Lower blood pressure with Buteyko

Lower blood pressure with Buteyko

Can a breathing technique to control asthma help you lower blood pressure?

It's a technique that has had increasing success with asthmatics in recent years, but the Buteyko method is now gaining recognition for its ability to also lower blood pressure. Ironically, Buteyko was originally developed in Russia to relieve high blood pressure, a fact that has since been obscured by the method's success in treating asthma.

In fact, Buteyko has been found to have beneficial effects on a variety of breathing-related conditions, including not only asthma and high blood pressure, but also sleep apnea, snoring, emphysema, and stress and anxiety disorders.

WhatisButeyko breathing?

The principle behind the Buteyko Method is that we have conditioned our body to overbreathe or in other words hyperventilate. This can happen in a variety of ways, but stress is often a contributing factor. Whatever the cause, the results are unbalanced and therefore unhealthy levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood.

While it is true that our bodies need a steady and adequate supply of oxygen,This life-giving gas becomes useless if not properly balanced with carbon dioxide. However, our rapid and irregular breathing results in an excess of oxygen and an insufficient supply of carbon dioxide.

So, contrary to popular belief, we don't need more oxygen, we need more carbon dioxide! Furthermore, deep breathing, so often recommended for health reasons, only makes the situation worse by triggering hyperventilation. This is why so many people complain of anxiety or other negative effects that come from deep breathing.

The Buteyko Method attempts to address this by balancing the body's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. This is accomplished by teaching practitioners to breathe in through their nose rather than their mouth, slowing their breathing rate significantly, and breathing much more shallowly than most people do.

Shallow breathing may seem counterintuitive, but the effects of too much oxygen are clear. Each of the recommended breathing changes will help limit the amount of oxygen consumed while increasing carbon dioxide levels. The result is a better balance of gases and therefore healthier blood chemistry, which leads to increased well-being.

What does this mean for patients with high blood pressure? Medical experts know that gas levels and other aspects of blood chemistry play an important role in regulating blood pressure. And of course our breathing is largely responsible for ensuring that the correct balance of gases is achieved.

Breathing: It's not something we think about often...it's just natural, right? But the fact is that breathing is not a simple linear equation. Not just the amount we breathe, but alsohow we breathedetermines the delivery of the correct gas mixture in a similar way to a carburettor. Attunement to the Buteyko Method appears to be an effective adaptation for many people battling high blood pressure.

The method offers another advantage that is often overlooked: oxygen and carbon dioxide are not the only gases involved in blood pressure. Nitric oxide is an invisible gas that plays a crucial role in regulation. Low levels of nitric oxide cause blood vessels to contract and increase blood pressure, while increased levels relax and dilate blood vessels, lowering blood pressure.

Nitric oxide is produced in our cells—we don't breathe it in from the atmosphere—but it turns out that the sinuses are major producers. Inhaling through the nose, as practiced by the Buteyko method, contributes to a consistent, high gas supply. The effects of elevated nitric oxide levels on blood pressure reduction are well documented and reinforce the therapeutic claims of Buteyko and similar breathing methods.

Last but not least, Buteyko breathing has been proven to be extremely effective in reducing stress, which is a major contributor to, and sometimes a direct cause of, hypertension. Unlike many other stress management methods, Buteyko and similar breathing methods can effectively relieve stress within minutes. In fact, regular exercise of just 10 to 15 minutes per day has been shown to produce benefitspermanentlyReducing stress and high blood pressure.

Of course, the Buteyko method is not a miracle cure (as if such a thing existed). High blood pressure is a complex condition with many possible causes. problematic breathing is just one of them. Nevertheless, Buteyko and similar breathing methods are completely safe and natural if not taken to extremes, and offer a variety of benefits. These methods are definitely worth fitting into your life.especially when it's very busy!

Speaking of similar methods, a practice called slow breathing, often used with the help of biofeedback devices or music programs, is an established and clinically proven method of naturally controlling blood pressure. Slow breathing and Buteyko are generally viewed as contradictory methods, but deeper examination shows that they are actually very similar in practice. The impressive results of both methods confirm the principles of breathing for better health. And rarely do you find something so safe and natural that is also so effective.

Inspired by David O'Hara