blood pressure

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3 Breaths Changed David Goggins’ Life (+ a free gift)

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4 Thoughts



1. Three Breaths that Changed David Goggins’ Life

In his new book, Never Finished, David Goggins says that the first freezing wave that hit him in Hell Week almost sent him home:

“I was a half-step from voluntarily pulling the plug on a dream that had the power to change the course of my entire life.”

Enter the power of the breath:

“In order to think clearly, I needed oxygen. I took a deep breath and then another. … I took another breath as the next big wave swelled … I was done showing weakness. I was finished with fear.”

He goes on to say:

“When I was teetering on the brink, I was able to physically calm myself down with a few deep breaths, and that helped me see through the adrenaline rush. My heart rate was still elevated, and panic continued to creep in, but I’d regained enough of my composure to make a conscious, One-Second Decision to stay in the fight.”

That’s a powerful reminder that, whatever challenging life event we’re going through, our breath is always there—not to make it go away, but to help us align with our highest self and make that one-second decision to stay in the fight.

2. 2021 Study: Slow Breathing Reduces Blood Pressure

Effects of diaphragmatic deep breathing exercises on prehypertensive or hypertensive adults: A literature review (2021)

The most practical take-home from this review was that practicing slow breathing for at least 10 min daily for 4 weeks led to noticeable improvements in blood pressure.

If you want even more useful findings, I just released a Science 411 for this paper on Friday in the Breath is Life Learning Center.

3. Why Breathing is a Powerful Approach to Healing

“In this way, breathing techniques provide a portal to the autonomic communication network through which we can…send specific messages to the brain using the language of the body.”

- Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarb, MD, The Healing Power of the Breath

And remember: “Of all the automatic functions of the body, only one can be easily controlled voluntarily—breathing.”

This means we can voluntarily send messages of healing to the brain using the language of the body. Let’s make sure we do more of that 🙏

4. When Air Becomes Breath

Adding a spiritual significance to the air—realizing it contains life itself—can only add value to your breath practice.

1 Quote

“Thus spirit = breath = life, the aliveness and power of your life, and to speak of your spirit (or soul) is to speak of the power of life that is in you.””
— Frederick Buechner
 

1 Answer

Category: Wim Hof Breathing

Answer: Counterintuitively, Wim Hof breathing is thought to reduce inflammation through release of this hormone and neurotransmitter.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is adrenaline?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”


P.S. This is exactly what happens when you go to heaven



HOmm HOmm HOmm 🎅

Try Out the Breath is Life Learning Center for Free

SquareSpace doesn’t allow me to have “free trials,” which many of you have asked for before signing up. So, I found a workaround by manually making a free mini member’s area.

You get 2 free Book 411s, 2 free Science 411s, and 10 free editions of The Breathing 1%. No catch. No additional sign-up. Plus, you can download the PDFs and audio of the 411s, so they’re yours forever.

Just click below to start living healthier & happier through the breath.

***

P.S. I picked the most popular Book and Science 411s, so you’re guaranteed to love them—especially The Healing Power of the Breath.

 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

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Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
,

Therapeutic Mouth Breathing, Focus, and My Favorite Breathing Parable

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4 Thoughts



1. How Breathing Gets You Focused: The Noradrenaline Sweet Spot

“Noradrenaline is also released, though in different amounts, during times of intense focus, curiosity, or passion, promoting the growth of new connections in the brain. Researchers…found that slow, controlled, deep breathing helps the brain nail the noradrenaline “sweet spot,” heightening attention and getting people laser focused.”

- Leah Lagos, Psy.D., Heart Breath Mind

Next time we need to get laser focused, let’s breathe slowly and deeply to hit our “noradrenaline sweet spot.” Simple and highly effective 🙏

***

Related: Why Breathing Gets You Focused (and 5 ways to do it)

2. The Best (and most therapeutic) Form of Mouth Breathing Is…

Laughter.

Lately, I’ve been spending 10-20 min/day listening to comedy. It’s my new favorite “breathing exercise” 😊

Give it a try, and enjoy a little more laughter therapy this week.

