These parameters have an inverse relationship: the less our breathing frequency at rest (or the slower our breathing), the higher our body oxygenation. Moreover, there are simple DIY tests for measuring both these parameters.
At rest, these parameters have an inverse relationship: the less our breathing frequency (or the slower our breathing), the higher our body oxygenation. Moreover, there are simple DIY tests for measuring both these parameters.
We cannot measure our own breathing frequency at rest: as soon as we pay attention to our breathing, it immediately changes. However, you can ask your relatives or friends to perform this simple experiment: to count the number of your inhalations in one minute, when you are not paying attention to your breathing. It can be done when you are busy reading a book or while you are asleep. Our breathing frequency changes when our mind is disturbed; particularly strong emotions can cause big changes in breathing frequency. However, when we are at rest, our breathing frequency remains quite stable throughout the day even after meals, when our breathing gets deeper (we take more air for one inhalation) or during sleep, when our breathing gets lighter and we breathe less air due to reduced metabolic needs and reduced CO2 production rate. Breathing, though, becomes faster and more irregular during REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep, the sleep stage where we dream.
There is a simple DIY test for measuring own body oxygenation. After your usual exhalation, count your stress-free breathing holding time. (Keep in mind that in order to get fair and accurate numbers for this test, you should start the test after your usual exhalation and do the test only till first signs of distress or discomfort. If you gasp for air or take a deep inhale after the test, you overdid the test.)
Here are the approximate relationships between these 2 parameters:
Normal breathing rate (medical textbooks and official physiological standards) – 12 breaths/min for respiratory frequency and 40 s for body oxygenation. (These parameters were normal for ordinary people living about 80-100 years ago.)
Modern healthy volunteers – 18 breaths/min and 25 s.
Typical patients with mild forms of the disease (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, etc.) – about 20-25 breaths/min and 15 s for body oxygenation.
Critically ill or terminal patients – 30 breaths/min and 5 s.
Hatha Yoga masters and advanced Buteyko students – 3 breaths per min and 180 s. (Buteyko students are people practicing the Buteyko breathing method whose goal is to normalize or reduce own breathing and increase body oxygenation measured by the CP or the control pause test described above.)
The slower our unconscious or basal breathing at rest, the healthier we are.
The main cause of this physiological law (the less we breathe, the more oxygen our cells get) is increased carbon dioxide content in body cells. When we breathe more than the medical norm (hyperventilation), we cannot increase oxygenation of our arterial blood since its haemoglobin is almost fully saturated during minuscule normal breathing (up to 98%). Hence, the main effect of overbreathing is CO2 deficiency. That causes vasoconstriction or shrinking of arteries and arterioles (CO2 is a most powerful known vasodilator) and suppressed Bohr effect (reduced oxygen release in capillaries).
More detailed information about these and other physiological parameters (duration of the automatic pause, heart rate, and CO2 content in alveoli) can be found the Buteyko Table of Health Zones. This table also predicts symptoms for many chronic health problems since Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, after studying thousands of people, from severely sick to exceptionally healthy, filed a patent application for this discovery (Application No. 99114075/14, Russia, 23.06.1999, METHOD OF ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN HEALTH), which is based on the DIY body oxygenation test.
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