In March of this year I watched an Andrew Huberman podcast about how to breathe properly. Usually this is the sort of content I would skip right past, as it seems silly to even watch something by someone telling you how to do the thing you have been doing automatically and without trouble, since birth. However Andrew Huberman is a content creator I respect, he is a professor of ophthalmology and a highly respected neurobiologist.
I discovered that mouth-breathing can lead to dental problems and changes the shape of the human face. No problem, I thought to myself, 'I'm not a mouth-breather, I don't need this.' But I watched on out of fascination. Huberman introduced a book called "Jaws The Story of A Hidden Epidemic" by Dr. Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich. In their book the two highlight how in the Western world our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth more crooked and they attribute this to an excess of mouth-breathing.
During the podcast Huberman showed a few striking before and after pictures from the book, whereby someone had engaged in nose-breathing after being a mouth-breather and the changes in their faces were remarkable. The one that got me the most, was the graphic depicting two identical twins who had been adopted and brought up under different circumstances. The first was a mouth-breathing, soft-food-eating male of about thirty years of age, his chin was extremely recessed and his eyes droopy. Whereas his twin brother who had been brought up in a crunchy food eating household and breathed through his nose, looked very different from his twin, as you can see from the image below.
Becoming A Nasal Breather
So somewhat obviously, I started monitoring myself and to my utter surprise I discovered that I breathed via my mouth way more than I'd previously realised. I noticed I was often breathing through both nose and mouth and sometimes I was just plain old mouth-breathing!
This shocked and alarmed me, so I resolved to do something about it. I started doing the nasal breathing exercises suggested in the Huberman podcast and started to pay attention to how I was breathing. For the first few weeks the main thing I noticed, was I breathed through my mouth when walking, this was the hardest habit to adjust, because I felt out of breath when I switched to nasal breathing (I walk very fast). Eventually, I got more comfortable with it and now when I walk, my mouth is closed and I breathe through my nose.
The next hardest one was nasal breathing when exercising, this was very difficult and I still haven't mastered it. Although what I've found, is I can get just as big quality breath (maybe even better) through my nose as I can sucking in air via my mouth.
Nasal Results
So, has the shape of my face changed? Hmm, I'm not sure, I thought I would take a picture of myself every week for a year or so to see if I noticed the difference, but that just felt extremely narcissistic, plus looking at pictures of yourself all the time, just leads you to highlighting your own flaws, so I gave up.
I've compared recent pics of myself to ones then and my jaw does look a little squarer, though I notice little, if any change in my cheekbones and eyes.
Smell
There's a point in the Huberman podcast when he points out one of the benefits (if you can call it that) of nasal breathing, is that your sense of smell improves. He said that it might sound like a duh kind of statement, but it was worth mentioning.
I didn't really think about this till lately, because over the last few weeks I've noticed a marked improvement in my sense of smell, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it's great, last night for instance, just before I went to bed I was standing in my bathroom with the window open and a warm summer's breeze brought in the smell of my neighbour's roses. That is something I would not have noticed in my former life as a mouth-breather.
However, I'm noticing bad smells as well and they are really visceral and stomach churning. Another example from yesterday was when I was running for a bus to come back home, I ran straight through a cloud of the most pungent aroma, it made me gag and once on the bus, I really had to concentrate on not heaving and being sick right there all over the bus floor. Then when I got to my stop and came downstairs, I could smell the body odour of a fellow passenger and it was not good.
Sleep
This is another one that's hard to gauge, though I'm pretty sure my sleep quality has improved. Huberman suggested using medical tape to seal the mouth at night, in order to force yourself to breathe through the nose whilst asleep, but I found that simply making a conscious effort to close my mouth before falling asleep, seemed to work for me. I monitored myself when I woke and I always seemed to wake with my mouth closed.
Conclusion
All-in-all, I'm glad I discovered nasal breathing (still feels weird to say it) and I do think it has enhanced my quality of life. Although I will say it's not just the nasal breathing on its own, but the introduction of the various breathing exercises Huberman shared in his podcast. At the end of the day, I would definitely recommend this to anyone and would suggest that they monitor their own breathing habits. As for me, I'm just happy to be part of the nasal breathing community!
WHAT ABOUT YOU, ARE YOU A MOUTH OR NOSE BREATHER? OR PERHAPS YOUR BOTH? HAVE YOU EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THIS? WILL YOU MONITOR YOUR BREATHING FROM NOW ON?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Fortunately since many years I am completely nose breathing (apart from heavy exersizes like trail running)
I was shocked at how much I didn't nasal breathe, but after a small time of paying attention to it, it's now natural again! 😁
Cg
i was actually both while growing up but i was able to correct it early before the damage starts to set in.
I wish I had become aware of my breathing habits a bit earlier!
Cg
I really like this podcast. He also appears regularly on many other ones. I'd never heard of the physiological changes that go along with mouth breathing. I am primarily a nose breather except for when I sleep on my back (so my wife tells me). Thirty years of meditation have taught me to be hyper aware of my breathing. Have you heard of Dr. Berg on YouTube? He has a lot of helpful content.
I just discovered Huberman earlier this year and I'm loving it! I mentioned in the post that I think I'm sleeping with my mouth closed, but now I'm thinking I need to get some medical tape to make sure.
I hear ya regarding the meditation, I don't meditate as much as I should (I try and get 10 minutes a day in), but I've noticed how it has made me more aware of breathing and posture.
I haven't heard of Dr. Berg, I'll check him out, thanks for the tip!
Cg
I really connect with this work too. His podcast is in my top ten along with Lex Fridman, Rogan, Daily Stoic, and Modern Wisdom. Good idea about the medical tape, it would be a little added insurance. If I'm sleeping on my back sometimes my mouth still opens. That would keep the spiders out as well. Lol.
Ten minutes a day isn't nothing! Even that much is beneficial.
You're welcome! Dr. Berg's channel is interesting. A lot of his advice runs counter to mainstream medical advice but I think it's all a matter of finding what works for your specific DNA. I was having an issue with my thyroid for a few years and the symptoms mimicked a heart attack. I was always thirsty and in constant fear of an episode of this thyroid condition while cycling or exercising in excessive heat. I narrowed the issue down to dehydration and a deficiency in trace minerals. I started taking this product, that I found through Dr. Berg, it completely cleared it up.
Ohhhh.... Knowledge post.... Thanks for letting us to how to breath correctly....
Thanks for such an informative post
This is a very important content
Will be more conscious of my breathing. Thanks for this article mate 👍
Hehe well at start it seemed funnier to me like someone is teaching how to breath but as i kept going on I really learnt something that was entirely new fir me
Bút talking about me i was normal
But after covid (it’s been two years) I can’t breathe properly through nose
I have checked many doctors as well but no results now i am looking for a smal surgery as well
Try some of the breathing exercises from the video, especially the one where you breathe in deeply through the nose and then take another, quick, short, snort, in through the nose. Then let the air out slowly.
Also try the breathe-hold-breathe-hold technique.
I hope you can fix this without surgery.
Cg
Well seems interesting
Will surely try these tricks before going for any surgery