Anti-microbial actions it also reduces cholesterol and lowers blood pressure thereby reducing heart attack and stroke risks. Nitric Oxide prevents arterial hardening whilst having quite the opposite effect on other parts of the anatomy. Ever heard of Viagra? Nitric Oxide is nature's own Viagra due to it's ability to maintain enhanced circulation to all parts of the body. It is no coincidence that mouth breathing men who snore and have sleep apnoea have a high incidence of erectile dysfunction.If you'd like to immediately raise your NO levels, breathing through your nose is essential and you should also try Humming. Yes, Humming increases Nitric Oxide production in the nasal cavity by up to fifteenfoldcompared with quiet exhalation. Maybe all those Yogis Ohmming and chanting whilst taking great care to control their breathing know what they are doing after all?

How can I nasal breathe at night?

During the day you can think about your breathing and decide whether or not to consciously breathe through your nose. At night however what can you do? This is going to sound a bit extreme but watch the video and you'll see it's not so crazy, You have to tape your mouth closed. Not like a hostage situation! Just a small strip of tape across your lips that will easily come apart with some gentle pressure, enough to encourage your lips to remain closed and facilitate nasal breathing even when you are sleeping though.

What about Wim Hoff Method?

Great question! The Dutch force of nature, Wim Hoff has done society a huge service in promoting the beneficial effects of breathing control. His basic method uses 30 full breaths in and out followed by holding your breath for as long as you can. Biochemically you are blowing off as much Carbon Dioxide as possible reducing the motivation to breath back in and enabling the breath hold.You are also spiking your adrenaline levels and creating a conscious stress on your body.

• This results in increased production of Anti-inflammatory chemicals by 200%

• Decreased production of Pro-inflammatory chemicals by 50%

• Increased production of White blood cells (improved immune system function)

It's a great exercise to do every day for the anti-inflammatory benefits alone.

How Healthy is MY Breathing?

Check your BOLT score.

BOLT stands for Body Oxygen Level Test and is easy to do. You need some sort of timing device (watch or phone, not an egg timer). Before doing the test rest for 10 minutes or do this first thing in the morning before getting up.

1. Take a normal breath in through your nose and allow a normal breath out through your nose.

2. Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs.

3. Time the number of seconds until you feel the first definite desire to breathe, or the first stresses of your body urging you to breathe. These sensations may include the need to swallow or a constriction of the airways. You may also feel the first involuntary contractions of your breathing muscles in your abdomen or throat as the body gives the message to resume breathing. (Note that BOLT is not a measurement of how long you can hold your breath but simply the time it takes for your body to react to a lack of air.)

4. Release your nose, stop the timer and breathe in through your nose. Your inhalation at the end of the breath should be calm.

5. Resume normal breathing.

(Reproduced verbatim from the book, 'The oxygen advantage' by Patrick McKeown)

Your result tells you how tolerant your body is to Carbon Dioxide, this gas is the primary stimulus to breathing so the better your tolerance (the higher your BOLT score) the less frequently you have to breathe. 20 Seconds is quite a good score for someone with reasonable cardio-vascular fitness, if your score is below 20 seconds then you probably experience blocked nose, coughing, wheezing, snoring, fatigue and rapid breathlessness during physical exertion.When we exercise we use more oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide, the better we tolerate higher concentrations of carbon dioxide the better able we are to keep our breathing calm, smooth and efficient thereby improving our comfort with exercise and our physical performance.More information about the BOLT score and using breathing exercises to improve your health follow this link.