breathing physiology

18 Excellent Statements from Scientific Articles

 

Over the past few years, I have accumulated over 500 pages of notes on over 100 scientific articles on breathing. I’ve recently been going back through them as part of a project I’m working on. In this post, I share some of the best "one-liners" I’ve come across. Enjoy!

 
 

 
 

1. Integrating Breathing Techniques Into Psychotherapy to Improve HRV: Which Approach Is Best?

Frontiers in Psychology (2021)

For those interested in addressing physiological regulation in psychotherapy, the main implication of this study is that both 6 breath per minute breathing and soothing rhythm breathing increase HRV and therefore be beneficial to use in psychotherapy.



2. Effect of nasal or oral breathing route on upper airway resistance during sleep

European Respiratory Journal (2003)

In summary, upper airway resistance during sleep is significantly lower during nasal breathing than during oral breathing. 



3. How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2018)

“Taken together, these results confirm that nasal stimulation represents the fundamental link between slow breathing techniques, brain and autonomic activities and psychological/behavioral outputs.” 



4. Oxygen-induced impairment in arterial function is corrected by slow breathing in patients with type 1 diabetes

Nature (2017)

“Slow breathing could be a simple beneficial intervention in diabetes.



5. Effect of diaphragmatic breathing on heart rate variability in ischemic heart disease with diabetes

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (2009)

“Our study supports the view that the intervention in the form of deep diaphragmatic breathing practice would improve the glycemic control and also decrease the cardiac autonomic impairment in IHD patients with diabetes mellitus.


 

6. On aprosexia, being the inability to fix the attention and other allied troubles in the cerebral functions caused by nasal disorders 

The British Medical Journal (1889)

“Shut your mouth and save your brain.’


 

7. Nasal obstructions, sleep, and mental function

Sleep (1983)

While asleep, shut your mouth and save your brain.”


 

8. Breathing control center neurons that promote arousal in mice

Science (2017)

“This respiratory corollary signal would thus serve to coordinate the animal’s state of arousal with the breathing pattern, leaving the animal calm and relaxed when breathing is slow and regular, but promoting (or maintaining) arousal when breathing is rapid or disturbed.


 

9. Review: Can yoga breathing exercises improve glycemic response and insulin sensitivity?

Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy (2017)

“Thus, decreases in respiratory rates can lead to a decrease in stress and sympathetic outflow, ultimately causing a lower rate of gluconeogenesis and glucose release into the blood stream.


 

10. Spontaneous respiratory modulation improves cardiovascular control in essential hypertension

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (2007)

Slow breathing is a straightforward method with no contraindications that offers a rather valid cost-benefit, improving autonomic balance and respiratory control and lowering blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension.


 

11. Slow breathing improves arterial baroreflex sensitivity and decreases blood pressure in essential hypertension

Hypertension (2005)

“Therefore, one can expect that a modification in the respiratory control would affect also the control of the cardiovascular system.  Because the breathing is also under voluntary control, it is theoretically possible to induce such changes by voluntary modification of breathing.”


 

12. Inclusion of a rest period in diaphragmatic breathing increases high frequency heart rate variability: Implications for behavioral therapy

Psychophysiology (2017)

“With breathing interventions being relatively rapid interventions to implement and also demonstrating a wide range of positive clinical outcomes, breathing interventions warrant closer consideration from healthcare professionals.


 

13. Slow breathing reduces sympathoexcitation in COPD

European Respiration Journal (2008)

In summary, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease showed sympathetic excitation and depression of the baroreflex.  Slow breathing counteracted these changes.” 


  

14. Nasal respiration entrains human limbic oscillations and modulates cognitive function

The Journal of Neuroscience (2016)

“Our findings provide a unique framework for understanding the pivotal role of nasal breathing in coordinating neuronal oscillations to support stimulus processing and behavior.


 

15. Nasal respiration entrains human limbic oscillations and modulates cognitive function

The Journal of Neuroscience (2016)

“We also found that the route of breathing was critical to these effects, such that cognitive performance significantly declined during oral breathing”

  


16. Nasal nitric oxide and regulation of human pulmonary blood flow in the upright position

Journal of Applied Physiology (2010)

“Therefore, upper airway NO could have emerged in bipedal mammals not only to improve gas exchange but also to provide some protection against infection.


 

17. Effects of inhaled nitric oxide on regional blood flow are consistent with intravascular nitric oxide delivery

The Journal of Clinical Investigation (2001)

The most fundamental and important observation of this study is that NO gas introduced to the lungs can be stabilized and transported in blood and peripherally modulate blood flow.



18. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human

Breathe (2017)

Perhaps it is time to refine a breathing technique that optimizes ventilation, gas exchange and arterial oxygenation, maximizes vagal tone, maintains parasympathetic-sympathetic balance and optimizes the amount of cardiorespiratory reserve that could be called upon in times of intense physical or mental stress or activity.” 



 

The Breathing 411

If you enjoyed this, consider signing up for my 411 newsletter. Each Monday, I combine information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing.

 

A Breakthrough in Respiratory Physiology

 

Happy End of the Year,

Thank you for sharing part of your Mondays with me during 2020. Here are 4 more thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer to reflect on as we wrap up the year.

Enjoy!

 
 

 
 

4 THOUGHTS

1. A Breakthrough in Respiratory Physiology

"We noted that the inhalation of NO led to a significant increase in nitrite and SNO-Hb. Nitrite peaked at 5 minutes and SNO-Hb peaked beyond 15 minutes, of discontinuing the NO inhalation." - Tonelli et al. (2019), PLOS ONE

Two weeks ago, we learned that inhaled NO is transported throughout the entire body. I promised to follow-up with newer research, and here it is.

