If you have a regular breathwork practice, or if you’ve started to delve into the science of breathwork, then you’re already experiencing the benefits of nasal breathing first hand.
Breathing through your nose is the body’s natural, efficient rhythm, with research showing it can increase nitric oxide production up to sixfold; which helps your lungs absorb around 18% more oxygen compared to mouth breathing.
Despite mouth breathing having negative effects on health, studies estimate that up to 50% of people still predominantly breathe through their mouths.
In his New York Times bestselling book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, journalist James Nestor gives a first-hand account of the importance of nasal vs mouth breathing. He relays the details of an experiment he conducted on himself, where for ten-days he used silicone plugs to block his nose to determine how chronic mouth breathing would affect his health.
He shares that just a few hours of mouth breathing left him feeling terrible. His heart rate data revealed he had slipped into a state of chronic stress, with his blood pressure spiking to stage two hypertension. On top of that, his focus at work and memory for facts took a noticeable hit.
After only 10 days of mouth breathing he experienced obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia, and became a snorer. All of the negative consequences of mouth breathing were reversed however, when the experiment moved into the second stage which involved him breathing exclusively through his nose for 10 days.
Added to James’ experience, numerous studies show that mouth breathing exacerbates stress, anxiety and depression, can lead to insomnia and heart issues, causes bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease, can lower your IQ, change the shape and structure of your face, as well as cause symptoms of ADHD in children. Unlike mouth breathing however, nasal breathing delivers numerous benefits for both body and mind.
Humans are designed to breathe through their noses. When we do, the diaphragm, a powerful muscle just below the stomach, kicks into action. This type of ‘belly breathing’ expands the lungs more fully, creating negative pressure in the chest that draws air deeper into the body. It’s the most efficient and natural way to breathe.
With that in mind, here are 30 powerful reasons why nasal breathing matters:
Nasal breathing is one of the simplest ways to improve the quality of your sleep. The downsides of mouth breathing at night have been recognised for centuries, first being noted by physician Lemnious Levinus towards the end of the 16th Century; but despite centuries of evidence, many people still breathe through their mouths overnight.
But how exactly does nasal breathing improve sleep? Breathing through your nose has a stress-lowering effect, but the main way that breathing through your nose benefits your slumber is that, by keeping the tongue in the right position, it lowers the likelihood of snoring and reduces the risk of sleep apnoea – helping you drift into deeper, more restorative sleep.
One study followed 50 patients with nasal airway obstruction and obstructive sleep apnoea. After medical treatment to clear their nasal passages, 98% saw improvements in sleep apnoea, 38% stopped snoring, and 78% reported more daytime energy.
Breathing through your nose also ensures your body receives the right balance of filtered, conditioned air.
In comparison, mouth-breathing while you sleep overstimulates the body, heightening stress and triggering a state of mental and physical hyper-arousal, which is a key driver behind many sleep disorders and cases of insomnia.
It also disrupts your body’s natural chemistry, often leading to frequent nighttime urination – resulting in broken sleep.
Nasal breathing at night helps support detoxification by clearing fat-soluble toxins, and contributes to maintaining a healthy weight. It also drives oxygen more efficiently into the blood-rich alveoli of the lower lungs. This not only enhances oxygen uptake but also promotes a greater exchange of toxins and waste in these highly vascularised areas.
People who practise nasal breathing experience around 50% less fight-or-flight activation and 50% more calm parasympathetic activity compared to mouth breathers. In simple terms, that means a quieter stress response and increased relaxation. Nasal breathing also stimulates nitric oxide production in the paranasal sinuses, which helps calm the heart and create a soothing effect.
Breathing through your nose activates the production of immunoglobulins to strengthen your immune system, triggering the release of anti-bacterial molecules helping to clean the incoming air and increase the function of your immune system.
Nose breathing moisturises the air going through your nasal passages and into your lungs. You take around 20,000 – 25,000 breaths each day, so by breathing through your nose, you will be adding a litre of water to your internal environment. Mouth breathing on the other hand adds to dehydration.
