Buteyko training will do two things for you: With practice, you will be able to breathe less and switch your breathing completely to your nose and diaphragm.

What does your nose do that your mouth doesn’t?

As air travels through your nasal airways it passes through tiny hair-like filtering networks called cilia and mucous secretions. These filter, moisten and warm the air before it reaches the delicate tissues that form your respiratory system. This filtering, warming and moistening is the first step in the conditioning stage of the air you breathe in and your first line of defence against harmful bacteria, viruses and allergens (1). What is also important for allergy sufferers to know is that: Your airways do not like dry cold air they become inflamed and swell up (2) (It is usually then that sufferers reach for nasal steroids). However, the treatment of the air that occurs when you breathe through your nose lessens the chances of this happening.

Open Up

Your nose is loaded with bitter taste receptors, but they’re not helping you taste or smell lunch. When you breathe in they send a signal to your sinuses to release nitric oxide (3). Nitric oxide (NO) also known as the mighty molecule is very effective at killing off harmful pathogens (4): It is anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. Nitric oxide has another function in respiratory system: it travels with the air you breathe opening up your airways all the way to your alveoli. This is why it is known as the body’s natural bronchodilator (5).

 Your Diaphragm

Mouth breathing is upper chest breathing. Nasal breathing is diaphragmatic breathing. Why does this matter? Put simply; The diaphragm is the most efficient muscle to breathe with. It is a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lung which contracts as you inhale and expands as you exhale. Using your diaphragm to breathe allows you to breathe with less effort and stimulates the relaxation response in the parasympathetic nervous system (6). This helps you to achieve the second aim of Buteyko training which is to be calm and breathe less.

Breathing Less

When we talk about you breathing less, we mean that you will reduce the volume of air that you will take into and out of your lungs. Simple. Why is a reduction in breathing volume important for people who have allergies and other conditions to look into?

Not Enough

The short answer is that your current breathing pattern may be causing you to lose too much carbon dioxide. We cannot inhale carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; it is a by-product of metabolic chemical reactions which are required to supply the body with energy. While it is true that carbon dioxide can be classed as a waste gas, we only exhale CO2 to get rid of the excess and it is vital that a certain amount is retained in the blood for healthy body function (7). The human lungs require 5% CO2 at a partial pressure of 40 mmHg. The air we breathe in contains just 0.04% at a partial pressure of 0.3mmHg. Over breathing or hyperventilating results in the partial pressure of held CO2 being exhaled or ‘washed’ from our lungs. This deficiency of CO2 is called hypocapnia. Doctor Buteyko’s (whom the method is named after) extensive research led him to the conclusion that many chronic conditions, could be scientifically explained, in large part, as being a consequence of hypocapnia. While it was known at the time that hyperventilation caused hypocapnia, he reasoned that if he could retrain patients who hyperventilate so that their breathing was reduced towards an optimal level, then their condition could reverse.

The Importance of Carbon Dioxide

You already that know that oxygen is vital for life, nothing will work in your body without it. What you may not know, especially if you have forgotten all the lessons that you have learnt on the respiratory system at school, is that for optimal delivery of oxygen you need an optimal amount of carbon dioxide (8). It may seem paradoxical but the more you breathe, the harder it is for oxygen to reach the parts of your body that need it.