Tim Altman - Primal HealthNewstorquay
By Tim Altman 21/05/2019 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 Ways Mouth Breathing Can Cause Fatigue

The Mouth is For Eating, Drinking, Talking, Singing, Kissing, but Only For Breathing in Emergencies – Not All of the Time!!

 

Based on how the anatomy and physiology of our respiratory system is set up, and the biochemical principles that describe how oxygen in the air we inhale in our lungs, most efficiently arrives at the individual cells in our body (via the bloodstream) for energy production (described in intimate detail by ‘The Bohr Effect’, for which Danish biochemist Christian Bohr won a Nobel Prize in 1903), it is beyond question that the nose is specifically designed for breathing. Not the mouth.

Yet, most of us do not realise or understand how important this is. We take our breathing for granted thinking it is fine, yet the vast majority of us over-breathe using our mouth as well as our nose, breathing twice as often as we should (based on medical diagnostic norms) and with far too much volume.

The mouth is for eating, drinking, talking, drinking, kissing, but is only useful for breathing in emergencies. But not breathing.

Your breathing is as, or more important than nutrition for your health and performance, so there are consequences to mouth breathing:

  1. Too much volume of air leads to too little energy – mouth breathing allows up to six times the volume of air to enter our lungs and respiratory system, which seriously upsets the delicate biochemical balance that governs how efficiently we get oxygen to our cells for energy production (mentioned above). If you breathe with your mouth open or with parted lips, you will produce energy far less efficiently and therefore get tired more quickly.
  2. It kicks you into fight or flight mode – when you breathe with your mouth it puts you straight into emergency mode. For example, when someone gives you a fright, you take a big gasp which involves a big mouth breath using the chest and shoulders. This puts you straight into ‘fight or flight’ mode, but is only useful in short bursts. As such, mouth breathing a lot will wear you out. A lot.
  3. You by-pass an incredible air-conditioning process – for respiration to work efficiently, the air reaching the lungs needs to be filtered, disinfected, humidified and heated or cooled. Breathing through the nose does exactly this. The nasal hairs filter the air, the mucus in the nose and sinuses disinfect, humidify and heat or cool the inhaled air. If we by-pass this incredible air conditioning system by mouth breathing we make the lungs work harder, expose ourselves to higher risk of respiratory tract infection, minimise oxygen uptake in our lungs, and reduce energy production.
  4. Much less nitric oxide – nose breathing leads to 50% higher production of nitric oxide than mouth breathing. Nitric oxide acts as a neurotransmitter, immunoregulator and vasodilator, particularly in the gut and lungs. Some of its’ actions include: regulating blood pressure, boosting the immune system, fighting bacteria and viruses, fighting cancer, increasing blood flow to cells, in muscular control and balance, and protecting against cardiovascular disease, impotence, diabetic retinopathy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
  5. Over breathing – nose breathing contributes to over-breathing, or breathing too often as well as with too much volume. The body’s reaction to counter this is either apnoea episodes or constriction and spasm of the smooth muscle surrounding our breathing tubes (this reaction is typical of symptoms seen in asthma and breathing difficulties). Unfortunately this can create a flow on affect and affect other systems in our body serviced by tubes contributing directly to, or predisposing us to a number of ailments: fatigue, asthma and breathing difficulties, snoring and apnoea, headaches and migraines, anxiety, IBS, reflux and other digestive complaints, chronic pain and many more.

Put simply, mouth breathing is far less efficient, and it will make you more tired – and sick. Don’t do it unless it’s an emergency.

Contact me via email tim@timaltman.com.au or phone 0425 739 918 to have your breathing efficiency assessed or to learn how to breath more efficiently to eliminate illness, enhance performance or increase relaxation and wellness.

 

By Tim Altman 08/11/2018 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Latest News, Naturopathy, Testimonials , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Case Study: Anxiety, IBS, Psoriasis and Breathing Dynamics

Can Breathing Retraining Help To Resolve Ailments Such As Anxiety, IBS, Sinusitis and Psoriasis?

