12/02/2021
Breathing can lead to weight loss?
I was listening to a lecture in my Integrative Nutrition program this week by Dr. Libby Weaver and was astonished by her claim that you can lose weight through breathing.
Where was this information after all the Thanksgiving feasts last week?!
To explain the premise, hang with me through this quick anatomy/neurology lesson so we can get to the interesting stuff:
In our body, we have the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which regulates a lot of the bodily processes that we don't have to think about (heart beat, breathing, digestion, etc). The ANS is divided into two main parts: the sympathetic nervous system (which controls our "fight or flight" response) and our parasympathetic nervous (which brings us back to our resting state).
Here's the crazy part:
Our breathing can actually send messages to our brain about whether to remain in fight or flight response or return to our resting state.
Pause for a moment and take note of your breathing right now.
How far down into your chest are you breathing?
If you watch a baby breathe, they naturally breathe in and out through their nose, causing their belly to rise and fall.
But somewhere along the line, we start to be overcome by stress and anxiety and we tend to only breathe in the upper part of our chest, which results in short and shallow breaths.
As long as we breathe this way, our brain will keep our body in fight or flight mode.
But, get this:
When we take a deep breath that goes all the way down to our stomach (causing it to expand) and let it out in a long, slow exhale, we send a signal to every cell in our body that we are safe and that our body can return to its "rest and digest" state.
You've felt this before, right?
Even one deep breath can start to take away the stress and bring your body more into a calm and relaxed state.
So here's how it ties to our weight:
When our body is in fight or flight mode, it turns to glucose (sugar) as its primary fuel. That's not a bad thing if we have a momentary stressor. But if we stay in a stressed state for an extended period of time, our body starts to worry that it is going to run out of that fuel.
Have you ever fallen prey to stress eating? Part of that may just be us wanting to eat our feelings away. But stress eating is also partially due to our brain causing us to crave sweet foods to replenish our sugar levels so we have enough fuel to escape the danger (our perceived stress).
When we are in that fight or flight state, our body doesn't burn any fat because (unlike sugar) fat is a slow-burn energy. So fat is not as useful in a moment of crisis.
So think about the ramifications of this:
If you or I live in a regular state of stress, our body is going to primarily run off sugar and not burn any fat. If we are wanting to lose weight, our stress is causing our body to fight AGAINST that goal.
BUT when we take deep "belly breaths," we can help our body return to a resting state where it is able to burn up our fat stores as a longer-lasting fuel.
Dr. Weaver tells two stories to illustrate this reality. The first is of a woman who trained for and ran the New York marathon, ate a really healthy diet throughout the process, but ended up gaining 26 lbs during this time because of high stress levels. The second story is of Dr. Weaver herself. She went from one season where she was running miles every day to another where she didn't have time to run because she was leading health retreats filled with tai chi classes and light walks. And yet during this season (where her diet didn't change), she lost weight because she was practicing deep, diaphragmatic breathing every day, giving her body more time in the "rest and digest" state.
So what are the lessons to be learned here?
1. Stress contributes TO weight gain and fights AGAINST weight loss (in many other ways than what I have described here)
2. Practice taking intentional deep breaths throughout your day: Inhale deeply through your nose until your stomach expands and then release it with a long, slow exhale.
Whether it is to lose weight, reduce stress, or to experience more peace in your soul, I hope you will join me in experiencing the many benefits of breathing well!