Breathing into the lower lobes of the lungs engages and strengthens the diaphragm, training your body to become a more efficient deep breather over time.
When the diaphragm is free to contract and relax fully, it gently massages the stomach beneath it, supporting healthier digestion and helping to prevent issues like heartburn or hiatal hernia-type symptoms.
Nasal breathing also engages the entire rib cage, activating all 12 ribs as levers that rhythmically massage the heart and lungs. Instead of acting as a rigid cage, the ribcage becomes a dynamic system that supports circulation and eases the load on these vital organs.
When you breathe through your nose you get full rib cage activation that acts as a pump to pull lymph fluid from the lower parts of the body up into the chest cavity and to the heart, supporting healthy and active lymphatic flow.
Nasal breathing and full rib cage activation is critical for optimal flexibility and elasticity of the spine, head, neck and lower back.
Breathing through your nose requires less exertion compared to mouth breathing, according to the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion. Nasal breathing also demonstrates shorter recovery times and better endurance than mouth breathing during exercise.
According to recent research, mouth breathing can negatively affect your facial structure, leading to changes in jaw and facial development.
Typically, breathing through your mouth is linked to specific growth patterns, such as a longer face (vertical growth), a smaller upper and lower jaw, and a shorter base of the skull. These may contribute to an overall imbalance in the facial structure, resulting in an underdeveloped jaw and ‘weak’ chin.
In comparison, nasal breathing helps stimulate the growth of the upper and lower jaws, prevents overcrowding of teeth and increases oxygen intake.
Stress during exercise causes the production of the hormone cortisol, along with other hormones that deliver a post-exercise desire for comfort foods.
In Ayurveda, nose breathing is recommended over mouth breathing during exercise. It helps regulate stress chemistry, promotes calm, and reduces the likelihood of overeating after a workout.
From around the age of 35, it’s normal for lung function to begin gradually declining – with women faring worse than men. Nose breathing can help expand lung capacity by encouraging diaphragmatic breathing and improving oxygen-use efficiency, leading to gradual gains in lung capacity over time.
During nose breathing your paranasal sinuses produce Nitric Oxide, which is a potent vasodilator (good for your heart and blood pressure), bronchodilator (good for your airways and lungs) and a powerful sterilising agent, killing bacteria and sterilising the air in the sinuses on the way to the lungs.
Your nose has very sensitive nerve endings at the hair roots, which warn about foreign particles in the air. Turbinates (a long, narrow, and curled bone shelf which protrudes into the breathing passage of the nose) creates a spinning effect that moves inhaled particles away which then stick to the mucous membrane, preventing them from being sucked into your lungs. Allergens, bacteria, viruses, and other particles are also filtered out when you breathe through your nose. Mouth breathing bypasses this natural filtration system, allowing these harmful substances to directly enter your airways.
Nasal breathing also warms incoming air to around 35 degrees celcius – the optimal temperature for your lungs to absorb and use it effectively. Mouth breathing bypasses this process, sending colder, unconditioned air straight into the lungs.
By humidifying the incoming air, nose breathing supports the tiny, microscopic hairs (cilia) that are on the inside of your nose and sinuses in their mission to move sticky mucus, debris, and allergens out. Without enough humidity, cilia can’t work.
The movement of air through your nose keeps the environment around your inner auditory tubes free from stagnating debris. The hairs and membranes of your nose filter the air during inhalation and help to secrete mucous, preventing you from coughing and having to clear your throat.
Another benefit of nasal breathing is that it fills your sinuses with fresh air and keeps your sinus membranes lubricated and functioning, lessening the chance of sinus infections. Nose breathing also lessens the risk of asthma, while mouth breathing can cause detrimental changes to the structure of your mouth and sinuses, increasing the chances of obstructions and infections.
Air coming in through your nose stimulates the release of odiferous molecules, which attach to incoming molecules. This helps you smell the ‘quality’ of the air, sensitising you to the quality of the air around you.