Woman – 65 y.o.
Suffering from:
Anxiety – prone to anxiety regularly. Her osteopath (who referred her to me) says that she has an extremely tense body to touch – especially shoulders.
Also IBS < stress. Takes a probiotic daily. Stiffness and pain in neck and shoulders – unable to turn head around without pain. Polymyalgia rheumatica -> discomfort. Arthritis in hands.
Member of weight watchers.
Recently has had lots of sinusitis, and congestion in upper chest/throat.
Gets tired very easily.
Also psoriasis – very itchy.
Read my book on breathing and thinks she over-breathes.
As a 14 y.o. had severe asthma – in children’s hospital for a year. Did postural drainage (was called nervous asthma) and lots of deep bx. No longer has asthma.
Sleep – thinks she bx’s rapidly – almost panic. Thinks it affects sleep. Sometimes has trouble with sleep. Wakes with a dry mouth. Definitely snores. Sleeps on side. Dry mouth in am and during the night. Night time toilet trips – at least 2 per night (for the last 20 years since menopause). No water at night.
Supplements – Magnesium and a probiotic. I suggested also a fish oil (for anti-inflammatory properties, and glucosamine for the arthritis).
Medication – Voltaren cream for arthritis when needed. Previously on steroids for her arthritis, but she discontinued as she gained too much weight.

My thoughts

Looking at her symptom presentation and history, she has a history of issues that can be related to dysfunctional breathing – asthma, sinusitis, anxiety, IBS, poor sleep quality. As such, it is possible that breathing is a major contributor to her current health picture.
Her nutrition is quite good (compared), with very little indication of hypoglycaemia, or fluctuating blood sugar levels, and no clear or significant excesses or deficiencies.
Therefore, correcting her breathing function could go a long way to resolving many of these issues. Her breathing patterns at night; snoring, dry mouth, frequent night time toilet trips, tired in the morning; all indicate mouth breathing whilst she’s sleeping, which is dysfunctional breathing. Linked is an article discussing the importance of breathing for health:

https://timaltman.com.au/breathing-life-death/

As such, I felt the first priority to assess her breathing efficiency using the capnometer – a biofeedback driven technology used in hospitals to monitor whether a patient is breathing, that measures breathing rate and exhaled carbon dioxide (measured as the volume of CO2 in the lungs at the end of exhalation – end tidal carbon dioxide – ETCO2). My blog, linked below, will discuss the importance of ETCO2 as a parameter in measuring breathing efficiency; however, in short, CO2 in our blood stream governs how efficiently we get oxygen (O2) from the air in our lungs, to the cells of our body for energy production (the purpose of respiration). Whilst oxygen is essential for energy production, without CO2 being present in our arterial blood stream, the oxygen would not be able to get to our cells in sufficient quantity. And given there is only 0.03% CO2 in our atmosphere, we must store it to have access to it. Therefore, it could be argued that CO2 is the limiting factor in respiration.
CO2 is a by-product of energy production, so we make it, and whilst some CO2 is available to us in our venous blood supply (as it makes its way to the lungs to be exhaled), there is not enough here for efficient energy production, so we ideally have a store of 6.5% CO2 in our lungs at the end of exhalation (ETCO2), which translates to 40mmHg partial pressure of CO2 as a minimum ideal for efficient respiration, and energy production. This ETCO2 permeates back into our blood stream to allow the O2 to get to our cells.
So, ideal levels on the capnometer for functional breathing, based on medical diagnostic norms, are 8-10 breathes per minute and an ETCO2 of 40mmHg.

https://timaltman.com.au/category/breathing-dynamics/page/3/

This client’s initial base reading was between 13-16 breaths per minute, which is at least roughly 50% higher than the ideal average of 8-10 bpm.
And her ETCO2 was 30.8-32.0mmHg, so around 25% lower than the minimum ideal of 40mmHg.
This suggests that she breathes at 25-50% below what is considered as functional – which is not at all uncommon. But is sufficient that it will definitely result in reduced energy production, and is likely that it will start to result in symptoms in the body.

