Nitric oxide: nasal breathing
Have you ever taken a yoga or pilates class where you were instructed to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth? Marathon runners are given the same advice. I’ve also read books written by respected dermatologists expounding the benefits of deep breathing in developing healthy skin. Did you ever wonder what difference it made how you breathed?
Information about nitric oxide (NO) might shed light on what all the fuss is about. In 1998 Robert F. Furchgott, Ph.D. of the State University of New York, Louis J. Ignarro, Ph.D. of UCLA, and Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of Texas at Houston won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work on “Nitric Oxide as a Signaling Molecule in the Cardiovascular System.” This was the first time that nitric oxide was considered much more than an atmospheric pollutant.
Nitric oxide has a lifespan of less than 10 seconds. Despite its short-lived existence, scientists know today that NO acts as a signal molecule in the nervous system, as a weapon against infections, as a regulator of blood pressure and as a gatekeeper of blood flow to different organs.
- NO functions as a signaling molecule that tells the body to make blood vessels relax and widen. In this way, NO controls blood pressure and blood distribution. It also prevents formation of blood clots. (The common heart treatment nitroglycerine works by causing the body to manufacture NO, dilating blood vessels and decreasing heart pain. And nitroglycerin selectively dilates the arteries near the heart.)
- When NO is formed in nerve cells, it spreads rapidly in all directions, activating all cells in the vicinity. This can modulate many functions from behavior to movement of food through the digestive tract.
- When NO is produced in white blood cells (such as macrophages), huge quantities are achieved and become toxic to invading bacteria.
And the highest concentrations of nitric oxide are found in the nasal passage. That’s why nasal breathing is so important. And since the highest concentration is located in the back of your nose, deep breathing is the best way to increase NO to help your lungs go from 97 to 100 percent oxygen saturation. Deep breathing allows very rich sources of nitric oxide to be fuel injected into your system.
When researchers compared breathing through the nose and breathing through the mouth, they found that breathing through the nose led to a 10-15% higher oxidation of the blood. As a verification, breathing through the mouth with added NO from a gas bottle gave a similar effect, which corroborated that the NO in the nasal air caused these positive effects.
Researchers have also looked at the importance of nasal air breathing for patients lying in a respirator. These patients are intubated, that is to say they have a tube from the respirator directly into the respiratory passage. This means nasal air is not part of the breathing. By pumping nasal air from one of the nostrils into the respirator, the patient’s blood oxidation increased by 10-20% (sounds disgusting, though).
Here are some specific manifestations of nitric oxide:
Wakefulness. Tiredness and sluggishness mean that you have low levels of NO in those areas of your brain and brain stem.
Healthy skin. Good circulation is essential for young-looking skin, which requires oxygen, nutrients, and the removal of waste products that a healthy bloodflow provides. If your body has a sluggish circulation, the skin will be one of the first sacrifices it makes.
Sleep apnea. We know that those who suffer from sleep apnea have low levels of nitric oxide. More studies will need to be done before we know if increasing levels of nitric oxide will reduce sleep apnea. I find it interesting that other than behavioral modifications, the most common treatment for this condition is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in which a mask is worn over the nose and/or mouth while you sleep. The mask is hooked up to a machine that delivers a continuous flow of air into the nostrils.
Calmness. Nitric oxide has a calming and destressing effect on us, much like serotonin and dopamine. But it has the effect primarily because the blood vessels relax and the blood flow is increased. This is why it’s good to take a few moments to breathe deeply (through your nose) when you’re really upset about something.
Early diagnosis. Research shows that you can see nitric oxide impairment months or maybe even years before diabetes and artherosclerosis are clinically diagnosed.
Erectile dysfunction. Viagra works by increasing body levels of nitric oxide. In this case, Viagra selectively dilates the blood vessels in the penis.
Cancer. White blood cells use NO not only to kill infectious agents such as bacteria and parasites, but also to defend the host against tumors. Scientists are testing whether NO can be used to stop the growth of tumors since this gas can induce programmed cell death, apoptosis.
So if you take about 5 minutes in the morning and the evening and do some deep breathing (in through the nose), it should help your circulation, your skin, and your energy levels. I spend five minutes when I’m walking focusing on my breathing. I’ve included a couple of links describing breathing techniques.