3. Why Slow Breathing Helps Reduce Blood Pressure

“The connection between stress and blood pressure is the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the tone of the smooth (involuntary) muscle that lines the walls of arteries. The sympathetic branch of that system constricts arteries, increasing blood pressure, while the parasympathetic branch relaxes them, lowering pressure.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Mind Over Meds

Slow breathing activates the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system. As we learn here, this relaxes our arteries and lowers blood pressure.

And with regular practice, we increase the tone of the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to long-term reductions in blood pressure.

4. My Favorite Breathing Parable

From Larry Rosenberg in Breath by Breath:

“An ancient teaching from India points to this truth. There was a conference of all the human faculties, all the senses, which in the Indian tradition are six. The five senses plus the mind. As at many meetings, they first had to decide who would be in charge. Sight popped up and put in its bid, creating beautiful images that had everyone enraptured. Smell arose and created powerful and haunting aromas that left everyone tingling with anticipation. But taste could top that with astounding and delectable flavors from all the world's cuisines. Hearing created exquisite harmonies that brought everyone to tears, and the body brought on physical sensation that had everyone in ecstasy. And the mind spun out intellectual theories that took on beauty by the depths of the truth they expressed. Along came the breath, not even one of the senses, and said it wanted to be in charge. All it could present was the simple in and out breath. Not terribly impressive in the face of everything else. No one even noticed it. The other senses got into a tremendous argument about which one of them would be chosen. The breath, in its disappointment, began walking away. And the images began to fade. The tastes lost their savor. The sounds diminished. “Wait!” the senses called out. “Come back! You can lead, we need you.” And the breath came back and took its proper place.”*


1 QUOTE

“The soul is the child of the breath, and breath is the mother of the soul. Soul and breath follow each other just as form and shadow do.”
— The Primordial Breath
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breath & Biology

Answer: Breathing is part of a larger biological idea called this, which broadly represents our ability to adapt for optimal functioning within a defined biological system.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is symmorphosis?

Extra: How to Easily & Effectively Build Breathing Exercises Into Your Daily Routine

Here’s another guest blog I wrote for ResBiotic. If you’re looking for some simple ways to include breathing into your day, I think you’ll find it helpful. Enjoy!

How to Easily & Effectively Build Breathing Exercises Into Your Daily Routine

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. Me neither…

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

Inner Resources, Better Blood Flow, and How to Focus on a Fuller Life

 
 

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4 Thoughts


1. Here is the Fastest Way to Achieve Well-Being

“So what is the fastest way to achieve well-being? It is so close to you that it can easily be overlooked. Your breath.  A rapid and reliable pathway into your nervous system, dedicated to helping you regain your optimal state.”

- Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., The Happiness Track

This is beautifully and perfectly said. Nothing to add here 🙏

2. On Sailboats, HRV, and Developing Your Inner Resources

“Developing inner resources is like deepening the keel of a sailboat so that you're more able to deal with the worldly winds—gain and loss, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and slander—without getting tipped over into the reactive mode. Or at least you can recover more quickly.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

Although Dr. Hanson is talking about inner resources in general, this is an excellent analogy for why improving HRV via slow deep breathing is so helpful: it’s like deepening the keel of your physiological sailboat.

You will still be hit by life’s storms, but with higher HRV, you’ll remain steadier and recover quicker. We could say, then, that deep breathing = deep keel.

3. Slow Breathing for Better Blood Flow

“When [the small] blood vessels are relaxed, more blood can flow freely through them. When they become constricted, the same amount of blood flows through a narrower space, increasing your blood pressure.”

- Inna Khazan, Ph.D., Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Slow breathing activates the calming parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the small blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, and improves blood flow.

This is a vital benefit of slow breathing because better blood flow is necessary for, well, just about everything (especially if you have diabetes).

So if you feel so inspired, give it a shot. Sit and breathe at 5-6 breaths/min for 2 min. Feel for yourself the rapid boost in blood flow to your hands and/or feet.