On further investigation, I also determined that we needed to address both breathing rate and volume in this client.

Treatment

Based on these thoughts and the breathing analysis, her only treatment after this initial session involved retraining her breathing so that she could breathe closer to functional levels at all times, including whilst sleeping.
The objectives of treatment were:
1. Breathe through the nose at all times (unless exercising at high levels).
2. Use the diaphragm at all times.
3. Increase tolerance to elevated CO2 (hypercapnia).
4. Reduce rate and volume of breathing to optimise O2 delivery to cells for energy production and allow dilation of airways, blood vessels, GIT etc.
5. Regulate the autonomic nervous system (via the diaphragm) to increase the parasympathetic (PSNS – relax, rest and digest): sympathetic (SNS – fight or flight) ratio.

This included:
1. Diaphragmatic breathing rhythms that aimed at having her breathe only through her nose, using her diaphragm only (not chest and shoulders) at rhythms designed to retrain her day to day breathing rhythm. 2-3 x 10 minutes each per day.
2. Preventing mouth breathing at night by keeping the tongue at the roof of the mouth, and/or taping the mouth closed at night using 1 inch porous paper tape; i.e. Micropore tape.
3. Practising breath holds to increase the brain’s tolerance to higher CO2 levels which will result in the body accepting lower breathing rate and volume (and therefore more efficient breathing) more permanently. 3-5 per day at least.
I didn’t make any nutritional changes or add any herbs and supplements at this stage as I wanted her to focus on the breathing retraining. Plus I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

Outcome 1 – 3 Weeks Later

She said she is snoring much less, although she didn’t tape her mouth at night as the adhesive on the tape made her itch. She did concentrate on keeping her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she went to bed prior to sleeping. In addition, she did plenty of breathing rhythms and breath holds – at least the specified amount.
Her overall report was:
• Hasn’t had a night time toilet trip since.
• No dry mouth in the morning.
• She feels much better – more energetic. Much less fatigue at 3pm also.
• She also feels much calmer – less anxiety.
• No hyperventilating or feeling panic when going to bed.
• No clenching of her jaw.
• IBS symptoms much better – no cramps, pain, diarrhoea or constipation.
• Her psoriasis hasn’t been itchy at all, and the scabs on her head have mostly cleared up.
• Her arthritis was bad for 3 days last week – she thinks she overdid it with the gardening. It felt better after a warm shower and Voltaren cream.
Overall, I am not surprised to see results given her history of dysfunctional breathing, but these scope of the results were a very pleasant surprise.
I expected to see results with her sleep related symptoms and quality, anxiety, and possibly with energy levels and her IBS symptoms. Linked is an article and video on IBS and breathing.

https://timaltman.com.au/video-theres-far-more-to-healing-the-gut-than-correcting-the-microbiome/

However, I was surprised to see such significant results with her psoriasis. It makes sense that functional breathing can help with psoriasis symptoms, as it will create more vasodilation, and therefore more blood and lymph flow to the scalp; plus the diaphragmatic rhythms will help decrease sympathetic (or fight and flight) nervous system activation and dominance, and therefore improve immune function.
A bonus. But we need to see what happens over time. Will these improvements persist?
Capnometry results were also significantly improved – much closer to functional breathing.
Treatment as is.

Outcome 2 – 7 weeks from the start

A persistence in all improvements from last session.
For example:
• Still no night time toilet trips or dry mouth in the morning.
• Sleep quality is still good, and no snoring.
• Psoriasis nearly all cleared up – she’d had this for 20 years!!
• No jaw clenching.
• Also, significantly reduced tightness and pain in her neck and shoulders – her osteopath (who referred her to me) is amazed.
• IBS stable – no issues.
• No hyperventilation or panic when she goes to bed.
• Definitely calmer, more relaxed and better energy still. She feels quote distant from her worries now – she was in a family situation that would previously have wound her up, and she didn’t care.
She used to have pain in her ribs that musculoskeletal practitioners had said was cartilage damage, but it has cleared up, so it may have been an issue with tightness in her previously underused diaphragm.
She did have a cold for 3 days that blocked her up and she couldn’t nose breathe, which h she did not enjoy. But she was fine once it cleared up.
Her arthritis is still not great on a cold day however.
I advised her to continue with treatment as is, and take a fish oil, glucosamine, and turmeric for her arthritis.