This 2019 study, led by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, found that inhaled NO increases circulating levels of SNO-Hb and nitrite. This matters because SNO-Hb is crucial to whole-body oxygenation.

The levels of inhaled NO studied here were much higher than what is produced in the nose. However, it seems likely that the NO we inhale during nasal breathing acts through this same pathway, assisting with oxygen delivery throughout the entire body. We’ll have to see what future studies show…

In the meantime, if you geek out on breathing, this represents a paradigm shift in respiratory physiology. Learn more in the full summary.

Here’s to another year of nasal breathing and continuous learning.

2. How to Begin Something New this Year

"If there’s one concept from my book I hope you embrace, it’s this: People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad." – BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits 

Let’s remember BJ’s advice as we embark on any change in 2021. Specifically for breathing, we should remember that our practice should be natural, not burdensome. It should make us feel good, not be another source of worry.

More broadly, let’s not feel "obligated" to change, but instead, do it because it makes us feel good and improves our health. This just seems like common sense, but sometimes it takes a really smart person like BJ Fogg to state the obvious.

P.S. Do you remember BJ’s number one tip for feeling good? Celebrate. A lot.

P.P.S. Things that are hard during but make you feel good after, like workouts and cold showers, still fit into this : )

3. The Breathing Essentials and "Nice-to-Haves"

"The first section contains the essential things you need to follow…The rest are nice-to-haves. If you have the time and energy to add these things, your program will be a lot better." - CLI Guidelines

I do a lot of computer programming in my "job job." As a true nerd, I also occasionally read articles like this one in my free time. However, when I read this passage, I immediately saw how this concept could be applied to breathing.

The breathing essentials would be:

  • Nose breathing

  • Slow breathing

  • Diaphragmatic breathing

And the nice-to-haves:

  • Breath holds

  • Alternate nostril breathing

  • Fast & slow oscillations

  • And on & on

If you focus on the essentials, you’ll be on your way to better health. Throw in a few "nice-to-haves," and your breathing program will be that much better.

4. Some Breathing Quotes to Reflect On

"Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?" - Philip G. Hamerton

I love scrolling through quotes and reading ones that pop out. If you do too, here’s a page I hope you enjoy:

Page of Quotes

 
 

 
 

1 QUOTE

"As long as we have breath, as long as we are still conscious, we are each responsible for answering life’s questions." - Viktor Frankl

Thanks goes to Brain Pickings for this one 🙏

 
 

 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: In the 2 h 15 min leading up to the New Year, the average person will take approximately this many breaths.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is 2021?


In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Post-Christmas shopping deals

 
 

How slow breathing improves emotional well-being (hint: it might be in your nose)

 
What-we-think-or-what-we-1.jpg
 

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re having a great weekend.

Let’s continue on our theme of slow breathing and enhanced well-being. If you missed/forgot last week’s post, check it out here.

The paper I’m sharing this week might win best title award (well, at least the part before the colon):

How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing

(Click Here to read full summary)

That’s pretty awesome for a peer-reviewed journal article.

This paper examined a wide range of studies to understand how physiological changes associated with slow breathing correlated with improved emotional outcomes.

Here are the common results they found throughout the literature:

  • Slow breathing increases heart rate variability

  • Slow breathing increases respiratory sinus arrhythmia

  • Slow breathing increases alpha brain wave activity

These benefits were correlated with improvements in stress, anxiety, depression, and well-being.

Thus, breathing changes your physiology, and your physiology changes your emotions.

And to me, that wasn’t the best part. This was.

The authors hypothesize that the nose provides the link between slow breathing, brain and autonomic functioning, and positive emotional outcomes. It’s not just slow breathing, it’s nose breathing. Breathing slowly through the mouth would not improve stress and anxiety.

From a practical perspective, all of the studies used breathing rates of 3-6 breaths/min. With practice, we can use an app (such as Breathing Zone) to achieve these slow rates.

However, let’s not rely purely on the science. Try practicing slow breathing at 6 breaths/min for 5 min/day to see the results for yourself. They might turn out to be the most important 5 minutes of your day.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Lean into stress.

Breathe profoundly to reduce stress and anxiety

Profound-It-means-DEEP-2.jpg

Hi all,

Last week we learned some devastating statistics. (Do you remember that 1 in 3 adolescents meets the criteria for anxiety?)

The study I’m sharing this week shows you how to breathe (hint: deeply) to reduce anxiety.

The effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing relaxation training for reducing anxiety
(Click here to read on website)

First, a quick rant. “Deep” breathing is not “big” breathing. Often, when someone says “take a deep breath,” we automatically take a big breath.

But, a deep breath simply brings air into the lower lungs (“right before the bottom”) where the largest concentration of blood is due to gravity. It doesn’t have to be (and usually shouldn’t be) big. Maybe we should call in “Profound Breathing”?

OK, rant complete.

In this study, patients with mild-to-moderate anxiety were given instructions on diaphragmatic breathing. They were told to take 10 diaphragmatic breaths, twice daily, which doesn’t sound like too much to ask. They performed this over an 8 week period.

The results showed that diaphragmatic breathing significantly reduced anxiety when assessed on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scale. Their average scores dropped from ~19 down to ~5 (lower is better).

The participants also improved physiological indicators of stress, including reducing their heart rate, breathing rate, and skin conductance.

Like I said last week, this isn’t woo-woo pseudoscience. Correct breathing changes your physiology to reduce stress and anxiety.

And the best part is that you can use deep breathing anytime you (or your clients or friends) feel stressed. And you can know that you are changing your physiology to promote relaxation.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Did you check out HHPF last week?