The Connection Between Skin Health And Breathing

Everyone knows that when you can’t breathe, you can’t live for very long. This primordial understanding highlights one of the single most important ways we can look after ourselves and our skin: through breathing!

Here are 5 ways in which breathing deeply every day will improve your skin’s health!

More Oxygen

They say water and air is life and the reason for this is largely oxygen. Our bodies cannot function without oxygen. When we breathe in, oxygen saturates our bodies via the bloodstream, helping us to generate energy.

In each of our cells, we have little “cellular organs” called Mitochondria. These tiny organelles take oxygen and create ATP, which is what energy is inside out bodies. The energy is used everywhere, from allowing us to think to helping our bodies carry out all of it’s processes.

In this way when we breathe optimally, we are providing oxygen to help all our organs, including the skin. The skin is in fact a massive organ that serves to detox our systems as well as protect them.

Additional oxygen (and therefore energy) allows the skin to repair itself better and function at an optimal capacity. It also takes the load of detoxification off the skin by aiding the kidneys, liver and bladder to function more efficiently.

Improved Circulation

Breathing improves your blood circulation, allowing more oxygen to go where it needs to go. When blood is moving fluidly in the body, it also transports toxins and carries useful things (such as oxygen and antioxidants) to all cells in the body.

The bottom line? Improved circulation will allow your skin to get rid of impurities faster and to provide it with more oxygen and products it can use. This in turn allows it to have the energy and ingredients necessary to repair itself.

Reduced Stress

Deep breathing reduces your stress levels and that keeps your skin clean, fresh and youthful!

Our skin is an extension of our immune system. When we battle to detox or are fighting an infection, acne and other reactions are liable to break out. Stress increases any similar burden on our bodies by unleashing free radical cascades, which cause harm and prevent the mitochondria from working as efficiently.

When the mitochondria are functioning at their optimal capacity[1], they absorb free radicals (aka loose oxygen particles) and convert them into beneficial ATP, or energy. This is why the act of breathing deeply is so calming, it literally brings stress back into balance! This will clear your skin and keep it looking radiant.

Increased Longevity

Oh yes, breathing better lengthens the amount of time you have left to live!

Inhaling optimal amounts of oxygen promotes an increased lifespan of the cells in your body. This is another benefit of protecting the mitochondria, as mitochondrial DNA plays a large role in regulating both cell lifespan and cell death (apoptosis).

That means healthy mitochondria keep your cells alive for longer – It’s that simple. What’s even more exciting is that scientists are beginning to think that mitochondrial DNA mutation is a possible underlying cause for aging[2] [3]!

Cell longevity also applies to the cells in your skin. In other words, breathing deeply will allow your skin cells to last longer.

Immune Improvement

Breathing more and oxygenating yourself improves how your immune system functions by improving detox and giving the immune system more energy.

Increased oxygen levels can do more than that though! The majority of harmful bacteria that make us sick is often ‘anaerobic,’ meaning that they don’t survive in oxygen! Breathing deeper daily contributes to keeping your body clear of many infections, and enables it to have the resources necessary to defend against them too.

How To Breathe More

The average person spends a lot of time holding in their breath or they breathe in very shallow regions of their lungs. Essentially one should practice inhaling air while expanding their tummies and the vice versa while exhaling. This ensures that you are getting in as much oxygen as possible.

 

 

[1] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1016/S0014-5793(01)02199-8/full

[2] https://academic.oup.com/mutage/article/25/2/101/1021844

[3] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087002415305098