Why mouth breathing is problematic

Hello from Malaga!

I came across a shocking statistic yesterday:

Child antidepressant prescriptions are nearing 500,000 a year. Drugs given to under-18s have surged by 44 percent in nearly a decade, including almost 4,000 prescriptions for those under ten.

As someone who has been taking anti-anxiety medication for years and is also diagnosed with ADHD, the figure above scares me.

Not so much for myself—I have developed sufficient coping mechanisms—but more for my kids.

As a child, I was a chronic mouth breather and had an underbite, which I managed to fix without surgery thanks to a doctor friend of my dad's.

Not only has my facial structure changed, but my mental health, physical health, and performance are ten times better than they were in my 20s.

The Strategy: Stop mouth breathing

“An open mouth signals stress to your brain. We are designed to breathe through our nose.”

Here’s what happens when you breathe through your mouth:

• Heart rate goes up

• Blood pressure goes up

• It’s more costly to the system

• Mouth breathing triggers a stress response

Crazy, right?

Just by breathing through your nose, you get 20% more oxygen. Additionally, 50% of people with back pain have a breathing disorder.

So, why do we breathe through our mouths?

Often, people use their mouths to breathe because it allows them to get air in quickly. However, what you want is for that air to be heated, filtered, moistened, conditioned, and pressurized.

The Tactic: Know your breathing efficiency

Every day, we breathe about 22,000 times.

However, do we do it efficiently?

How is our breathing performance?

Performance = doing more whilst spending less

Below is a quick test for you:

itsdiegocarrete

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You can try my 2-minute science-based quiz that will give you clear guidance on the dos and don'ts for your body type, including what workout split to follow and which food groups to avoid Access it here for free

The Habit: Sleep positions and mouth retainers

3 habits to stop mouth breathing (The last one changed my life)

1. Improve your Zone 2 Cardio

↳ Aim for a heart rate of 60-70% of your max (120-140 bpm) during activities like walking or cycling.

2. Fix your sleep position

↳ Sleep on your side with your head and neck elevated using pillows for better breathing.

3. Use an external device

↳ I used one called Sodis (recommended by my kinesiologist).

Benefits of a retainer:

– It imposes nasal breathing

– It propels the mandible forward

– It increases the vertical dimension

– It keeps the tongue in the upper position

Executive of the week, Will, SVP Logistics

How did we do this?

1. We doubled down on the sleep audit.

2. We fixed his eating schedule to boost energy.

3. We focused on improving his aerobic capacity, as he was very sedentary.

That's it for today.

See you soon.

Become an asset, not a liability, to those around you.

P.S. The last slots for a September start are available for executives who want to work directly with me.

We will fix your health markers, optimise your hormones, and improve your body composition. 

Click here to apply and book a free introductory call with me