***

P.S. I’ve had cold hands & feet for as long as I can remember (thanks, diabetes). Although it’s improved considerably, one of my favorite things about slow breathing is the warmth I feel in them during and after my practice.

4. Control, and How to Focus on a Fuller Life

“Even if you don't have control over the outcome of the stressful situation, you may be able to exert some control over its impact…You can't always control what you feel or think, but you can control what you do. Focus on living a full life even though you don’t have [fill in your issue]…”

- Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., The Stress-Proof Brain

When nothing seems to work, my blood sugars still go crazy, my insulin sensitivity is off, or I don’t sleep well, I always have the breath. I have something I can control, that gives me control.

It helps me focus on living a fuller life, and I hope it does for you too 🙏

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace.”

- Unknown

P.S. Like a lot of what I share, this one is a reminder to myself : ) And it’s advice I haven’t been following that well lately (facepalm).

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Blood Flow

Answer: Although hemoglobin is best-known for releasing oxygen, it also releases this gas, which enhances blood flow and helps the oxygen actually get where it is needed most.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is nitric oxide?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. hoppity hop, hop hop hop

 
 
 

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

Breathing & Love, Rising Above the Clouds, and 4 Years in 4 Points

 
 

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4 Thoughts


1. Demonstrations of Breathing & Love

“Demonstrations of love are small, compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.”

- Khalil Gibran

Call it what you’d like, prana, qi, & so on, but the same is true: Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.

2. Breathing for Diabetes: 4 Years in 4 Bullet Points

Based on about 4 years of research and self-practice, the 4 key ways that regular breathing practices help diabetes are by:

3. Breathing for (non) Diabetics: “Raising Our Heads Above the Clouds”

“But many of the same interventions that can help us get our heads above water can just as effectively be devoted to raising our heads above the clouds.”

- Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire

This is unquestionably true for breathing. Although everything I read, practice, and share is focused on keeping my “head above the water” as a diabetic, they can also “raise your head above the clouds” if you’re not diabetic.

Interesting side note: it’s typically broken people that find supplemental modalities like breathing—I guess because we need them the most : ) But if you’re not broken, all the benefits of breathing will be even more helpful.

So here’s to using our breathing to stay afloat, or rise above the clouds, today.

4. The Buddha, 20 Years after Enlightenment

Did you know that the Buddha was still meditating 20 years after his enlightenment? (I guess it never ends, folks 😄)

What kind of meditation, you might wonder? “Mindfulness of breathing.”

Extra Thought: Take High Altitude Yoga Alongside Me One Last Time

My wife is moving on to a new yoga adventure 🎉. But, she’ll be teaching the High Altitude Yoga class we designed together one last time.

The class incorporates slow breathing, breath holds, and yoga into a challenging but fun 45-min flow.

It’s $8 and happening tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Dec 14) at 6:15 a.m. EST. I’ll be there, and I hope you’ll join me in taking it!

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“Relaxing the breath, breathe in. Relaxing the breath, breathe out. Then joy arises naturally.”

- Bhante Gunarantana

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: The Diaphragm

Answer: This organ rests on the top of the diaphragm.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the heart?

P.S. This was inspired by Jill Miller’s amazing line: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Which is of course, my diaphragm.” (Makes me laugh every time.)

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. and I’ve never respected anything more

 
 
 

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

How Breathing Improves HRV, Sleep, and “Keep Breathing. That’s the Key”

 
 

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Greetings,

I realized that last week marked one year of The Breathing 411—and 2.5 years of sending a weekly breathing newsletter. 🤯

Writing this newsletter is my favorite thing in the world to do, so thank you for reading, sharing, and practicing these ideas.

Alright, here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for this week.

Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. The Mechanisms of How Breathing Improves HRV

“Inhalation causes an immediate rise in heart rate, followed (∼5 s) by increased blood pressure and baroreceptor firing. Exhalation results in an immediate decrease in heart rate followed (∼5 s) by decreased blood pressure and baroreceptor firing.”

- A Practical Guide to Resonance Frequency Assessment for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback,
Frontiers in Neuroscience

Have you watched the Huberman Lab video showing how breathing immediately impacts heart rate? Check it out. The above passage explains how that process goes on to improve HRV.

