is nasal breathing superior to mouth breathing

[paul]

i have read a wiki article on this, but i'm looking for further opinions. also, if nasal breathing is superior, why is it?

[gonelli]

I recall reading that breathing through your nose allowed air to be filtered. Dust particles and other things being removed by the hair in the nose meant less irritation to the lungs/throat. And, as the air moved through the nose passage (bad terminology there) it would be heated up, I guess to make it more "human body friendly".

[ecoli]

Nose hairs do have more cilia and can filter air better. Also, on cold days the nasal cavity helps warm air, which helps with gas exchange.

 

I don't think these things make too much of a difference however.

[iNow]

I seem to remember being able to draw in a larger volume of air through my nose when I was working out more. Breathing through my mouth would lead to slight hyperventilation, and I never seemed to be able to draw in enough via the mouth.

[Mokele]

Nose hairs do have more cilia and can filter air better.

 

Technically, they're just hairs, not cilia. Cilia are the microscopic hair-like organelles on the surface of some cells, such as those that line the trachea. Similar purpose, but massively different scale.

 

Also, on cold days the nasal cavity helps warm air, which helps with gas exchange. I don't think these things make too much of a difference however

 

Actually, it's the reason we mammals have noses and breathe through them.

 

Every time we inhale, we bring in dry, cold air that needs to be 'conditioned' by flowing over the warm, wet ridges and folds of the nasal passage. When we exhale, these same ridges and folds (called turbinates) serve to reclaim heat and water from the air before it escapes.

 

You can actually see the nasal turbinates in any mammal skull - they look like a bizarre, complex foldings within the nasal passage, and are much more well-developed in species that live in cold areas, dry areas, or live at sea (all situations where reclaiming heat and/or water from the air is a big benefit).

 

Unfortunately, the price of this reclamation is reduced airflow, both in rate and absolute volume, so when we need lots of air, we have to switch to the mouth and pay the price in terms of heat and water loss (but hopefully avoid being eaten by the bear chasing us).

 

I seem to remember being able to draw in a larger volume of air through my nose when I was working out more.

 

Probably a function of increased lung volume (due to working out a lot) and generally increased cardiovascular fitness (ditto).

 

Breathing through my mouth would lead to slight hyperventilation, and I never seemed to be able to draw in enough via the mouth.

 

Well, it can if you concentrate on breathing, but it should go OK if you just forget it and focus on something else. And you may not have been drawing enough in just because you were outside of your aerobic scope (which is limited by your capillary beds, rather than your lungs).

 

Mokele

[CharonY]

^

That is why I like to have biologists around that are not of the molecular flavour.