In this Longevity & Lifestyle podcast episode, host Claudia von Boeselager opens with a sponsored promotion for the Airofit smart respiratory‑muscle trainer, explaining how short daily sessions can improve lung strength and breathing efficiency. She then shifts to the main topic: the importance of nasal breathing versus mouth breathing. Citing expert Patrick McCown, she notes that about 20 % of people have dysfunctional breathing, a figure that rises with back pain, anxiety, or asthma. Claudia outlines the physiological downsides of mouth breathing—dry mouth, bad breath, gum inflammation, reduced oxygenation, snoring, sleep apnea, and increased stroke risk—while highlighting nasal breathing’s benefits: filtration of allergens, humidification, warming of inhaled air, and up to a 20 % boost in oxygen uptake. She provides six actionable tips to encourage nasal breathing and curb snoring: (1) consciously breathe through the nose, (2) keep the nasal passages clean (e.g., nasal spray), (3) manage stress, (4) prop the head up with a pillow, (5) exercise regularly, and (6) use mouth tape at night. She references a Sleep Foundation study showing that mouth taping leads to consistent nasal breathing, altered palate and tongue positioning, and significantly less snoring. The episode concludes with a reminder to share the content and an invitation to subscribe to a short longevity‑and‑lifestyle email newsletter.
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This episode is brought to you by Aerofit. How many of us develop bad breathing habits? I know I did. It wasn't until I tried the Aerofit device that I relearned how to breathe better. Even after a few 2 to 3 minute sessions, I could tell the difference when running. Aerofit is a smart respiratory muscle trainer that allows you to track, monitor, and improve the strength of the pulmonary muscles. You start by inputting your metrics and goals in the app, followed by a baseline lung test, and then start your individualized breath training sessions. This device can benefit everyone from high-performance athletes to breathwork practitioners to those who just want to breathe better. In as little as 5 to 10 minutes a day, you become more efficient at breathing, all while sitting on your couch. So if you're ready to take your lung strength and flexibility to the next level, as well as improving your neuromuscular pathways leading to better breathing biometrics, then Airofit is for you. And for you, dear audience, you can go to airofit.com, that's airofit.com, and use discount code Claudia15 to get 15% off. If you want to sleep better or stop you or your partner snoring, this episode is for you. Welcome, friends, to another episode of the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast. I'm Claudia von Boeselager, your host. Here to bring you the key strategies and tools to help you be at your best. In today's episode, I want to dig into breathing better, and specifically nose or nasal breathing. Why it's important, what happens when you breathe through your mouth too often, what you can do to train it, as well as what you can do to stop you or your partner snoring. Breathing is one of the best biohacks available to us and it's free. According to Patrick McCown, leading international expert on breathing and sleep, around 20% of people have dysfunctional breathing. And this percentage increases dramatically if you have lower back pain, anxiety, or asthma. Why should you pay attention to how you breathe? Because the way you breathe has a tremendous impact on many areas essential to functioning day to day. Such as your ability to deal with stress, your quality of life, your sleep, your focus, concentration, and brain function, your blood pressure and respiratory rate, your blood sugar regulation, and more. What's wrong with mouth breathing? Mouth breathing can dry out your mouth, it increases your risk of bad breath and gum inflammation, and reduces the quality of your sleep. It also deprives your brain, heart, and other organs of optimal oxygenation. While sleeping, mouth breathing can lead to snoring, which can cause sleep apnea, as well as an increased risk of strokes, not to mention disrupting your partner's sleep. What are some of the benefits of nose breathing? Well, breathing through your nose helps you to not only filter dust and allergens It humidifies the air you breathe in. It can warm the air you breathe in by as much as 40 degrees before it gets to the lungs, which is particularly important in cold weather. But most importantly, it boosts your oxygen uptake by providing up to 20% more oxygen in your bloodstream at any given time. This means more oxygen is being delivered to your cells, improving their function, restoring damage caused by stress, and overall helping you sleep and live better for longer. If you want to improve your oxygenation, sleep, and even stop snoring, here are 6 top tips you can try. Number 1: practice breathing in and out through your nose. It sounds obvious, but the more you retrain yourself to breathe through your nose consciously, the more often you will do it subconsciously. Number 2: Keep your nose clean before you sleep, or even during the day for that matter. Make sure to clean your nose to assist in easier nasal breathing. You can even use a nasal spray, for example, to help with this. Number 3, keep stress at bay so that you're not gasping for air with your mouth. Number 4, prop your head up with a large pillow while sleeping. Number 5, exercise regularly. And number 6, try using mouth tape at night to literally tape your mouth shut. Research by the Sleep Foundation showed that wearing mouth tape caused all participants to breathe through their nose, changing the angle of the palate and the tongue, which led to significantly less snoring and fewer instances of lapsed breathing. So now's a good time to try nasal breathing and improve on that as well to help you feel better in your optimization journey. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Remember to share with family and friends, and I look forward to seeing you next week. Bye-bye. Hi everyone, this is Claudia again. Before you take off, would you like to get a short email from me with some short but sweet fun tips, tricks, and updates on all things longevity and lifestyle? This could be cool products that I've discovered, interesting posts or articles I've read, and other fun and helpful things around longevity and lifestyle I've found for you. It's a very short piece of inspiration for you a few times a month. So if you want to receive it, check it out by going to longevity-and-lifestyle.com. That's longevity-and-lifestyle.com. And leave your email to sign up for the next one.
