Updated 22 June 2023
The Common Misconception about Breathing
We all know that Oxygen (O2) is vital for life and breathing brings O2 into and expels carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the body, hence the misconception is that the more we breathe, the more benefits we will get, and CO2 is a waste gas that must be removed.
However, like over-drinking for water and over-eating for food, medical science and facts both have long proven that over-breathing (hyperventilation) is harmful to health. Also, contrary to many people’s beliefs, CO2 is not a simple waste from breathing, it actually plays an essential role in the body’s oxygenation and metabolic processes, and you will be amazed at the benefits to your health once your breathing brings the CO2 to your body to a right level, or at the damages to your health when the CO2 level is abnormal.
The Breathing Mechanics
Breathing brings air to our lungs, where at sea level the air contains 21% O2. When air is inhaled into the lung, O2 diffuses from the alveoli into the blood, and the CO2 diffuses from the blood to the alveoli in the lungs before being exhaled.
Once in the bloodstream, most of the O2 combines with hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Normal breathing results in O2 saturation in the blood from 96-98%. When the arterial blood arrives at the tissues, some O2 is released from the hemoglobin, allowing the tissues to get energy from the chemical reaction between O2 and carbohydrates and fats, and in the process, CO2 is released back to the blood before being exhaled from the lungs.
Why Over Breathing is Harmful to Health
As mentioned above, in normal breathing, the blood can be easily saturated with O2 up to 98%. So even if you breathe extraordinarily hard, the increase in O2 is limited to only 1-2%. This is insignificant; however, over-breathing will expel excessive CO2 out of the blood, which will hinder O2 to get released from the hemoglobin. According to Bohr Effect, when CO2 is low, O2 – hemoglobin binding affinity will increase, causing less O2 release to tissues and muscles. Organs like the brain, heart, liver, and kidney will lack O2 even though the blood is saturated with O2.
You could easily try breathing fast and deep continuously, and you will soon feel dizzy, a symptom of lacking O2 in the brain cells, and you may even pass out if you do this for too long!
In addition to causing oxygen starvation in the organs and tissues, a CO2 deficiency also causes spasms in the smooth muscles of the bronchi, cerebral and circulatory vessels, intestines, and other organs, further harming the body.
Research shows that a large portion of modern people has chronic over-breathing, which is at least in part responsible for a range of chronic diseases, such as asthma, high blood pressure, heart diseases, allergies, mental disorders, diabetes, cancer, etc. In short, chronic over-breathing causes a chronic starvation of O2 in tissues and cells, thus making people sick over time.
How to Prevent Over Breathing
The word ‘over-breathing’ literally is a relative comparison over ‘normal’ breathing, where ‘normal’ here refers to the right amount of breathing required by the metabolic rate at a given time for a person. This means that different metabolic rates require a different amount of breathing to be optimal for body oxygenation. However, the difficulty is that it is not straightforward to know the exact amount for each metabolic situation which could vary from time to time and from person to person.
Fortunately, the human body is quite tolerant, and with a certain level of reduced breathing towards normal breathing, over-breathing can be alleviated, and good body oxygenation can be achieved. To achieve it, there are many breathing methods and exercises available that may be applied to train and improve our breathing, where some of them were passed on from ancient times, and some are from modern-time discoveries and development. Here is a list of common breathing methods:
• Pursed lip breathing
• Nose breathing
• Diaphragmatic breathing
• Mindful breathing
• Yogic breathing
• Buteyko breathing method
• Pranayama breathing method
• Wim Hof breathing method
Buteyko Breathing Method is a science-based systematic breathing method to practice reduced breathing and achieve normal breathing, which is well suited to prevent over-breathing and a large number of associated chronic diseases. Hundreds of thousands of severe asthmatics have been cured by practicing this Method after the steroid-based inhalers failed them, which demonstrates the effectiveness and clinical significance of the Method.
Inspired by Buteyko Breathing, Aimwell’s AYO Breathing Trainer is designed as a tool to help train for diaphragmatic breathing via the nose and provide breathing measurement and diagnostics for accurately performing the Buteyko reduced breathing. In particular, AYO Breathing Trainer can accurately measure breathing volume, which is the fundamental metric and reference for reduced breathing but, unfortunately, has been missing since Buteyko Breathing became a breathing normalization practice. Thus, the availability of AYO Breathing Trainer removes all the guesses and doubts in relation to how much air to reduce while practicing reduced breathing, which is a game-changer for effectively practicing Buteyko Breathing and will benefit more people’s health and well-being.