"Mouth breathing creates many negatives | nasal breathing many positives"

Always better whenever possible nasal breathing 24 hours a day is extremely important for those who desire the longest and most healthy life.

                                                                                                                                                                                     Wearing personal nasal filters for healthy nasal breathing.

1. The lungs are a primary source of our energy level. They extract oxygen from the air we breathe primarily on the exhale. Because the nostrils are smaller then the mouth, air exhaled through the nose creates back pressure when one exhales. It slows the air escape so the lungs have more time to extract oxygen from them. When there is proper oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange, the blood will maintain a balanced pH. If carbon dioxide is lost too quickly, as in mouth breathing, oxygen absorption is decreased.

2. Afferent stimuli from the nerves that regulate breathing are in the nasal passages. The inhaled air passing through the nasal mucosa carries the stimuli to the reflex nerves that control breathing.  Mouth breathing bypasses the nasal mucosa and makes regular breathing difficult.  During sleep, it predisposes one to loud snoring and irregular breathing and can lead to a serious condition called Sleep Apnea and heart conditions.

 

3. Also, when mouth breathing, the brain thinks carbon dioxide is being lost too quickly and sensing this, will stimulate the goblet cells to produce mucous, slow the breathing and cause constriction of blood vessels. Breathing through the nose also limits air intake and forces one to SLOW down. Proper nasal breathing reduces hypertension and stress for most people. Kind of like a speed control (governor) on a car engine. 

 

4. The nostrils and sinuses filter and warm the air going into the lungs. The mouth breather bypasses this. The sinuses produce nitric oxide (NO) which  is a pollutant but harmful to bacteria in small doses. Mouth breathing also accelerates water loss increasing possible dehydration. Nitric oxide can only be generated through highest levels of the nasal pharynx, the flow of air that happens when you breathe through your nose allows very rich sources of nitric oxide which gives you super charged extra energy and wakefulness to go on and win the race.

5. Each nostril is innervated by five cranial nerves from a different side of the brain. Each nostril functions independently and synergistically in filtering, warming, moisturizing, dehumidifying, and smelling the air.

6. Maintaining a keen sense of smell is very important for enjoying life and for safety and social acceptance.  Think of all the beautiful smells we enjoy with our nose. Smell influences our behavior, our memories, and many autonomic nervous system functions which are below the level of conscious awareness. This is because the receptors in the nose, known as olfactory bulbs, are direct extensions of a part of the brain known as  the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus, also known as the Brain's brain, is responsible for many functions in our bodies, particularly those that we consider automatic: heartbeat, blood pressure, thirst, appetite, and of course, the cycles of sleeping a waking. The hypothalamus is also responsible for generating chemicals that influence memory and emotion.   

7. Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, the new medical description for what most of us call snoring, is a problem for about millions of people worldwide everyday. Socially unacceptable snoring occurs when other people complain about the noise. They are irritated by the snoring noise because they were unable to sleep well in the same room and in some cases the same building.  Snoring is a major social problem. It can also lead to major medical problems if snoring and mouth breathing combine to cause irregular breathing during sleep.

8. What you do during waking hours carries over into sleep. Any opportunity for mouth breathing inhaling  or exhaling will increase the chances of mouth breathing during sleep. Hospital studies have  established that nocturnal mouth breathing is a primary cause of loud snoring. Snoring is a precursor to sleep apnea and apnea a precursor to heart attacks and dying in one's sleep. 

9. Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the air stream in normal  individuals than does mouth breathing, resulting in 10-20 percent more O2 uptake. (Cottle, 1972:Rohrer, 1915)  There must be adequate nasal resistance to maintain adequate elasticity of the lungs. (Cottle 1980)  

10. Breathing through the mouth with the nose obstructed usually imposes too little resistance and can lead to micro-areas of poor ventilation in the lungs (atelactasis).  Many years of breathing against excessive resistance as with nasal obstruction, may cause micro areas of poor ventilation (emphysema).  Barelli (Behavioral and Pshchological Approaches to Breathing Disorders.p.50 )