Specifically, it’s that ~5-second lag between the rise and heart rate and rise in blood pressure that’s critical. And it’s this lag that makes breathing at a 5in/5out rhythm so beneficial (although it’s slightly different for everyone).

When we breathe like this, the messages from our breath and blood pressure synchronize, increasing their amplitude and increasing HRV.

Thus, there’s to magic behind how slow breathing improves HRV. It’s simply a harmony of body messages, which increases efficiency and, subsequently, improves resiliency and overall health.

***

Related: #2 Why Trampolines Are More Useful Than Science To Explain Slow Breathing

Related Quote: “The optimum breathing rate is about 5.5 breaths per minute. That’s 5.5-second inhales and 5.5-second exhales. This is the perfect breath.” - James Nestor, Breath

2. Breathing’s Version of Powered In, Unplugged, and System Restarts

  • Nasal breathing is like having your computer plugged in. You’re getting a constant supply of energy via your power chord (nose and nasal airways).

  • Mouth breathing is like unplugging from the charger. Sometimes it’s needed, and you can make it for some time, but eventually you’ll run out of juice.

But suppose you keep your computer plugged in 24/7, even at night when you close your laptop (via mouth tape).

What happens in that case? Well, even then, you’ll eventually have too many things running. You’ll need a restart.

Methods like Wim Hof/SKY/Tummo serve as this restart for your nervous system. They clean out all the junk, allowing you to return to your baseline.

Here’s to using our breathing to optimize our energy and meet whatever demands our systems have.

3. “Can Breathwork Help You Sleep? An Expert Explains”

“If you want to engage in breathwork for sleep, don’t get too hung up on the details. The key is to slow down your breath and really direct it to your belly using your diaphragm.”

- Can Breathwork Help You Sleep? An Expert Explains

In this article, Molly Atwood, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, explains why deep breathing is so helpful for sleep. It’s super quick and practical—I loved it.

It was especially refreshing that there was nothing fancy or complex: “It’s not a super complicated thing to practice,” she says. “I think it would be hard to find something that would steer you completely wrong.” Amen, and enjoy!

***

Related: Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia in Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019

Related: Mindfulness training helps kids sleep better, Stanford Medicine study finds (July 6, 2021)

4. Turning Breathing Knowledge into Breathing Wisdom

“But not until that moment…did that knowledge become wisdom, that is, become how I felt.”

- Alex Lickerman, MD, The Undefeated Mind

What a perfect distinction for when knowledge becomes wisdom: It’s that moment when something you know becomes how you feel.

Here’s to turning breathing knowledge into breathing wisdom through continuous learning, practice, and insights.

***

P.S. Dr. Lickerman also describes an insight as “that most mysterious of experiences in which knowledge takes root in a person’s psyche and alters what he believes and therefore how he behaves.” Love it.

Related Quote: “Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.” - Dale Carnegie

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“Keep breathing. That’s the key. Breathe.”

- Gimli, Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (link to video)

P.S. Thanks E.S. for that quote. Along with sending me ridiculously good science articles, he also hits me with gems like this : )

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Nasal Breathing and the Brain

Answer: Nasal airflow is encoded in this part of the brain, which then is projected onto emotional regions of the brain.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the olfactory bulb?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
Diabetes is Tiny. You are Mighty.

P.S. My entire personality for the next 3 weeks

 
 
 

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Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

Applying Gandhi's Wisdom, The Science of Learning, and $100 to Your Breath

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 

Hey,

Welcome back to another issue of the The Breathing 411. Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer that I hope you enjoy this week!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. Why Your Breathing Gains Get More Boring With Time

“Gaining the first $100 at the track feels much better than winning the second $100, which feels better than winning the third $100, and so on. Eventually, if things get good enough, there is almost no psychological benefit when they get even better. This relationship reflects what economists call diminishing marginal utility.”

- Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice

Building off last week’s “Satisfaction Treadmill,” let’s not forget this passage when our breathing, or anything else we’re working on, starts feeling boring.