Outcome 3 – 12 Weeks from the start.

Continuation of all improvements experienced thus far, so she’s very happy.
• Still no night time toilet trips – no urgency even on waking. Her husband is shocked.
• Also, still no jaw clenching at night or dry mouth in the am.
• She thinks he psoriasis is gone – only one tiny spot left.
• Still able to turn her neck around, and no pain in shoulders.
• No IBS symptoms – however if she overeats, gut is not happy with her.
The only thing that has not shifted is her arthritis – although this is manageable using Voltaren cream, or the occasional Panadol osteo if it flares up. Unfortunately she didn’t take the glucosamine, and fish oil I recommended.
She has maintained her breathing exercises now for 3 months, and the improvements in symptoms have now continued, so I am confident that her practice will continue and that she has established a pattern of breathing that will continue to yield these results.

It does not take long to see improvements in clients when implementing functional breathing practices, however it takes 3-4 months of continuous practice to make long term change in the way a client breathes. Once this is achieved, improvements in breathing and associated symptoms (with dysfunctional breathing), are likely to stick. In this client’s case, I believe she has reached this point, so she no longer needs to see me.
Whilst we do not see such significant and widespread changes in all clients when retraining their breathing, I do commonly see similar results, so I was very confident of seeing good results with this client, given her history of symptoms and conditions associated with breathing dysfunction.
I am not legally allowed to make claims that breathing retraining will resolve certain ailments, however I can report on how the client presented at each visit and the treatment strategies I implemented. – as I have done in this case. I’ll let you make your own conclusions on whether the treatment strategy was responsible for the change in symptoms.

And, I am very comfortable in saying again I regularly see similar outcomes or improvements by addressing dysfunctional breathing. Not surprising given that most people breathe dysfunctionally, or over-breathe – twice as often as we should, with far too much volume, using mouth and nose (instead of nose only), and using shoulders and chest instead of the diaphragm.

By Tim Altman 23/07/2018 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Naturopathy, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video: Breathing Retraining Provides a Fantastic Natural Solution for Resolving Asthma and Breathing Difficulties

Tim Altman. breathing coach and naturopath (www.timaltman.com.au) discusses some fantastic and simple to learn, natural solutions to asthma, that more often than not, will help you wean off your asthma medication for good.

Most people accept that the medical treatment of asthma using pharmaceutical drugs, such as preventers, relievers and the modern combination medicines of these two, is the only effective way to manage asthma long term.
This is not true.

Research has started to suggest that what is often diagnosed by GP’s as asthma is more likely breathing difficulty (in about 80% of cases). As such, the main pathology in most asthma is to do with dysfunctional breathing.
This is not surprrising given the average person breathes nowhere near what is considered functional, according to medical diagnostic norms. We breathe twice as often as we should, and with far too much volume (meaning that we over breathe), using our mouth and chest/shoulders to breathe, rather than mostly our nose and diaphragm. In fact, when not exercising we should use our nose and diaphragm only.

This over breathing upsets the delicate biochemical balance in our respiratory system that dictates how much oxygen we get from the air we inhale into our lungs to the cells of our body for energy production (the mechanics of which are described by the ‘Bohr Effect’). If we breathe too much, we fail to produce energy efficiently, and the body perceives this as a threat to survival, so it creates constriction and spasm of the tubes that service our lungs and respiratory system to prevent the excessive loss of air; which are the symptoms we see as asthma and breathing difficulty.
As such, whilst we must also address immune hypersensitivity in some cases, the treatment priority needs to be correcting breathing function – eliminating over breathing by retraining the breathing to functional levels, breathing more slowly and with less volume. This will naturally dilate the whole respiratory system and prevent, or make it far less likely that asthma and breathing difficulties will occur at all.

