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Dr Rangan ChatterjeeWhy 70% Of People Are BREATHING WRONG & How To FIX IT For Better Health! | James Nestor
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
How nasal breathing, CO2 tolerance, and breathwork reshape health
- James Nestor argues that habitual mouth breathing is common—especially during sleep—and describes it as harmful to oral health, hydration, and respiratory defense compared with nasal breathing.
- He and Dr Rangan Chatterjee discuss a range of breathing approaches, emphasizing slow nasal breathing as a daily foundation while also framing intense hyperventilation-style methods (e.g., Wim Hof/Tummo-type practices) as short, controlled “stress training.”
- Nestor links breathing to stress regulation, claiming that breathing changes can produce rapid, observable shifts in measures like blood pressure and that controlled breathing can help people manage chronic, low-grade stress.
- The conversation highlights CO2 tolerance and breath holding as recurring themes across ancient traditions and modern research, with Nestor describing their relevance to panic, anxiety, and asthma.
- They explore broader implications including posture/biomechanics, lung capacity and longevity, breathing-based recovery in athletic performance, and the challenges of researching breathwork due to limited funding incentives.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasMouth breathing is framed as a widespread habit with multiple downstream health costs.
He says habitual mouth breathing dehydrates the mouth (with about 40% more moisture loss), alters mouth pH, increases susceptibility to cavities, and bypasses the nose’s defensive filtering—making the lungs more exposed to pollution, allergens, and pathogens.
A small piece of nighttime mouth tape is presented as a simple way to shift toward nasal breathing.
He describes using a small, non-sealing piece of tape as a way to “train your mouth to be shut,” thereby encouraging nasal breathing at night; he says this can lower heart rate and may reduce snoring and sleep apnea in some cases.
Different breathing techniques can be “right” depending on the goal—baseline efficiency vs controlled stress exposure.
He says slow, rhythmic, light nasal breathing is best for most of the day, but practices that deliberately “over-breathe” (like Wim Hof/Tummo-type approaches) can be useful when done briefly as controlled, focused stress—analogous to interval training.
Breathwork is framed as a tool for converting uncontrolled stress into controlled, trainable stress responses.
He argues that chronic, low-grade stress is harmful, while periodic, controlled stress can be beneficial; he suggests breathwork can serve as a “pressure release valve” to help people recognize stress sensations and turn them off.
Breathing changes are portrayed as quickly measurable in the body (and reflected in the brain).
He describes using pulse oximeters, heart-rate-variability monitors, and blood pressure readings to show rapid changes from breathing; he also says EEG patterns change with slow rhythmic breathing and that clearer thinking can result from improved efficiency.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesWhen we mouth breathe, our lungs become an external organ.
— James Nestor
The only thing it's really doing is that it's training your mouth to be shut.
— James Nestor
So who's right? And they're both right, is what I learned. It just depends on what you wanna get out of your breath.
— James Nestor
It's like this IV drip of stress throughout the day, and you can see that in what this has done to our health.
— James Nestor
What I like about breathing so much is it's free. It's available to everybody. You can use it when you want to.
— James Nestor
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SPEAKERS
James Nestor
guestAuthor and journalist known for reporting on breathing science and breathwork.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
hostMedical doctor and podcast host focused on lifestyle medicine and practical health advice.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
