Now I consider myself fairly health conscious, always trying to make healthier choices. But until I discovered what I’m about to share with you, I didn’t know there was a next level to my health. I experienced greater energy, focus, the need to sleep less and improved my mood significantly. It definitely was a missing link in my health and it may just be yours too. buteyko breathing technique A New Discovery When you were young, did anyone ever tell you how to breathe? I had sinus problems so I did what came naturally to me, which was to breathe through my mouth. Oftentimes I felt very stuffy in my chest like I wasn’t getting enough air in my lungs no matter how deeply I breathed in. After struggling to go to sleep, I went online and discovered the Buteyko Breathing Method. This changed everything. Are You Breathing Correctly? The Buteyko method was named after the Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko and is based on the premise of nasal breathing. Buteyko discovered that when the breathing rate of his patients in the acute respiratory ward increased, their condition worsened. He also found that those who reduced their breathing rate began to recover, basically they were overbreathing. It was this finding that led Buteyko to develop a breathing technique through his research over three decades. The Buteyko breathing method may help if you have some of these symptoms: Respiratory - asthma, chronic coughing, hyperventilation, excess mucus, blocked or runny sinuses, chronic throat tickle, shortness of breath, tightness in or about chest, sighing, excessive yawning. Neurovascular - dizziness, unsteadiness, low concentration, numbness, tingling and cold fingers, face and feet. Musculoskeletal - tremors, twitching or spasms. Cardiovascular – heart palpitations, chest pains. Sleep - sleep apnoea, snoring, irritability and chronic fatigue. So How Do You Overbreathe? Buteyko found that the common cause was mouth breathing. How you breathe affects how much oxygen you retain. Many people have the idea that breathing through the mouth increases oxygen intake when in fact the exact opposite is true. Nasal breathing encourages your body to retain more oxygen because it reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released. Carbon dioxide is actually required to help transport oxygen to all your organs. This is known as the Bohr effect. Danish physiologist Christian Bohr showed that haemoglobin’s oxygen binding affinity is inversely related both to acidity and to the concentration of carbon dioxide¹. Buteyko suggests that normal breathing volume should be between 4-7 litres of air per minute (12-14 breaths). Clinical trials involving asthmatics show they breathe between 10-15 litres of air per minute and people with chronic heart disease tend to breathe between 15-18 litres of air per minute². It’s interesting to note that eating lots of processed foods, which acidify your blood in an attempt to maintain normal pH, will also make you breathe heavier. This is because one of the roles of carbon dioxide, which is in your blood, is to regulate pH. On the other hand, eating raw fruits and vegetables have the least impact on your breathing, followed by cooked vegetables. Processed, high protein and high grain meals have the greatest adverse effect on the way you breathe. Benefits of the Buteyko Breathing Technique The benefits for those suffering breathing difficulties are unbelievable and these have been documented in numerous clinical trials and peer review papers. Clinical trial results published in the Medical Journal of Australia (Dec 1998) showed that after 12 weeks, people who practiced the Buteyko breathing method had an average 96 per cent reduction in reliever medication, an average 49% reduction in preventer medication, and an average reduction of 71 per cent in asthma symptoms. The people in the control group showed no significant changes in any of these parameters. In the Thorax Medical Journal (Dec 2003 Vol 58 Sup III) “Health Education in Asthma Management – Does the Buteyko Institute Method make a difference?” 600 adults with asthma aged between 18 and 69 years were trialled. 384 of the initial 600 participants completed the trial. The results for the Buteyko group show average reductions of over 90 per cent for reliever medications, preventer medications and asthma symptoms after 6 months, which were maintained at 12 months. How To Unblock Your Nose In Less Than 2 Minutes If you suffer from the above symptoms, you’ve got to try this. It’s amazing! If you’re interested to learn more about the Buteyko method, I’ll be creating an eBook offer shortly so keep your eye out. For more natural health tips visit our blog at: http://www.alkalife.com.au/blog
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