Scientific Myths about Breathing and Over Oxygenation

Myth #1. Breathing is regulated by want for oxygen.

If you open any medical or physiological textbook with the description of the control of respiration, you will find that in normal conditions, breathing is regulated by the CO2 concentration in the arterial blood and the brain. Whatever we do (sit, walk, eat, run, sleep, etc.), CO2 concentration is kept within a narrow range (0.1% accuracy) by the breathing centre located in the medulla oblongata of the brain.

Myth #2. CO2 is a poisonous or toxic waste gas and a waste product to get rid off.

When a healthy person tries to hyperventilate or is forced to breathe deeply and fast, they experience “hypocapnia” (CO2 deficiency) in the blood and other fluids, tissues, and cells. The immediate effects are: constriction of blood vessels (CO2 is a powerful vasodilator) and reduced blood and oxygen supply to the brain, heart and all other vital organs. This is the reason why it is so easy to faint or pass out after 2-3 minutes of forceful hyperventilation. Another CO2 effect is the suppressed Bohr effect or diminished release of oxygen by the blood in the tissues due to the same hypocapnia. Apart from these phenomena, there are many other vital functions of CO2 in the human body (see links to medical studies below). Meanwhile, reduced tissue oxygenation is sufficient to promote cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other chronic conditions.

Myth #3. When a person is healthy, they can feel how they breathe.

If people with normal breathing are asked what they feel about their breathing, they will say that they feel nothing at all (as if they are barely breathing). “The perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing” Lao-Tzu, circa 4th century BC. Indeed, if you have any healthy people around you and observe their breathing for 20-30 seconds, you will see and hear nothing. The medical norm for breathing is tiny. It is only 6 L/min or only 12 breaths/min with tiny 500 mL for one breath, while most modern people have about 700 mL. They are deep breathers.

Myth #4. My breathing is OK and I know how to breathe.

Sick people with mouth breathing Less than 10% of people have normal breathing parameters and body oxygen stores these days. Check these 24 medical and physiological respiratory studies done on ordinary or normal subjects during last 80 years (Hyperventilation: Present in Over 90% of Normals). It is a fact that the medical norm established about a century ago is not a norm anymore. Modern people breathe about 2 times more air than we did 100 years ago. Hyperventilation results in tissue hypoxia and many other biochemical abnormalities. Your breathing is normal, if and only if you have normal body oxygenation. How can you check it? You should be able to easily hold your breath for at least 40 s after your usual exhalation and with no stress at the end of the test. This test is described in detail below.

Myth #5. More breathing (deeper and/or greater volume) means better body oxygenation or even over oxygenation of the blood.

During miniscule normal breathing, oxygenation of the arterial blood is about 98-99%. Note that normal breathing is invisible and inaudible. It is so light that most people do not feel it.

As a result, breathing more air cannot get much more oxygen in the blood. It follows that, no matter how deep and fast one breathes, he or she cannot get over oxygenated blood using normal air, while pure oxygen is toxic for the lungs tissue.

CO2 model There is zero scientific evidence about this deep breathing myth, but hundreds of published studies have clearly shown that hyperventilation (or breathing more than the tiny medical norm) REDUCES oxygen supply to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, and all other vital organs due to losses in CO2. (There are hundreds of studies presented on this website that proved this fact.)

Nevertheless, on TV, radio, and in everyday life situations, people who have little knowledge of physiology say, “Take a deep breath, get more oxygen”, or “Breathe deeper for better oxygenation”, etc.

Myth #6. Sick people notice when their breathing becomes abnormal.

Sick people and doctors 100% prevalence of hyperventilation at rest for the sick people is confirmed by over 40 published western studies on heart disease, cancer, asthma, COPD, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, panic attacks, chronic fatigue, and many other conditions. These sick patients breathe about 2-3 times more than the norm (see this Table with Minute Ventilation Rates for Chronic Diseases), and usually do not complain or even notice that their breathing is heavy or too deep. Why? This is because air is weightless and the main breathing muscles (diaphragm and chest) are very powerful: we can pump 25 times more air during maximum exercise (or about 150 liters of air in one minute), than we require for normal breathing at rest (only about 6 L/min). People may notice that their breathing is heavy during heart attacks, stroke, asthma attacks, or morning hyperventilation (between 4 and 7 am).

Further Resources: Deep Breathing Myth and CO2 Uses in the human body

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

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