Ep. 208 The Underestimated Power of Breathing

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Alternative Health

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2022

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I have the honor of connecting with James Nestor today! James is a science journalist and author of the book Breath. Breath was one of my favorite books to read in 2021! It was awarded the prize for Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020 by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and shortlisted for the Royal Society Best Science book of 2020. It explores the million-year-long history of how humans have lost the ability to breathe properly and why we suffer from issues like snoring, sleep apnea, asthma, autoimmune disease, and allergies. James traveled the world in his effort to figure out what went wrong and how to fix our ability to breathe properly. He did not discover the answers in pulmonology labs but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. In this episode, James and I dive into how humans have become poor breathers and how crooked teeth contribute to poor breathing. We discuss the nasal anatomy and the impact it has on poor breathing. We talk about alternate nostril breathing, the vagus nerve, the anatomical changes that occur with aging, how overeaters become over-breathers, chewing, and how our palates and facial bones have evolved and changed. We also get into James’s experience in the Paris catacombs and the impact of breathwork on the autonomic nervous system. I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I did recording it! Stay tuned for more! IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: How have the structural changes in our bodies impacted our quality of breathing? The importance of having a proper deep sleep. The association between obligate mouth breathing and getting up at night to urinate. James talks about nasal erections and the effects of alternate nostril breathing on the body. James talks about the vagus nerve and explains the concept of vagal tone. Why do overeaters tend to become over-breathers? Poor breathing can lead to poor sleep quality, which can cause metabolic imbalance. What can you do to proactively impact the stimulation of facial bone remodeling if your mouth is too small or you have crooked teeth? James talks about his experience of crawling around in the Paris catacombs. What has been driving the changes in the anatomy of our faces? The importance of chewing stress. Chewing can play a role in how we look, how we breathe, and how our brain functions. James explains the significance of the empty nose syndrome. How proper breathing impacts the body and the benefits of breathing techniques. James talks about carbon dioxide therapy. Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website Connect with James Nestor On his website On Instagram

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast. I'm your host, Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.0	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:14.0	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the
0:19.2	health and wellness industry each week and impact over a million lives.
0:23.4	Today I had the distinct honor of connecting with James Nester, who is a science journalist and author of the book, Breathe.
0:36.0	It was absolutely one of my favorite books I read in 2021 and in preparation for this podcast together I read it a second time and got even more out of it.
0:46.5	We dove deep into how humans have become such poor breathers and the role of crooked teeth and how it has to do with poor breathing.
0:55.6	We discuss the nasal anatomy and its impact on breathing, the role of alternate nostril
1:01.9	breathing as well as the Vegas nerve anatomical changes that occur with aging
1:08.1	how overeaters become overbreathers and we dove deep into the role of chewing and how our pallets and our
1:14.8	facial bones have actually changed evolutionary wise. We discussed his
1:20.3	experiences in the Paris catacombs. And lastly, we dove into breath work and how that actually
1:27.8	impacts the autonomic nervous system. I really hope you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did recording it.
1:35.0	Well, James, welcome. It's really a pleasure to connect with you as I was telling you before we started recording. I've now read your book twice and recommend it to my lay public friends as well as my clinician friends because I got so much out of it. I would really love to start the conversation today talking about some of the things that have changed structurally in our face and our nose because this is information that was just incredibly
2:04.3	blew my mind. I mean, I literally was at a loss for words to how to explain how
2:08.2	surprising all this information was and largely because for many of us,
2:12.3	myself included,
2:13.6	when I think about all the dental extractions I had for braces in the 1980s
2:17.7	and I'm realizing this kind of cumulative domino effect
2:21.2	of how the structural changes in our bodies have really impacted our quality of breathing.
2:26.1	Well, when I was first starting off really seriously researching the subject, I remember talking
2:31.9	to a few dentists. the
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