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Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#101

Post by brightball »

theprotocol wrote: post #65
brightball wrote: post #19

I had a nasal problem that I didn’t know about until I tried breath right strips. Wearing those things was life changing for me. I felt like a different person and honestly can’t believe I spent my entire life not realizing I had a problem. Eventually got it fixed permanently, but yea...breathing is huge. EDIT: The problem I had was called Nasal Valve Collapse. It’s something that happens in much older people, but es…

Thanks for posting this. I've experienced something similar. My nasal passages have almost always been swollen since I was 11-12. Most ENTs I'd seen over the last 15-20 years have completely failed to provide me with relief. Earlier in 2018 I visited an ENT who noted that my turbinates were "absolutely massive" and the rest of the nasal passage was swollen. Sometimes the swelling would affect the rest of my airway an…

When I said “modified septoplasty”, turbinate reduction was the modification. In addition to the collapse, they were very large.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#102

Post by feluso »

This is nice to know, I do use rhythmic breathing a lot when I try to meditate and you can inmediately feel the results, but I didn't know at nostril breathing, I noticed a lot through my life that I've always had difficulty breathing through either nostrils (it kinda changes), It hasn't give me as much trouble as other people in the comments, but I've grown paranoid of it lately and I can't do this technique at all pleasantly, should I have it checked?

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#103

Post by loceng »

vageli wrote: post #77
loceng wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you eat dairy, soy, and/or bananas? They're all very high mucous producing foods and can impact breathing significantly.

Dairy products do not cause an increase in mucus production but can cause a thickening of phlegm [0] [0]: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/e... (there are numerous studies supporting the lack of an increase in mucus due to dairy which can be found by searching "milk mucus increase")

This statement is a bit confusing; "Phlegm is a slightly different substance. It's a form of mucus produced by the lower airways — not by the nose and sinuses — in response to inflammation. You may not notice phlegm unless you cough it up as a symptom of bronchitis or pneumonia;" searched "mucus vs. phlegm" on Google.

Therefore isn't a thickening of phlegm (a form of mucus) an increase in quantity, therefore we can say it increases?

The doctor who wrote the response in your link is saying "Phlegm is the thick, sticky mucus that drips down the back of your throat when you have a cold. Although drinking milk may make phlegm thicker and more irritating to your throat than it would normally be, milk doesn't cause your body to make more phlegm. In fact, frozen dairy products can soothe a sore throat and provide calories when you otherwise may not eat."

However as we just read: "Phlegm ... is a form of mucus produced by the lower airways — not by the nose and sinuses" - so it can't be a "Phlegm is the thick, sticky mucus that drips down the back of your throat when you have a cold."

So is the doctor wrong? Is Google's top result wrong with its "mucus vs. phlegm" answer?

Also that link you provided links to no scientific research. The quick search I did on other scientific research, the methods don't seem too sound for controls - likewise if mucus production is caused by inflammation - if that person is only removing say dairy from their diet, however their body already has significant or "maximum" inflammation (leading to them producing their maximum amount of mucus they otherwise would) then they're not going to have an increase simply by adding another inflammatory factor, unless they reduce inflammation "completely" first.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#104

Post by collyw »

sooheon wrote: post #61
randomacct3847 wrote: post #55

Wildest thing I read lately in Michael Pollen’s How to Change Your Mind was that breathing in a certain way can induce a trip similar to consuming lsd.

Curious--is this hyperventilation, a la Wim Hof?

I read a bit about holotropic breath work, and it seems to go on for 20 minutes or more, while Wim Hof sticks with 30-40 from what I have done with it.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#105

Post by cylinder »

theprotocol wrote: post #65
brightball wrote: post #19

I had a nasal problem that I didn’t know about until I tried breath right strips. Wearing those things was life changing for me. I felt like a different person and honestly can’t believe I spent my entire life not realizing I had a problem. Eventually got it fixed permanently, but yea...breathing is huge. EDIT: The problem I had was called Nasal Valve Collapse. It’s something that happens in much older people, but es…

Thanks for posting this. I've experienced something similar. My nasal passages have almost always been swollen since I was 11-12. Most ENTs I'd seen over the last 15-20 years have completely failed to provide me with relief. Earlier in 2018 I visited an ENT who noted that my turbinates were "absolutely massive" and the rest of the nasal passage was swollen. Sometimes the swelling would affect the rest of my airway an…

Have you ever lived in or spent extended time in a different climate? I've had many of the same problems and two surgeries. Things were definitely worse in the humid polluted swamp I used to live in...