We’re still making gains. They just might not feel as dramatic, because we already feel so good.

***

Related: James Clear’s Plateau of Latent Potential

2. Applying Gandhi’s Wisdom and Scientific Research to Appreciate Your Favorite Breathing Practice

“Humans do not give greater credence to an objective record of a past event than to their subjective remembering of it.”

- Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Translation: What you experience holds more weight than what you learn.

As the Make it Stick authors also tell us, research shows it’s “nearly impossible to avoid basing one's judgments on subjective experience.”

Some might say this is a flaw of being human—we base things on emotions instead of facts. I say it’s amazing, at least when it comes to breathing : )

Because with breathing, this means that whatever you experience is what’s true for you. Your practice is yours; no science or statistics needed.

Practically, it means that if your experience with Wim Hof was terrific, then you should keep doing it. Or, if slow breathing was life-changing, do that.

As Gandhi tells us, “As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it.” This applies perfectly to breathing. And science agrees.

***

P.S. If you like mouth breathing 24/7, I’m sorry, that doesn’t count here 😂

Related: “What is the Right Breathwork Method For Me?” from Breathwork Alchemy (Excellent Instagram post—concise and packed with wisdom)

3. Mouth Tape: End Mouth Breathing for Better Sleep and a Healthier Mouth

“Becoming a nose breather is a process, but even repeated cycles of just a few minutes of nose breathing can effectively train your body to do it regularly.”

- Dr. Mark Burhenne, Mouth Tape: End Mouth Breathing for Better Sleep and a Healthier Mouth

Mouth taping is odd. It’s perhaps the most important thing we can do for our health, but it’s hard to recommend without sounding slightly crazy.

Fortunately, Dr. Mark Burhenne wrote this great article, which covers basically every aspect of taping up at night. It will now be my go-to for anyone interested in the topic.

Enjoy the great read, and enjoy sharing it with others.

***

Related: Mouth breathing during sleep significantly increases upper airway resistance and obstructive sleep apnea

4. To Take Care of Your Heart, Take Care of Your Breath

“In other words, the primary role of the heart is to distribute the oxygen brought into the lungs during inhalation, and to bring carbon dioxide back to the lungs where the excess can be breathed out.”

– Patrick McKeown, The Breathing Cure (pg. 237)

I’ve never thought of it this way: Your heart’s main job is to make your breathing useful to the rest of your body. So from this viewpoint, it’s obvious they must work together. And all the science we review makes perfect sense.

Of course breathing efficiently would make our hearts work more effectively. And of course we would see measurements like heart rate variability increase and blood pressure decrease.

That’s because the heart and breath can’t be separated. Thus, we might even say, to take better care of your heart, take better care of your breath.

***

Related Quote: “Although the lungs are clearly an essential element of the processes we associate with breathing, they alone do not provide the whole story.” - Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“Deep breathing is a potent inducer of the parasympathetic system. The release of acetylcholine not only calms our organs, it also stimulates the release of serotonin, dopamine, and prolactin, the feel-good hormones targeted by medicines like Prozac and Zoloft. But yoga and breathing exercises produce this effect naturally and without side effects.”

- Michael J. Stephen, MD, Breath Taking

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Nasal Airways

Answer: Although the effect is less commonly discussed, when this gas is released into the nasal airways, it helps warm incoming air.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is nitric oxide?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
Diabetes is Tiny. You are Mighty.

P.S. Except for what happens in my brain

 
 
 

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

Breathing is the Compound Interest of Health

 
 

"He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." - Menander (342 BC - 292 BC) 

 
 
 
Compound_Interest_Final.png
 
 

Correct breathing synchronizes many systems in the body. This coherence compounds over time.


Breathing improves your sleep [1,2]. Better sleep improves your cardiovascular system [3].


Breathing improves your cardiovascular system [4,5]. This improves your sleep.


Breathing restores autonomic balance [6]. Better autonomic control increases heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity [7,8].


Correct breathing improves tissue oxygenation [9]. This improves autonomic balance [10]. And insulin sensitivity [11].


The more control you have over your breathing, the more control you have over your emotions [12].