We use biofeedback technology (Capnometry) to assess a person’s breathing, and retrain them using specifically created breathing rhythms that retrain your breathing from the level you are at.
There are other breathing techniques that we can also to facilitate or speed up this process also. For example, we know that a 45 second breath hold will produce roughly the equivalent vasodilation in your lungs as a puff of Ventolin.

I have found that using breathing retaining to treat and prevent asthma to be a simple and easy to learn solution that will give most clients a permanent solution to their asthma and breathing difficulties with a couple of months. It takes practice and some persistence, but it provides a long term solution, that avoids the expense and negative side effects of long term use of medications. The only side effect of breathing retraining, other than being free of symptoms of asthma and breathing difficulties, are that you will feel more relaxed, and have more energy!!

Contact me at tim@timaltman.com.au or 0425 739 918 to make an appointment.
I offer clinical sessions online, or n person in Torquay, Barwon Heads at 13th Beach Health Services – www.13thbeachhealthservices.com.au) and Melbourne.

By Tim Altman 28/06/2018 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Fasting, Latest News, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Nutrition and Weight Loss, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tim Altman Talks Men’s Health @ Surfcoast Wholefoods, Torquay

Free Talk on Men’s Health Issues @ Surfcoast Wholefoods, Torquay

“Men’s Health Issues”

Free Talk by Tim Altman    www.timaltman.com.au

Surfcoast Wholefoods, Monday 9th of July @ 7.30pm – Bookings not necessary.  tim@timaltman.com.au or call 0425 739 918.

Over 20 years of practice these are the main complaints I hear from men, but most suffer in silence.

  • Fatigue, Burn Out or Lack of Joy

  • Stress, Anxiety or are ‘in your head’ a lot

  • Impatience, Irritability or Chronic Pain

  • Difficulty Sleeping or Poor Sleep

  • Breathing and/or Digestive Issues

Using an evolutionary medicine approach based on genetic, anthropological and neuroscience research, I outline simple and easy to implement solutions to this chronic issue by addressing not only nutrition, breathing and exercise, but also how we rest and rejuvenate, process stress, communicate, and find work/life balance.

mickel therapy
By Tim Altman 18/06/2018 Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Performance , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video: Tim Altman Mickel Therapist

The Mickel approach is far from therapy in the commonly known sense. It is an action based technique derived from neuroscience research that teaches people to take their body out of pemanent, internal overdrive (or fight or flight mode) to achieve extraordinary health and performance results – especially with chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue and pain, post viral fatigue, CFS, fibromyalgia, adrenal fatigue, IBS, anxiety, depression, auto-immune conditions, and more, as it addresses the ‘root cause’ of illness higher in the body – specifically, in our hypothalamus and brain. It is also fantastic for eliminating blocks to performance in all fields.

I discuss how the hypothalamus, whose job is homeostasis, or maintaining balance in all automatic functions, ends up in most people, and especially in those with chronic illness, in chronic overdrive. Or, as what is often described as, in permanent ‘fight or flight’ mode of varying degrees. The hypothalamus goes into overdrive because of a breakdown in communication or cooperation (internally) between the two intelligence systems in our bodies – the thinking or rational brain (head mind) and the instinctive, pre-thought emotional brain (body mind) that uses emotions as a call to action to our bodies to deal with any stress or threat to our safety, comfort or happiness.

The unprocessed, or effectively dealt with emotions, become internalised, sending our hypothalamus into overdrive, eventually resulting in symptoms of illness, and syndromes. As such, fatigue and symptoms of illness are described as resulting from suppressed energy, or stuck energy, rather than lack of energy. If it were merely a case of lack of energy, then rest and sleep would fix chronic fatigue – in most cases, we know this is not the case.