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#106

Post by loceng »

djtriptych wrote: post #34
loceng wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious if you eat dairy, soy, and/or bananas? They're all very high mucous producing foods and can impact breathing significantly. I suppose after surgery removing such foods may or may not show improvement/alleviate things more.

Not sure the science is conclusive on this. Also, breathing well probably helps your body to eliminate mucous. Speaking from a yogi's perspective.

I'm not sure I've seen a properly conducted research study to give a solid enough answer either; can read some of my reasoning in my last comment - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18960189

I've been practicing yoga for more than 10 years, a lot of Bikram hot yoga - so I feel you regarding the differences on energy level and at least how the heat and increased flow of air can help free up and clear the sinuses, and why long ago I gave up dairy, soy, and bananas - as I'd notice the decreased ability to breath and likewise my sleep would become worse - I believe because there'd be less ease of breathing while asleep.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#107

Post by nprateem »

rishav_sharan wrote: post #85
nprateem wrote: post #63

From a book I read years ago: "a 1987 survey of cardiac arrests at the Menninger Clinic (quoted with great regularity in Rodale Press's various publications) reported that all heart attack victims represented in that survey sample were high chest breathers" As opposed to belly/abodminal breathers. I can't find the actual survey though.

Considering that number of "abdominal breathers" is miniscule compared to chest breathers, I assume that the latter will have higher number in almost any statistics.

Care to share the figures and your sources?

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#108

Post by loceng »

brightball wrote: post #38
loceng wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious if you eat dairy, soy, and/or bananas? They're all very high mucous producing foods and can impact breathing significantly. I suppose after surgery removing such foods may or may not show improvement/alleviate things more.

I do. Nothing significant but I don’t avoid those at all.

If you're into experimenting it may be worth doing so for a week or two to see if there's even further improvement in sleep/breathing; you first have to remove the potential agitant and then let the body recover.

Getting a Neti pot (use distilled or previously boiled water only, along with adding a proper amount of non-iodized salt - Google search will give the answer) and trying that out to help clear the sinuses with warm water seems to help a lot of people as well.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#109

Post by chki »

feluso wrote: post #102

This is nice to know, I do use rhythmic breathing a lot when I try to meditate and you can inmediately feel the results, but I didn't know at nostril breathing, I noticed a lot through my life that I've always had difficulty breathing through either nostrils (it kinda changes), It hasn't give me as much trouble as other people in the comments, but I've grown paranoid of it lately and I can't do this technique at all…

I can of course not assess your breathing difficulties at all but maybe it's just the non-pathological https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle ? Although the Wikipedia article says that usually one should not notice the effects.

Re: Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

#110

Post by nprateem »

ramblerman wrote: post #100
nprateem wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only drawback I felt was a kind of nervous energy which made it slightly harder to focus on a long piece of text etc., similar to having too much coffee in one go. Circulate it through the Microcosmic Orbit to balance it. You're driving too much energy up to your head. You need to bring it back down.

> Circulate it through the Microcosmic Orbit to balance it I beg your pardon?

A lot of the more intense breathing practices drive energy upwards into the head (whatever you want to call "energy" the feeling can be one of congestion/headaches/stimulation, etc). It's important to draw it back down to the belly or Earth to reduce this.

Put the tongue on the roof of the mouth and move your awareness from your head down through your tongue and on down the front centre line about an inch inside the body. Someone jacked up on some of these breathing practices might also have over-stimulated their adrenals, so it's also important to concentrate on relaxing. Once you can go right down the front line, loop back under the trunk of your body and go up the spine. Just keep moving your awareness around this loop while relaxing, making sure to finish at the belly.

Failing that, try walking barefoot while allowing yourself to relax more and more. It should have a similar effect.

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