Something In The Air

Feel Tired When You Wake Up? Can't Catch Your Breath When Exercising, Even Walking Up the Stairs? Do You Suffer From Anxiety? You Might Be Breathing Too Much…

 We all know the importance of breathing good quality air, but how often do you think about the ‘quantity’ of air you’re breathing? If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think about it at all.

However, according to Patrick McKeown, author of The Oxygen Advantage, not only should you be thinking about your breathing, but you should also breathe less.

While the idea of breathing less may sound counter-intuitive, McKeown explains that over-breathing has an enormous effect on our health. He claims learning to breathe correctly can help prevent and reverse conditions such as anxiety, asthma, hay fever, high blood pressure, snoring and sleep apnoea, as well as improve sports performance.

And it all comes down to the interplay between two major gases.

The role of carbon dioxide

To understand how to breathe efficiently, we need to look back to school science where we learned we breathe in oxygen and exhale the ‘waste’ gas, carbon dioxide. While your science teacher most likely stressed the importance of oxygen, little mention was probably given to the role of carbon dioxide. However, as McKeown explains, carbon dioxide is the key driver in breathing. In fact, it is carbon dioxide that determines how well our blood releases oxygen to the muscles and organs in our body.

The Bohr effect

Discovered more than 100 years ago by Danish physiologist Christian Bohr, the Bohr effect explains the relationship that carbon dioxide plays in oxygen release. McKeown explains that carbon dioxide acts as a doorway which lets oxygen reach your muscles. If you over breathe and release too much carbon dioxide, that doorway partially closes resulting in a less efficient release of oxygen to your body.