This occurs as a result of a severe mismatch between the body we have inherited (from our hunter gatherer ancestors) and the world we have created. Our bodies do what they are adapted for, in a world we have not yet adapted to. This makes us chronically sick, or under-performing, which we then pass on to our children etc. In the modern world, we humans have become supposedly top of the animal kingdom by having highly sophisticated rational, or thinking brain, but we have forgotten how to be an animal – to tune into the messages our body sends us about stress, and threats to our happiness, safety and comfort.

The Mickel approach is an action based technique that uses a potent set of tools to reverse this suppression of emotional communication, or energy, by targeting the day to day patterns, lifestyle, and behaviours that send us into overdrive or ‘fight or flight’ in the first place. I have witnessed many complete recoveries in chronically ill clients who had been ill for many years, and had pretty much tried everything else. It has been very humbling to witness.

And has dramatically changed how I approach my own lifestyle, relationships and how I treat clients. It is also fantastic for performance and optimal living – as well as relationships. Go to www.timaltman.com.au for more information – including some videos by Dr Mickel himself.

By Tim Altman 19/03/2018 Chronic Illness, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

12 Steps To Self Care

12 Steps To Self Care

Self Care is a huge part of what we teach clients through Mickel Therapy, as prolonged periods of putting everyone else first can lead to ill health.

We constantly see clients with illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, IBS, anxiety, depression, and auto-immune illnesses make huge improvements in the severity of their symptoms, very often complete resolution, by learning to make their needs as, or more significant as those of others.

If you would like some help to start treating yourself as you deserve, and repair your health, contact me at  tim@timaltman.com.au.

12 Steps To Self Care

Posted by Power of Positivity on Sunday, 4 June 2017

By Tim Altman 20/12/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Evolutionary Medicine, Performance , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breathing For an ‘Everesting’ Cycle Mission

Article: Roadtripping Everest – www.cyclingtips.com

Linked below is a fantastic article and video by Andy Van-Bergen from www.cyclingtips.com on a road trip he took to base camp at Mt Everest at an altitude of 5,000m to attempt what has now become known in the cycling world as ‘Everesting’ – to climb the equivalent of 8,848m — the height of sea level to the summit of Everest — in one ride.

Andy’s desciption of this task sums it up:

“Doing a regular Everesting is hard enough — 24 hours spent riding up and down the same road is beyond taxing, both physically and mentally — but doing it on the approach to Everest itself would take things to the next level.

The temperature would range between 8 degrees and minus 5, the cold air rolling down the North Face would all but ensure we faced a block headwind as we climbed, and the effect of high altitude would be an unknown factor we would struggle to simulate and prepare for. After all, there was no precedent for endurance cycling at high altitude that we could find.

In short, it was clear that we had found ourselves an adventure.”

As a part of their preparation they trained regularly at Melbourne Altitude Training using the Wattbike-equipped altitude chamber which replaced oxygen with nitrogen, as well as adjusting humidity to simulate a height of 5,000m (at 11.5% O2).

It was via Oz Begen of the Melbourne Altitude Training that I met Andy and Matilda (two of the three cyclists attempting this gruelling and pioneering task).

Training at altitude has benefits of helping the body acclimatise to low oxygen environments, making it more efficient at taking up oxygen into the bloodstream. At lower altitude the body then maintains this increase efficiency at up-taking oxygen into the bloodstream for a period of time. Athletes from many sports have found benefits using altitude training over the years, and many research studies have validated these benefits. In fact, many professional athletes and clubs have invested in altitude training facilities at their training venues.

However, whilst increasing blood saturation of oxygen certainly has benefits, being able to deliver the oxygen into the blood stream more efficiently will further increase these benefits – and this is where breathing retraining comes in.

I had only 2 weeks to train with Andy and Matilda, so I couldn’t teach them to effectively nose and diaphragm breathe whilst riding at higher levels of intensity, however I could teach them techniques that would facilitate their recovery and help them relax.

The diaphragmatic breathing rhythms using the nose help athletes to return to resting heart rate more quickly after exertion (so they can exert again sooner, and/or more efficiently when they do exert again). In addition they help to use more of the lung volume for gas exchange, deliver oxygen to the cells for energy production more efficiently (which also means they delay lactic acid production), and relax the nervous system, increasing parasympathetic nervous system enervation.