The more control you have over your emotions, the more control you have over your breathing [13].


The more control you have over your breathing, the more control you have over all the systems mentioned above [14].

Thus, all of these benefits are not isolated but integrated. It would still be rather amazing if breathing helped just one or two of these systems (since it’s free and everything). But, it helps so many different aspects of health and these benefits aggregate and compound over time.

But Nothing Happens Overnight

Well, maybe it does, because my first night of sleeping with my mouth closed literally changed my life.

But just like in financial investing, we have to keep contributing small amounts to our health consistently. Over time, those contributions will grow into something great, without any additional effort.

In good breath,

Nick

P.S. Best part of quarantine: No airports.

References

[1] Mouth breathing during sleep significantly increases upper airway resistance and obstructive sleep apnea

[2] The many important roles of the nose during sleep

[3] Obstructive sleep apnea causes hypertension

[4] Meta-Analysis: Slow Breathing Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure by 5.62 mmHg

[5] Slow breathing improves blood pressure in hypertensive type II diabetics

[6] Two minutes of slow breathing restores autonomic and respiratory balance

[7] Slow breathing decreases blood pressure and increases heart rate variability in hypertensive diabetics

[8] Slow breathing improves autonomic function in type 1 diabetics

[9] Nitric oxide might outweigh all other benefits of nose breathing

[10] Treat & reverse the root cause of diabetic complications (tissue hypoxia) with slow breathing

[11] Hypoxia Decreases Insulin Signaling Pathways in Adipocytes

[12] Slow, controlled breathing improves anxiety independent of CO2

[13] Breathing center in brain has powerful effects on higher-order brain functions…calm yourself by breathing slowly

[14] How slow breathing improves physiological and psychological well-being (hint: it might be in your nose)

 
 

Slow Breathing & High Blood Pressure: What it Means for Diabetes and COVID-19

 
 
 
 

“Trees and plants depend on the weather to flourish but I make my own weather, yea I transport it with me.” - Og Mandino

 
 
 
 
 

Recent reports have shown that high blood pressure is associated with negative outcomes from COVID-19.  

As people with diabetes, we already knew we were at higher risk when it comes to COVID-19. But, anywhere from 40%-80% of diabetics suffer from hypertension. That, on top of our compromised immune systems, is why we have to be more vigilant than ever with our health and well-being.

Thus, keeping our blood pressure under control should be a primary focus during these uncertain times.

A 2019 Meta-Analysis Shows Significant Reductions in Blood Pressure

I say this often, but meta-analyses are my favorite studies to read. They synthesize findings from all of the scientific literature on a particular topic in an easy-to-follow format.  

The one I’m sharing this week looked at slow breathing and blood pressure:

Device and non-device-guided slow breathing to reduce blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, August 2019

(Click Here To Read The Full Summary)

On average, they found that slow breathing reduced systolic blood pressure by 5.62 mmHg. Slow breathing reduced diastolic blood pressure by 2.67 mmHg.

Additionally, the longer participants practiced, the more significant the reduction in blood pressure. For example, in the studies where subjects practiced slow breathing for more than 200 minutes per week, the average drop in systolic blood pressure was 14 mmHg.

These improvements are significant. Blood pressure reductions of these magnitudes have been shown to reduce the overall risk of cardiovascular death. Obviously, there are no studies explicitly looking at COVID-19 yet. Still, it seems safe to assume that these reductions would be beneficial, especially if you have diabetes.

Breathing as a Complementary Therapy

Slow breathing is not a cure-all. As the name of this journal implies (Complementary Therapies in Medicine), it is complementary, not a replacement. But, slow breathing is free and has no adverse side effects, so why not use it as another way of controlling your blood pressure, stress, and anxiety during these unsettled times?

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. When Quarantine is Over.

P.P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing moms out there!

