How do you breathe? It might not be something you’ve ever given much thought to, but my guest on this week’s episode is convinced you should. Patrick McKeown believes breathing correctly – that is, through your nose, lightly, and slowly – is the secret to better health, fitness and overall wellbeing. Yet many of us are breathing through our mouths, breathing fast and shallow, and our health is suffering as a result.

Patrick’s talks me through the science of exactly why it is that nasal breathing is so fundamental to health and he shares how learning it himself transformed his sleep, his anxiety levels and drastically reduced his need for asthma medication.

We talk about how our emotions, sleep and breathing are all interlinked. Patrick also shares some incredible insights on the connection between breast-feeding and diet, mouth breathing as a child, jaw development and malocclusion (crooked teeth).

The good news is it’s never too late to correct your breathing. Whether you suffer from breathlessness, nasal congestion, snoring, stress, or anxiety – or if you simply want to improve your performance in any area of life – this episode is packed with practical tips on doing just that. In fact, you can get started right away with some of his techniques as you listen.

Disclaimer: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.*

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Watch the video version of this interview in full below.

Connect with Patrick:

The Oxygen Advantage  Website      Facebook      Instagram     YouTube

Buteyko Clinic  Website     Instagram

Patrick’s book:

The Oxygen Advantage: Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You Become Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter†

Videos:

• Dr Chatterjee YouTube – How to Measure Your Bolt Score with Patrick McKeown
• Dr Chatterjee YouTube – The 3 Pillars of Breathing with Patrick McKeown
• Dr Chatterjee YouTube – What Does a Deep Breath Really Mean?
• Dr Chatterjee YouTube – Why You Should Tape Your Mouth Up For Optimal Sleep

Further Reading:

• Mouth tape recommended by Patrick – Myotape
• Healthcare – A review of analgesic and emotive breathing: a multidisciplinary approach
• The Journal of Physiology – Breath-holding as a means to estimate the loop gain contribution to obstructive sleep apnoea
• Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy – Breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal motion in mouth-breathing children
• Stanford Medicine – Study shows how slow breathing induces tranquility
• Jornal of Pediatria – Establishment of nasal breathing should be the ultimate goal to secure adequate craniofacial and airway development in children
• International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Science – Effect of Nasal Versus Oral Breathing on Vo2max and Physiological Economy in Recreational Runners Following an Extended Period Spent Using Nasally Restricted Breathing
• American Journal of Orthodontics – Morphologic response to changes in neuromuscular patterns experimentally induced by altered modes of respiration
• International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy – Development of a screening protocol to identify individuals with dysfunctional breathing
• Frontiers in Psychology – The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults
• Journal of Applied Physiology – Nasal nitric oxide and regulation of human pulmonary blood flow in the upright position
• New England Journal of Medicine – Hypocapnia
• American Journal of Orthodontics – Primate experiments on oral respiration
• Semantic Scholar – To Evaluate the Effect of Nasal Packing on Blood Oxygen Saturation
• Journal of Hypertension – Slow breathing reduces chemoreflex response to hypoxia and hypercapnia, and increases baroreflex sensitivity
• Breathe – The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human
• Journal of IMAB – The role of mouth breathing on dentition development and formation
• Semantic Scholar – Understanding nasal breathing the key to evaluating and treating sleep disordered breathing in adults and children
• European Journal of Sport Science – Repeated sprint training in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation improves running repeated sprint ability in rugby players
• PLOS one journal – Association between Mouth Breathing and Atopic Dermatitis in Japanese Children 2–6 years Old: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study
• Frontiers in Neurology – Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the Critical Role of Oral-Facial Growth: Evidences
• Sleep Med Reviews – Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing: New evidence on its development
• Official journal of American Academy Otolaryngology – Novel porous oral patches for patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea and mouth breathing: a pilot study

Dr Chatterjee’s resources:

• Podcast #84 – Why Walking Is The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had with Professor Shane O’Mara
• Podcast #77 – Why Getting More Light Will Transform Your Health with Linda Geddes
• Podcast #45 – Touch – The Forgotten Sense with Professor Francis McGlone
• Find Dr Chatterjee’s 4 Pillar of Health in The 4 Pillar Plan†
• Available in the US & Canada with the title How to Make Disease Disappear†
• Order Dr Chatterjee’s book The Stress Solution†
• Dr Chatterjee’s book Feel Better in 5† is out now
• Click here for Dr Chatterjee’s YouTube channel
• Facebook Dr Chatterjee 4 Pillar Community Tribe

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*DISCLAIMER: Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

† Disclosure: All books marked with a ^† are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. We take part in Amazon’s affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon’s website. You are not charged any extra by using these links to purchase books.