Lungs
Lung size
2.2 pounds and is a little longer than 9 inches when you're breathing normally, and about 10.5 inches when your lungs are completely expanded.
The left lung tends to be smaller than the right lung in people to accommodate for the heart
We lose 12% of our lung volume between ages 30-50. At 80 years old, we have lost 30% of our lung capacity
Regulation
Nervous System Regulation is, at its core, the ability to move flexibly between different states of arousal in response to stressors. This means that when we encounter a change in our environment, like a stressful situation, we can adapt so that we are not overwhelmed.
Physical symptoms can also manifest, such as difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, digestive issues, and muscle tension or pain. An underactive, dysregulated nervous system can present different symptoms, such as low energy levels, sluggishness and reduced motivation.
3 benefits of nasal breathing
Breathing through the nose filters air and removes 98-99% of allergens, bacteria and viruses from the air.
Humidifies the air
Warms
Jaws
Breathing through your mouth during the day and/or at night can have significant impacts on your oral and general health.
Mouth breathing affect jaw structure, nasal passages. Crooked teeth
Brain fog, feeling tired and irritable when you wake up
How many?
Average of 17k - 24k per day
Ideal inhale is 5 seconds, ideal exhale is 5 second, 6 breaths per minute
Surface Area
The surface area of both lungs is roughly the same size as a tennis court (his makes it over 2,106 square feet) and the total length of the airways running through them is 1,500 miles
Rest and repair
Parasympathetic - The main purpose of the PNS is to conserve energy to be used later and to regulate bodily functions like digestion
It causes your bronchial tubes to narrow and the pulmonary blood vessels to widen
Longer exhales
Left nostril
Blood
Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the air stream, as compared to mouth breathing. This results in 10 to 20 percent more oxygen uptake.
When there is a proper balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, the body maintains a balanced pH
Brain
Mouth breathing was thus shown to result in an increasing oxygen load in the prefrontal cortex
A significant problem with mouth breathing is reduced oxygen absorption leading to a cascade of sleep, stamina, energy level and ADHD problems
Volume of oxygen
The average adult, when resting, inhales and exhales about 7 or 8 liters of air per minute. That totals about 11,000 liters of air per day.
A portion of the air you breathe never reaches the alveoli. It is referred to as dead air because it isn’t used in gas exchange.
300 million per lung
Alvioli - tiny air sacs of the lungs which allow for rapid gaseous exchange
Located at the bottom of the lungs (the end of the respiratory tree)
Expand when inhaling, collapse when exhale but roughly 1,200 ml of air remains in your lungs.
Fight or Flight
Your sympathetic nervous system activates to speed up your heart rate, deliver more blood to areas of your body that need more oxygen or other responses to help your get out of danger.
Rapid and shallow breaths
Right nostril
Gases
Nasal breathing (as opposed to mouth breathing) increases circulating blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, slows the breathing rate and improves overall lung volumes.
When there is a proper balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, the body maintains a balanced pH
PH in blood, respiratory alkalosis (brought on by overbreathing, hyperventilation) which is caused by anxiety or panic, stress.
respiratory alkalosis is marked by a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood due to breathing excessively.
Behavior
75% of people with anxiety also suffer from dysfunctional breathing. They breathe hard, fast, and into the chest, perpetuating their anxiety.
Studies have linked mouth breathing and sleep-disordered breathing with a permanent reduction in cognitive ability, special educational needs, and ADHD.
Working memory, comprehension, fewer distractions
Inhale
Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Oxygen
Absorption
It turns out that when breathing at a normal rate, our lungs will absorb only about a quarter of the available oxygen in the air. The majority of that oxygen is exhaled back out. By taking longer breaths, we allow our lungs to soak up more in fewer breaths.”
Training
60% of ambulance calls in America are a result of dysfunctional breathing
Hypoxia is a state in which oxygen is not available in sufficient amounts at the tissue level to maintain adequate homeostasis
Both hypoxia and hypercapnia training can improve endurance, increase the amount of oxygen your body can use, and help protect muscles from damage. In addition, hypercapnia training can improve your strength, power, and sprint performance.
Nitric Oxide
Breathing through the nose releases nitric oxide, which is necessary to increase carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, which in turn is what releases oxygen (O2).
NO increased 15-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation.
Antiviral, Antifungal, Antibacterial
NO dilates blood vessels, which decreases blood pressure and improves blood flow. It regulates inflammatory response and prevents blood clotting and obstructions in the arteries. It provides immune defense, enhances memory and learning, protects the skin, regulates the bladder, improves gut function, promotes weight loss, relieves pain, protects the skin, and eases anxiety and depression.
Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation typically occurs in response to an insult such as hypoxia, metabolic acidosis, pain, anxiety, or increased metabolic demand
Respiratory alkalosis is a condition marked by a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood due to breathing excessively
Exhale
When you breathe, 70 percent of waste is eliminated in the form of waste gases like carbon dioxide.
“For every ten pounds of fat lost in our bodies, eight and a half pounds of it comes out through the lungs; most of it is carbon dioxide mixed with a bit of water vapor. The rest is sweated or urinated out. This is a fact that most doctors, nutritionists, and other medical professionals have historically gotten wrong. The lungs are the weight-regulating system of the body.”
Even if you exhale really hard, a residual volume of 1 to 1.2 liters of air remains in your lungs.
The body loses approximately 0.5 ounces of water. When exercising, your body can lose up to 2 ounces of water.
Dehydration reduces your attention span and ability to concentrate
Breathing muscles
From a functional point of view, there are three groups of respiratory muscles: the diaphragm, the rib cage muscles and the abdominal muscles.
Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is the longest of the 12 cranial nerves
The vagus nerve runs from the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen
Main nerves of your parasympathetic nervous system
The vagus nerve controls digestion, heart rate, breathing, swallowing, speaking, and the immune system
Body
Tongue position
Nose breathing is 22% more efficient than mouth breathing. Which means breathing is much easier, and the breathing muscles don’t get so tired.
Mechanics
The diaphragm is a curved, thin muscle sheet under the lungs. It is used in breathing, flattening as it contracts and causing the lungs to expand
Your diaphragm can only work properly when you breathe through your nose.
The Drive
CO2 Acts as a catalyst for the release of oxygen from the haemoglobin in red blood cells
More CO2, more blood to cells
Too much offloading when mouth breathing, not good oxygen saturation