Nasal breathing is important because it regulates the incoming volume of air by providing extra resistance and anatomic “dead space”, which matters in the regulation of breathing. Mouth breathing, on the other hand, promotes hyperventilation.
Nasal breathing directs air along the nasal septum, slowing its movement and allowing ventilation to better integrate with other biological processes, such as fully filling and emptying the lungs. It also provides a clear drainage pathway for excess tears, supporting healthy eye-nose function.
Nose breathing reduces the volume of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) released during exhalation. CO2 is needed to release oxygen from your blood to your brain, organs, muscles, and cells (Bohr Effect). The sinuses trap CO2 at the end of exhalation. CO2 helps relax the airways and blood vessels while supporting the release of oxygen from red blood cells. It also plays a key role in balancing blood pH, ensuring oxygen is delivered efficiently to every cell in the body.
Breathing through your nose supports better oral health, while mouth breathing can lead to issues such as dry gums, tongue, and oral cavity; leaving them exposed to harmful particles and pathogens. It also increases acidity in your mouth, which can speed up tooth decay and cause gum problems. Keeping your mouth moist through nose breathing not only helps protect your teeth and gums but also reduces the risk of gum disease and bad breath.
Apart from the physical health benefits of nasal breathing, it can also improve your emotional health. It does this by increasing your sense of smell, linking it to the Limbic system, which is the seat of your emotional body. This drives more awareness around how you feel about certain things.
Breathing air in through your nose brings it into the sphenoid sinuses to cool the pituitary gland – this helps to regulate your body temperature.
In addition to reducing the risk of sleep apnoea, nasal breathing also helps regulate your sleep by keeping your nasal passages open. Having clear nasal passages allows light to reach the pituitary gland through the sphenoid sinus, helping to regulate your sleeping patterns.
People who breathe through their nose have less chances of snoring, whereas mouth breathers have a higher chance.
“The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating”
Nose breathing activates movement at several head and neck joints. They are the atlanto-occipital joint, the atlanto-axial joint, the sphenobasilar joint and the sutures of the facial and head bones. Mouth breathing can lead to using the upper chest and neck muscles to breathe, which causes restriction through tightness.
Nasal breathing allows the tongue and lips to form their natural arch, supporting proper dental alignment and preventing tooth malformation. It also shapes the jaw in a more anatomically advantageous way, enhancing overall facial structure.
In children, nose breathing plays a vital role in sinus development by stimulating growth through the natural movement of air. Children who rely on mouth breathing often develop narrower faces, as the sinuses typically don’t begin forming until around age four.
Nose breathing helps increase the fluctuations of the cerebral-spinal fluid by activation and movement of the sphenobasilar joint – and as a result nourishing the central nervous system.
Breathing through your mouth causes the tissues in your nose and other airways to swell and become congested and thus make it more difficult to breathe. Mouth breathing can then lead to over-breathing as your body struggles to get the oxygen it requires. This activates the stress response and can add to chronic stress. Nose breathing on the other hand downregulates the stress response.
Nasal breathing reduces anxiety, downregulates the stress response, and turns the parasympathetic nervous system on – commonly known as rest-and-digest or the relaxation response. Mouth breathing in comparison produces a significant amount of beta brain waves that are associated with a stress response.
Nose breathing also activates the diaphragm, encouraging longer, deeper breaths and a breathing pattern which has a calming effect on your mind and body.
There’s a reason why yoga and meditation traditions focus awareness on the breath as a doorway. Nasal breathing facilitates deep meditation because it increases alpha brain waves – produced during relaxation or meditative states – compared to mouth breathing.
Research confirms that nasal breathing is the body’s natural, most efficient way to breathe, and is far superior to mouth breathing. Backed by more than 30 proven benefits for your mental, physical, and emotional health, it’s not only healthier but also safer. Still not convinced? Try it yourself and feel the difference that comes from simply closing your mouth and breathing through your nose.
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