We can live without food for about a month and water for a few days, but we can only live without air for a few minutes. With that said, isn’t it interesting how much time and effort we spend on making sure we eat and hydrate for optimal health, but we pay so little attention to how we breathe?! Many people do care a lot about air quality, but otherwise, breathing doesn’t get enough airtime (pun intended).

Excess oxygen can prematurely damage your tissues through the generation of excess free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive and destructive molecules that are generated by normal oxygen breakdown during metabolism, that cause damage to the fats of our cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Some of you may eat foods known to be high in antioxidants in an effort to battle free radicals; however, you may be creating more free radicals by over-breathing.  

Over-breathing, i.e., chronic hyperventilation, refers to taking in more oxygen than your body requires. Signs of over-breathing are subtle, and the symptoms are typically blamed on other things. Some characteristics of over-breathing include:

– Breathing through the mouth

– Audible breathing at rest

– Regular sighs and yawning

– Taking large breaths prior to talking

– Upper chest breathing

– Effortful breathing

– Heavy breathing at night

– Waking up with a dry mouth

– Sleep apnea and snoring

– Regular sniffling

Over-breathing is brought on by the trappings of our modern lifestyle – eating processed food, over-eating, poor exercise habits, sedentary jobs and behavior, stress, and higher temperatures in the home and workplace. In addition, media messaging (both mainstream and social) often includes health and fitness professionals who encourage big breathing, claiming that it is beneficial and will bring more oxygen into your body and to your muscles. However, getting more air into your lungs does not increase the delivery of oxygen to your muscles. In fact, it does the opposite! Note: deep breathing is not big breathing. Deep breathing is what an infant does naturally (where they breathe in and out gently and quietly through the nose, using the diaphragm, and back and sides of the torso). In contrast, big breathing, or over-breathing, is a large, audible breath taken in and out through the nose or mouth, oftentimes using the chest and front of the abdomen only.

When we chronically over-breathe, histamine levels rise which causes swelling and constriction of the bronchioles in the lungs, and a slew of allergic reactions that are especially exacerbated for those with pre-existing allergies. Many systemic health issues are caused by over-breathing, including:

– Respiratory system – coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, frequent yawning, snoring, breathlessness, sleep apnea

– Nervous system – light headedness, poor concentration, sweating, dizziness, vertigo, paresthesias in the hands and feet, trembling, fatigue, chronic exhaustion, headaches

– Cardiovascular system – high blood pressure, arrhythmia, elevated resting heart rate, chest pain, skipping or irregular heartbeat

– Mental health – anxiety, depression, tension, nightmares, stress

– Digestive system – diarrhea, constipation

– Urinary system – increased urination (bed wetting or frequent trips to the bathroom at night)

– Musculoskeletal system – muscle cramping, muscle spasms

– Integumentary system – dry skin, itchy skin, sweaty palms

Breathing bigger to get more oxygen is actually unnecessary; on average we breathe in about 4-6 liters of oxygen per minute, but interestingly, 75% of that oxygen is essentially unneeded, and is exhaled. Oxygen is carried in the blood by hemoglobin, but in order for hemoglobin to release the oxygen into the lungs and arterial blood, we need carbon dioxide (CO2). If 5% of our air is not comprised of CO2, the tissues and organs of the body won’t receive adequate oxygen to function properly.

Over-breathing decreases the amount of CO2 in the blood, which then restricts the airways and blood vessels. This makes it more difficult to breathe, reduces blood circulation, and increases resting heart rate and blood pressure. The normal amount of CO2 within our arterial blood is about 40 mmHg; if that drops even by as little as 1 mmHg due to low CO2, blood flow to the brain reduces by 2%. In this way, over-breathing will limit the amount of oxygen that goes to the brain, which then leads to fatigue, poor concentration, anxiety, high blood pressure, and even heart disease.  

Although it may seem paradoxical, exposing yourself to brief periods of reduced oxygen will improve the ability of your blood to carry oxygen to your muscles and tissues, and it will also increase the maximum amount of oxygen available to you, also known as your VO2 Max. Bottom line: we should concentrate on retaining more CO2 in the blood to facilitate oxygen delivery to the body. This comes about not by breathing bigger and through the mouth, but by breathing quieter and through the nose. 

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our patients in leading a healthy life and establishing a healthy lifestyle. And remember, if you are having an issue, make an appointment today. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.