 
 

The Best Way to Begin Slow Breathing

 
 

“The secret of making progress is to get started. The secret to starting is to divide your complex, overwhelming task into small, manageable tasks, and then start the first.” - Mark Twain

 
 
 

Slow breathing has many benefits. For example, it improves cardiovascular and autonomic functioning. However, as we mentioned last week, you can quickly get “lost in the crabgrass of details” if you’re not careful, which is basically what I do every day :)

For instance, there are several ways to breathe slowly. You can use equal inhales and exhales, extended exhales for more relaxation, or you can include ujjayi breathing if you’re a trained yogi.

The study I’m sharing this week examined some of these nuances to determine which is best for beginners.

Cardiovascular and Respiratory Effect of Yogic Slow Breathing in the Yoga Beginner: What Is the Best Approach?

(Click Here to Read Full Summary)

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013

The study had seventeen non-yoga practitioners perform several different breathing protocols:

  • Spontaneous breathing

  • Controlled breathing at 15 breaths/min

  • Slow breathing at 6 breaths/min, 5 sec inhale, 5 sec exhale (equal)

  • Slow breathing at 6 breaths/min, 3 sec inhale, 7 sec exhale (extended)

  • The above two slow breathing protocols, but with ujjayi

Measurements of baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), blood pressure, and several respiratory variables were taken during the experiment.

Most Improvements from Slow Breathing without Ujjayi

They found that slow breathing without ujjayi was the most effective at improving cardiovascular and autonomic function (as measured by BRS) and at reducing blood pressure.

However, keep in mind that these were not trained yogis. Therefore, the added effort of ujjayi likely dampened the parasympathetic response. The results would likely be different in a trained ujjayi practitioner.

Getting Started: Breathe at a Ratio That Is Comfortable For You

All of their results revealed that slow breathing with an equal inhale-to-exhale ratio performed best. However, the differences between the balanced and extended exhale techniques were small. Therefore, they concluded that “practitioners can engage in a ratio that is personally comfortable and achieve the same BRS benefit.”

For us, the take-home message is that slow breathing at a rate of 6 breaths/min improves cardiovascular and autonomic function. The best way to begin is to choose a ratio that is comfortable for you.

I suggest that you start with a 4 second inhale and a 6 second exhale and see how it feels. Begin with a five-minute session first thing in the morning and build up from there to reach three 5-minute sessions a day.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Me. Also me.

 

The One Percent Rule of Breathing (& Bravest Podcast Interview)

 
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Craig Kasper invited me on his podcast, Bravest, to discuss all things breathing and diabetes. It should be released later today.

Craig is a type-1 diabetic and a genuinely good person. We had a lot of fun, and I hope you’ll give it a listen. 

Listen Here: Bravest

The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, states that 20% of your efforts get you 80% of your results. Twenty percent of your customers account for 80% of your profit. A small number of NBA teams hold a majority of the titles. This rule holds true in many fields of life (here is an excellent article about the 80/20 rule) [1].

For breathing, I believe we can take this even farther.

The One Percent Rule of Breathing

In “To Sell is Human,” [2] Dan Pink describes a lesson he received during law school that stuck with him the rest of his life:

“Don’t get lost in the crabgrass of details, he urged us. Instead, think about the essence of what you’re exploring—the one percent that gives life to the other ninety-nine.”

“The one percent that gives life to the other ninety-nine.” I love that exaggeration of the Pareto Principle. In breathing, that one percent is your nose.

So Simple - So Complex

Slow breathing is simple and takes minimal effort. But, if you get “lost in the crabgrass of details,” it can become extremely complex.

But none of it would matter without the nose. The nose is the hidden engine driving all the benefits of “breathing.” Whether it’s slow breathing, sleep, or exercise, simply using your nose is the 1% that allows the other ninety-nine to occur.

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

(Click Here to Read Full Summary)

Slow breathing has many benefits, which we covered in the infographic last week. To name a few: it reduces blood pressure, increases heart rate variability, enhances baroreflex sensitivity, improves arterial function, and increases tissue oxygenation.

The paper above concluded that the nose is the link connecting slow breathing to these benefits. It’s not just slow breathing; it’s nose breathing.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Coffee at home for me.


References

[1] I cannot overstate how much I enjoy James Clear’s work.

[2] To Sell is Human