"The internal nose not only provides around 90% of the respiratory system air-conditioning requirement but also recovers around 33% of exhaled heat and moisture." (Source: Elad D, Wolf M, Keck T. Air-conditioning in the human nasal cavity. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology. 2008 Nov;163(1-3):121-127. DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2008.05.002. PMID: 18565805.)

The lungs are a primary source of our energy level. They extract oxygen from the air we breathe primarily on the exhale. When you exhale through small nostrils compared to your mouth, a back-pressure is created, and exhaled air is restricted and slowed down, which is precisely the time the lungs use to absorb more oxygen.

It slows the air escape, so the lungs have more time to extract oxygen from them. The blood will maintain a balanced pH when there is proper oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange. Our oxygen uptake happens mostly during the restricted exhale through the nose.

Oxygen absorption is decreased if carbon dioxide is lost too quickly, as in mouth breathing. If you want better performance during your exercise, you have to stop over-breathing or hyperventilation- a.k.a mouth breathing. Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the air stream in normal individuals than does mouth breathing, resulting in 10-20 percent more O2 uptake. (Cottle, 1972: Rohrer, 1915)

"During exercise, nasal breathing causes a reduction in FEO2, indicating that on expiration the percentage of oxygen extracted from the air by the lungs is increased and an increase in FECO2, indicating an increase in the percentage of expired air that is carbon dioxide". (Morton AR, King K, Papalia S, Goodman C, Turley KR, Wilmore JH. Comparison of maximal oxygen consumption with oral and nasal breathing. Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1995 Sep;27(3):51-5. PMID: 8599744)

Breathing through the mouth like with pursed lips is only for emergencies. If you breathe through your mouth, you bypass many important stages in the breathing process and this could lead to many health problems, like snoring and sleep apnea. 

When your body has less oxygen (FEO2 levels go down) you may be forced to engage mouth in breathing as well. Remember those huge yawns where your mouth helps in taking in a lot more air than your nostrils? Those are the emergency situations we are talking about. 

Breathing through your nose helps in slowing down the breathing cycle to allow proper CO2 build-up and better O2 uptake. Pursed lip breathing however, over time, weakens the diaphragm by transferring the strength to hold back breathing via the mouth instead of engaging the diaphragm. Think of pursed lip breathing as emergency breathing.

Your nose is the only organ that is enabled to properly "prepare" the air you breathe. As scary as it may sound, our nose is home to more than 50 species of bacteria- both good and bad – and unfortunately, there are more bad than good ones. But the good news is that the small number of good ones can fight it with the bad ones within the nose itself, saving us from ingesting a lot of bad bacteria at the first stage of breathing-inhalation.

If you bypass your nose and breathe through your mouth, bad bacteria cannot be stopped from reaching inside your body. One of the deadliest of them all is Staphylococcus Aureus- which may cause diseases due to direct infections or produce toxins that could cause staph infections that include blood and heart.

The lessening of the common cold is another good reason for nose breathing. The mucous (white blood cells that kill germs) membrane lining the nose extends all the way from the inner linings of the nostrils down the trachea to the bronchi that directly enter the lungs. Germs get caught and die in the mucus. Mouth–breathing will make you more susceptible to common cold and infections.

Some researchers have pointed out how mouth breathing and associated hyperventilation cause and exacerbate asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other medical problems.

Breathing through your mouth causes depleted carbon dioxide levels, reduces blood circulation, slows down your brain and reflexes, and even causes spells of dizziness and sometimes unconsciousness. Chronic mouth breathing also causes the muscles that open the sidewalls of the nose to weaken, causing the narrowing of airways.

When you breathe in the mouth or over-breathe, the lungs are overstimulated with oxygen. Still, the airways become dried and vaso-constricted, so an inefficient amount of oxygen is actually absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs.

By breathing through your mouth, you are failing your heart, brain, and all other organs by denying optimal oxygenation. As a result, even though you may have no cardiac disease symptoms, you may develop arrhythmias and other heart ailments.

Our nasal passages have afferent stimuli- the nerves that regulate breathing. When inhaled air passes through the nose, the nasal mucosa carries the stimuli to reflex nerves that control breathing. When you breathe through the mouth, you bypass nasal mucosa, which predisposes you to loud snoring and irregular breathing. Snoring is a precursor to sleep apnea, and apnea is a precursor to low cellular oxygen, almost any illness, including heart attacks and death in one's sleep.

Think sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is just a term used to describe Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome. This new medical description for what most of us call snoring is a problem for about 90 million Americans every day. Not only is snoring a major health issue, but it is also socially unacceptable. Other people may complain about the noise as it is irritating and they were unable to sleep well in the same room and in some cases the same building!

You can't kiss someone and breathe through your mouth.

You may think that by opening your mouth to breathe, you are taking in more air, but in reality, you are just slowing down the breathing. When you’re mouth breathing, the brain thinks carbon dioxide is being lost too quickly, and sensing this, it stimulates the goblet cells to produce mucus, slow the breathing and cause constriction of blood vessels. The nostrils and sinuses filter and warm the air going into the lungs. An average mouth breather bypasses this. The sinuses produce nitric oxide (NO), which is a pollutant- but in small doses, it is harmful to bacteria.

Nitric (not nitrous) oxide is one of the vital chemical parts of sexual arousal. It vaso-dilates (engorgement) and plays a part in maintaining the erection.

The first step is to be conscious of how you breathe while awake. Training yourself to nose-breathe while awake guides the way you breathe while sleeping.

What you do during waking hours carries over into sleep. Any opportunity for mouth breathing -inhaling or exhaling will increase the chances of mouth breathing during waking and sleep. Hospital studies have established that nocturnal mouth breathing is a primary cause of loud snoring.

You can also think of using Chin-Up Strips that are safe, inexpensive, and easy to use. In fact, if you mouth-breathe during waking hours, you can bet you will mouth-breathe while sleeping.

The best part is you can use them during the exercises shown in the Optimal Breathing Mastery Kit AS WELL AS DURING SLEEP.

"I am convinced improved breathing through the nasal mucosa 24/7 is a key to a long and healthy life. A life filled with energy and a great disposition which will help maintain and strengthen the relationships one needs for emotional and physical wellness." Dale D. Miller, JD & CEO www.chinupstrip.com

"People with chronic sinus conditions should use a sinus rinse daily as it promotes drainage of the sinuses and speeds healing of inflamed tissues... "Self-Healing" Dr. Andrew Weil M.D.

If you have sinus blockage and face difficulty in nose-breathing due to it, try remedies like sinus rinse before considering surgery. You can also consider other products for various ailments.

For deformed septum or nasal blockages, many people would undergo surgery. But this traditional approach of using a scalpel to cut cartilage inside the nose and reshape it manually is not only costly, but it also forces you to take time off work for recovery, and the septum usually reverts to what it was before surgery!

On several occasions, I have worked on a person’s breathing who had stuffy nasal passage for decades, and with just some non-invasive treatments, their nostrils and sinuses opened up right then and there.

It makes me wonder how many fewer surgeries for blocked nasal passages or dry upper respiratory tracts might have happened had the MDs suggested developing the breathing first. I strongly suggest going the natural route FIRST. There is a strong possibility you can open your nasal passages without surgery.

Optimal Breathing Mastery could help you reduce any anxiety, adrenaline, or histamine reactions that swell up the membranes