gas exchange

The Breathing 411 - On Becoming Indisfunctionable

 

Welcome to October and another edition of The Breathing 4.1.1.

Below, you’ll find 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy") related to all things breathing. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing to Gain Traction

"On the left side is distraction, the opposite of traction...the word means the 'drawing away of the mind.' Distractions impede us from making progress toward the life we envision."

- Nir Eyal, Indistractable

I’ve never thought of "distraction" being the opposite of "traction." (Pretty neat.) Distraction, as Nir Eyal states, is the drawing away of the mind.

But what can we do to bring it back, to gain traction?

"It has long been claimed by Yogis and Buddhists that meditation and ancient breath-focused practices… strengthen our ability to focus on tasks. A new study explains for the first time the neurophysiological link between breathing and attention.…
The way we breathe, in other words, directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve our brain health." - ScienceDaily

That sounds like a great place to start. Here’s to combining ancient wisdom with modern science on our path to becoming indistractable.

(Thanks, a million times over, to Brian Johnson for inspiring so many of my thoughts.)

2. How to Become Indisfunctionable

In addition to improving focus, a staple of slow breathing is that it reverses autonomic dysfunction. It does this by promoting cardio-respiratory balance, in as little as two minutes, putting us back on the track to health and wellness.

In the process of becoming indistractable, we also become indisfunctionable.

3. Similar Lung Deficiencies in Diabetes and Asthma

"In a study of the pulmonary biopsies of 171 patients,(18) it was concluded that individuals with DM [diabetes mellitus] present an increase in basement membrane thickness similar to that seen in asthma patients." - Forgiarini et al. (2009)

I have often wondered why breathing principles that work so well for asthma also benefit people with diabetes. Here’s one interesting similarity: The oxidative stress from diabetes leads to similar lung structure changes seen in asthmatics.

Thanks to 411 reader T. P. for inspiring this thought.

4. Heavy Breathing at the Start of Exercise (it’s not just CO2)

Your breathing rate typically increases after just a few minutes of exercise…unless you’ve been reading this newsletter long enough :)

By now, we would all probably agree this increase in breathing is due to a build-up of CO2. But is that truly the case?

"The increase in ventilation does not appear to be the consequence of changes in arterial blood gases." - Respiratory Physiology pg 187

The reason is perhaps more impressive. It’s what this textbook calls "Phase 1: The Neurological Phase" of exercise. The movement itself might be sending neurological messages to the brain, instructing it to begin breathing more.

That is, your body has a built-in, anticipatory mechanism that links movement to the respiratory controller in the brain to help prevent blood-gas imbalances from ever happening. The result is that changes in breathing precede changes in CO2.

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

Same goes for breathing:

"It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light."

- G.K. Chesterton

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: The time it takes gas exchange to occur in the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

…

Question: What is about 0.25 seconds?

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Didn’t see that coming.

 
 

Nasal Nitric Oxide: Our Body's Answer to Gravity?

 
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Gravity is pretty awesome. After all, it keeps us here on Earth. And when our bodies are not subject to gravity (say, if you’re an astronaut), some crazy things happen. For example,

  • Astronauts lose 25% of their aerobic capacity in 7-14 days (it usually takes 10 years to lose 10% here on Earth)

  • Bone density can decrease as fast as 5% a month (it’s usually about 1% a year on Earth)

Thus, our bodies are clearly meant to be under the influence of gravity. However, as we became upright mammals walking on two feet, gravity could have posed an issue.

Blood flow in our lungs is influenced by several factors, but one of the largest is gravity. Gravity acts to focus blood toward the base of the lungs.

Interestingly, in humans and other primates, the nasal airways produce a considerable amount of nitric oxide (NO). As we’ve learned before, NO is a potent vasodilator that is critical for whole-body oxygenation.

Maybe the NO produced in the nasal airways is an adaptation to walking upright and helps counter gravity’s effects on blood flow? That was the hypothesis of the study I’m sharing this week.

Nasal Nitric Oxide: Nature’s Answer to Gravity?

(Read Full Summary Here)

This research found that when participants breathed through their noses, blood flow in the lungs became more uniform and gas exchange was increased. Breathing through the mouth did not have these effects.

However, if subjects breathed through their mouths but were given supplemental NO, the blood flow in their lungs looked similar to nasal breathing.

This suggests that NO is responsible for making blood flow more uniform in the lungs.

The authors hypothesize that nasal NO might be an evolutionary adaptation to counter the effects of gravity on lung blood flow, allowing greater and more efficient gas exchange to occur.

We often praise nasal breathing for its warming and humidifying effects. But the more I learn, the more convinced I am that nitric oxide is the real hero.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Happy New Years Dance!