Announcement:
I’m Rucking 100 Miles for Chronic Disease
On Leap Day, February 29th, I’m going to ruck 100 miles to raise money for the Health and Human Performance Foundation (HHPF).
If you’ve been following me for a little while, you know I’m a huge fan of their mission. They are an amazing nonprofit raising awareness around the benefits of breathing for chronic disease, stress, and anxiety.
Given the impacts breathing has had on my life, I wanted support their cause. What better way than a ridiculously long walk?
I am wearing a weighted rucksack to symbolize the extra weight we carry around as those living with chronic disease. Yet, despite that weight, we can still accomplish anything. In fact, that weight makes us stronger. I wholeheartedly believe diabetes has made stronger.
We are setting up a donations page on HHPF, which I’ll be sending out separately. If you feel so inspired, donate to help support their great mission. And please support me by telling others, sharing our posts on Instagram, and spreading the word about HHPF.
Thank you in advance for your support!
Now, on to the science.
Last week, we learned that diaphragmatic breathing improved HRV and lowered HbA1c. This week’s research reveals that it also improves antioxidant status in type 2 diabetics.
Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise as a Therapeutic Intervention for Control of Oxidative Stress in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
This is one of the early papers I posted to The Breathing Diabetic. I often go back through important papers to reinforce the ideas and see if I notice new things I missed before.
This one did not disappoint. Just re-reading all of my notes on this one energized me (image below). I’m fascinated with breathing, but sometimes I need a paper like this to remind me how important it is to get this research out.
The Breathing Protocol
One hundred and twenty three type-2 diabetics participated in this study. Sixty were placed in the diaphragmatic breathing group, and 63 served as controls.
The participants were instructed to lie down, place one hand on their chest, one hand on their belly, and breathe deeply and slowly, only allowing the hand on their belly to move.
This protocol is almost identical to the Oxygen Advantage “Breathe Light Advanced” exercise.
They were asked to perform this procedure for 15-20 minutes, twice a day, for 3 months.
Breathing Improves Oxidative Stress and HbA1c
At the end of the 3 months, participants in the breathing group had significantly lowered their oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant levels.
Additionally, they decreased their HbA1c by 3%. Now, this isn’t 3% as in dropping from 9% down to 6% (like last week’s study). This was 3% of their original value. Not quite as significant, but still encouraging. And, remember the study from last week didn’t see major improvements in HbA1c until the 12 month follow-up.
In short, diaphragmatic breathing led to:
Decreased oxidative stress
Better blood sugars
In good breath,
Nick
P.S. Here’s the first page of my notes on this article. I was clearly excited the first time I read it too.
