Just Breath! Biohacking Your Breathing

Just Breath! Biohacking Your Breathing

by | Apr 21, 2022 | Chiropractic In Phoenix, Health

 

 

Hack Your Way to Better Health

We are on our fourth biohack of the year, Just Breath! Biohacking Your Breathing. So far we have discussed the concept of biohacking itself, the importance of knowing your vitamin D levels and maintaining them, chiropractic care and how it relates to increased health and vitality and this month we will discuss breathing exercises and learning to control our breathing for improved health. My goal as your chiropractor is to bring to our patients at Desert Valley Chiropractic and our North Phoenix community simple inexpensive ways to improve their health and feel a sense of empowerment over their healthcare journey.

Learn to Control Your Breath

Learning to control your breathing is a very important biohack that can help with everything from increased lung capacity, leading to better exercise capacity and longevity, to controlling pain and anxiety. Did you know that even your lungs need exercise to stay healthy and for your body to function normally? Your body needs oxygen for survival. Every activity in the body is dependent on oxygen, including the metabolic functioning of cells. The lungs perform the task of delivering oxygen to every part of the body. By practicing a few exercises regularly, you can train your lungs to increase their capacity, which will help you inhale more oxygen. This will, in turn, protect the body from various breathing disorders, help increase stamina, and ensure every part of the body gets adequate oxygen. Breathing is not just a necessity of life—it also has an array of positive effects on our body, mind, and spirit.

 

When we breathe deeply and mindfully, our breath can create profound physiological effects that we’re only beginning to appreciate with the rise of yoga, meditation, and other breathwork practices in the last few decades. Chiropractic care compliments yoga and mediation practices as we also focus on alignment and balance. Your chiropractic adjustments assist in healthy breathing by reducing tension and inflammation allowing the vertebra in your mid back to align, your ribs and the muscles in your neck to all work together to assist in better breathing.

So, scroll down and check out these super-efficient exercises to increase your lung capacity.

Breathing Exercises

These exercises are not meant to diagnosis or treat any other condition If you are not feeling well please seek medical attention. Also if you have an existing lung condition get clearance from your lung doctor (pulmonologist) before you begin these.

Better Breathing Tip: It’s normal to hold your shoulders tense and high. Before starting any breathing technique, take a minute to drop your shoulders down, close your eyes, inhale, exhale and relax.

Number One is Belly Breathing

Inhale through the nose push your belly out.

This is the exact opposite movement of sucking it in! Now breath out through the mouth and pull your stomach in while pushing your breath out.

To do belly breathing:

  • Place one hand on your abdomen. Place one hand on your upper chest.
  • Focus your breathing on your abdomen.
  • As you breathe in, the hand on your abdomen should rise.
  • As you breathe out, the hand on your abdomen should lower.
  • Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out slowly through pursed lips.
  • Start by doing it while lying on your back. Then try it while sitting. Then try it while standing. Finally, try it while doing an activity.

Learning to belly breath is the foundation for good breathing practice.

Number Two is Pursed Lips Breathing

Pursed lip breathing helps control shortness of breath , and provides a quick and easy way to slow your breathing. This helps to manage stress, anxiety and pain. During a panic attack, taking rapid breaths can lead to a faster heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, and other symptoms. These symptoms may, in turn, contribute to even more anxiety.

This should feel like smelling flowers and blowing out candles.

To do pursed lips breathing:

  • Breathe in through your nose (as if you are smelling something) for about 2 seconds.
  • Pucker your lips like you’re getting ready to blow out candles on a birthday cake.
  • Breathe out very slowly through pursed-lips, two times longer than you breathed in.
  • Work towards increasing your times
  • 2 seconds in : 4 seconds out
  • 4 seconds in : 8 seconds out
  • 8 seconds in : 16 seconds out

Number 3 is 4-7-8 breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing technique requires a person to focus on taking a long, deep breath in and out. Rhythmic breathing is a core part of many meditation and yoga practices as it promotes relaxation.

Dr. Weil is a celebrity doctor and the founder and director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Andrew Weil teaches the 4-7-8 breathing technique, which he believes can help with the following:

  • reducing anxiety
  • helping a person get to sleep
  • managing cravings
  • controlling or reducing anger responses

 

To try the 4-7-8 method, begin by sitting with your back straight. Once you are familiar with these steps, the exercise can be performed while lying in bed, too. You’ll want to:

  • Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth. You’ll keep it there for the entire exercise.
  • Completely exhale through your mouth, making a “whoosh” sound.
  • Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose as you mentally count to four.
  • Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  • Exhale completely through your mouth, making another “whoosh” sound to a count of eight.

 

Number 4 is Alternate nostril breathing

Alternate nostril breathing is a simple technique originating from Ayurvedic medicine and yoga that is designed to settle the mind, body, and emotions:

  • Lift your right hand up toward your nose, exhale completely and then use your right thumb to close your right nostril.
  • Inhale through your left nostril and then close the left nostril with your fingers.
  • Then release your thumb from the right nostril and exhale through this side.
  • Next, inhale through the right nostril and then close it again with your thumb.
  • Release your left nostril and exhale though it.
  • Repeat for as long as required and finish with an exhalation on the left side.

