Do you breathe through your mouth while sleeping?

 (Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news)

 

Do you breathe through your mouth while sleeping? Read this

Breathing provides our body with oxygen and helps us release carbon dioxide. We all breathe through our noses. But in the case of nasal congestion, we end up breathing through our mouth, especially during our sleep. While we might think of this habit as harmless, it's not so.

Breathing through the nose can lead to a lot of health concerns. Here are some of them as listed by nutritionist Pooja Makhija in one of her social media posts.

Nasal breathing is important for your overall health. It helps in aiding weight loss. Yes, you read that right. Read ahead to know more why nasal breathing is important.

The nutritionist said, “Our autonomic nervous system has two main branches — sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic branch is responsible for our ‘fight or flight response, whereas the parasympathetic branch is responsible for the ‘rest and digest, tend and befriend response. Basically, the sympathetic branch gets you fired up and primed for movement, and the parasympathetic branch puts the brakes on and chills your body out”.

How breathing can affect workouts

She also said, “Mouth breathing biases your body towards a sympathetic state, whereas nasal breathing activates the parasympathetic response. If the body is stuck in this state due to chronic stress and breathing dysfunction, it won’t effectively rebuild tissue from all of the HIIT workouts you are doing.”

​Nasal breathing for weight loss

The nutritionist said, “Since a large portion of this recovery process happens while you sleep, it is especially important to breathe in a way that shifts your nervous system state into ‘rest and digest' mode. This is why nasal breathing is so important for weight loss.”

​How to improve oral breathing

She added, “Obviously, we switch to oral breathing only when our nasal passage is blocked. Good quality Vitamin C supplements (and foods), curcumin (opens up sinus blockages), zinc-rich foods and supplements can really help improve nasal breathing (provided of course, that’s the prime reason and not a deviated septum). Speak with your nutritionist for exact doses and duration”.