The Oxygen Advantage
Book: The Oxygen Advantage-Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You
Author: Patrick McKeown
Year: 2015
Pages: 350, that includes the “how to” part and the references
This is the second book we have reviewed recently that deals with breathing.
Why?
Because breathing is important! You can live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but only a few minutes without air. This fact alone keeps me reading books about breathing. Breathing efficiently is of paramount importance in any health and wellness regime. At the expense of sounding heretical, breathing properly is more important than what we eat, how much water we drink, or how much exercise we get. I know that is a bold statement but I am basing that conclusion on a whopping 2 books and much time and energy relearning the physiology and chemistry of breathing.
This book is divided, quite nicely I might add, into four parts. All of them pointing to the primacy of breathing properly. And just like someone who overeats does not improve his health but diminishes it, people who over-breath are in the same boat. They are not improving their health by overbreathing, they are diminishing it.
What in the world is over breathing anyway?
According to McKeown, “Overbreathing simply means the habit of breathing a volume of air greater than that which your body requires.”
How is this possible? It seem that if we need more air we naturally breathe faster and deeper. Our bodies do this automatically, right?
Yes, we do increase our blood level of oxygen when we breathe faster and deeper. But all the oxygen in the world trapped in your blood stream does you no good. It is only in the presence of CO2 that oxygen can be released into the tissues and be useful. That is a big insight and I must say not a new one. This phenomenon has been evident for 100 plus years and largely ignored by the medical world. It’s called the Bohr Effect, check it out.
To repeat…
Trapping CO2 into your system causes red blood cells to dump oxygen into the tissues. Oxygen in your tissues is what makes you work correctly. CO2 is not a waste byproduct as it is often assumed but an indispensable part of health and vitality. Teaching your body to function with higher levels of CO2 in the bloodstream is the entire book in a nutshell. McKeown has coined the term “breath light to breath right” to simplify the concept. In other words, breathing less often, and not as deeply, will produce better health by teaching your body to tolerate higher levels of CO2.
Still not convinced of its importance?
As we improve our tolerance to CO2 an amazing variety of health benefits accrue. Benefits such as lower blood pressure, weight loss, better sleep, more energy. You know, stuff we all want and try to get with diet and exercise alone. Adding breathing exercises, and practicing them diligently as outlined in this book, will deliver terrific results for your health and wellness.
Here is a test for you to perform at home as outlined in the book.
Try this little experiment on yourself to determine your tolerance for CO2:
1) Sit up straight in a chair
2) Take a normal breath in and out through your nose
3) Plug your nose at the end of the exhale
4) Time the number of seconds you can hold your breath, AFTER EXHALING. When you feel your body begging you to breathe, stop counting and remember the number. (this will feel very strange and uncomfortable)
5) Resume normal breathing
6) If you gasp for breath at the end of this test, you have done it incorrectly. Do it again. Be sensitive to that first urge to breathe. Count only the number from the exhale until you have an urge to breathe. The urge to breath is unmistakable.
Professional athletes that have taken the time to master their breathing typically can last 40 seconds or more. Since working the exercises in this book, mine is about 20.
If your score is below 10 seconds, we need to talk! Please stop what you are doing and make an appointment and we can test you in the office. You will get way more out of your chiropractic and wellness care if you are breathing correctly.
Great, practical book. Read it! We have one in the office! Or click Here to order your own.
Cheers,
Dr. Swaim