Many people feel they do not need to increase their lung capacity until the time a simple and short exercise like playing with their kids or running with pets tires them and leaves them breathless.

Do these exercises to increase lung capacity and enjoy leisure time with loved ones without experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue

https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/wellness/breathing-exercises

Can Vitamin D Make You Immortal?

Can Vitamin D Make You Immortal?

by | Jan 15, 2022 | Uncategorized

Can Vitamin D Make You Immortal?

 

So, can taking vitamin D make you immortal? Umm No. But, it can reduce your chances of mortality by around 30%. Now stats like that can sometimes make you laugh a bit because, well we all are going to die of something eventually, right? However, what this is referring to is by age and risk factor you’re are still 30% less likely to die than your peer group just by keeping your vitamin D levels at a healthy level. Not bad.

But what is a good level and how do I find mine?

Medically they tend to use a range of about 30-90. They also tend to give you your results in terms of deficient or not. You are not usually flagged in the medical model until you are below a 30. Functional medicine focus’s on what keeps you in good health. In a functional model we are looking for measurements from 50-70 ng/ml. 

So getting a vitamin D test and knowing your numbers is a great place to start. Vitamin D is not part of a standard CBC but can easily be added by your doctor and often even requested by the patient at some labs. I recommend always asking for it.

 

How do you use this one health measure and vitamin to your best advantage?

One of the great things about vitamin D is the more the learn the better it gets. This one vitamin and health stat is a great measure of both your likelihood of acquiring a major medical condition and your outcome if you do. If your number is below 50 you can benefit functionally from an increase in that value. 10k IU a day is not uncommon to boost you up but you should speak with a healthcare professional who is trained in functional medicine.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin making toxicity possible.  Therefore the testing and recommendations of a professional is beneficial. If you are trying to raise your D levels, you should be testing every 3-6 months depending on levels and dosing. It is not much given the immense benefits of maintaining these levels at a healthy range.

More information:

  • Vitamin D is the only vitamin that can be produced by our bodies. Our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to UV rays from the sun.
  • The best food sources of vitamin D are egg yolks, fatty fish, liver, and grass-fed cheese and butter.
  • Supplementation may be necessary to increase their levels of vitamin D to optimal levels.
  • It is important to test your level of vitamin D regularly to ensure it is optimal and to prevent health issues.
  • Vitamin D is unique in that it functions as a prohormone. A Prohormones are substances that the body converts to a hormone.
  • Vitamin D obtained from sun exposure, food, and supplements is biologically inert and must be activated by the body.
  • Vitamins are either water soluble or fat soluble. Vitamin D, along with vitamins A, E, and K, are fat soluble.  Meaning they need a source of fat to be absorbed. Fat soluble vitamins can accumulate in the body’s tissue.

 

The Immune System:

Vitamin D plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immune responses. The active form of Vitamin D plays a key role in maintaining immune homeostasis.

D3 is an immunomodulator targeting various immune cells, including monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells. They can also target T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. Several epidemiological studies have linked inadequate vitamin D levels to a higher susceptibility of immune-mediated disorders including chronic infections and autoimmune diseases

An autoimmune condition occurs when the body’s immune system malfunctions. It mistakenly identifies healthy cells and tissues as foreign invaders and starts attacking and destroying them. This can happen in almost any part of the body, including the brain, muscles, skin, and other organs. Autoimmune diseases associated with low vitamin D include multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), diabetes mellitus (DM), inflammatory bowel disease and lupus.

Protects Against Cancer:

Vitamin D has demonstrated cancer-protective and anti-cancer properties. These properties include triggering apoptosis (programmed cell death), inhibiting cancer cell growth, and reducing metastatic potential.

Multiple studies show an increased risk of cancers, including colon, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, among people with vitamin D deficiency. Studies have also linked higher levels of vitamin D with a lowered risk of certain cancers and a better cancer outcome.

Prevents Cognitive Decline:

Dementia is a syndrome (group of symptoms), usually chronic and progressive, associated with the loss of memory and other cognitive functions. It is caused by different brain illnesses that affect thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, judgment, behavior, and memory without a lack of consciousness. These symptoms are severe enough to interfere with a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks.

Numerous studies have shown that vitamin D may reduce the risk of cognitive decline. In a 2014 study, researchers found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s. Individuals with severe vitamin D deficiency (less than 10 ng/mL) had a 122% increased risk of dementia and Individuals deficient (less than 20 ng/mL) in vitamin D had a 51% risk of dementia. Vitamin D3 has neuroprotective effects including the clearance of amyloid plaques.

If you are looking for a great Vitamin D supplement please call 602-439-1515 or schedule an appointment with us today!