Whilst the mission they undertook proved too difficult, the techniques learned did help them out along the way. Here are a few excerpts from the article illustrating the training and benefits:

“We also used the sessions to work on our strength and recovery breathing techniques with our respiration coach Tim Altman. The recovery breathing felt like a structured version of meditation, with a simple 5 second inhale, 2 second hold, 10 second exhale. It took a few minutes to get on top of following an effort, but was calming and relaxing.

The strength training to build lung capacity was genuinely terrifying in whatever form it took, and there were many forms. While riding at altitude in the chamber we would perform 10 second maximum effort sprints while clamping our nose and mouth shut. We were given ten seconds recovery, followed by another 10 second sprint and so on for blocks of two minutes. Usually by the third or fourth rep things were far beyond uncomfortable. These blocks were then finished with a coached breath hold. At around the one-minute mark convulsions would start to set in, and all the while Tim was gently telling us to fight through it.”

“The training certainly seemed to help. A few weeks in and I was feeling stronger than I had in years. I was on every supplement known to man (well, the legal ones anyway), the respiration coaching we’d been doing with Tim Altman was finally starting to kick in, and I even scheduled in a Zwift ‘virtual Everesting’ before we were due to leave. I felt as prepared as I could, considering I had no idea what to expect.”

“Walking up the gangway while lugging 20kg of ‘carry on’ a strange sensation of dizziness and the sound of rushing blood in my ears combined with a noticeable breathlessness. We shot each other panicked looks. Gone was the banter, replaced by fear. As we stood waiting for our bags we reminded each other that a big part of this initial feeling could be attributed to anxiety, and we knew from our training that this could be controlled with our breathing. Sure enough, in the time it took to arrive at the hotel we were on top of things again, and had almost forgotten about the altitude. This was to be the pattern we’d follow for the next two weeks. A seed of a thought could easily grow into breathless anxiety, only to be controlled with breathing.”

“Tim Altman’s respiratory recovery came to mind. I flipped on some jazz, closed my eyes, and spent the next ten minutes performing breathing exercises. I wasn’t back above 80%, but I felt like a different person, and it only took one mention of the switchbacked descent to come to have me out on the bike again.”

It’s a enthralling read and a fantastic video, scenery is simply breathtaking. I highly recommend you both read and watch. And huge thumbs up to Andy, Matilda, Shannon and the team for attempting such a monumental, unchartered challenge. Super impressive. What an adventure.

If you would like to learn more about breathing for sporting performance, relaxation, health and well-being, or assisting in acclimatisation to altitude, then feel free to email me at tim@timaltman.com.au or call +61 425 739 918.

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/12/roadtripping-everest/

By Tim Altman 23/11/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Nutrition and Weight Loss, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Evolutionary Biology and Mismatch Diseases

The Story of the Human Body – Evolution, Health and Disease.

Evolutionary biologist, Daniel Lieberman in his book ‘The Story of the Human Body’ suggested that medicine could benefit from a dose of evolution. Whilst evolution may appear irrelevant to medicine at first glance, our body is not engineered like a car; rather it evolved over time with modification. It therefore follows that knowing your body’s evolutionary history helps us understand why your body looks and works as it does, hence why you get sick.

Although scientific fields such as physiology and biochemistry can help us understand the proximate mechanisms that underlie a disease, evolutionary medicine helps us make sense of why the disease occurs in the first place.

Over time, natural selection adapts (matches) organisms to particular environmental conditions and this process occurs over tens of thousands of years. Research suggested that it takes 40,000 to 100,000 years for an environmental change to assimilated (genetically) by the body.

However, as innovation has accelerated, initially since farming began (approximately 2,000 to 10,000 years ago), and especially over the last few hundred years as a result of the industrial and technological revolutions, we have devised or adopted a growing list of novel cultural practices that have conflicting effects on our bodies. Many of these cultural changes have altered interactions between our genes and our environments in ways that contribute to a wide range of health problems known as mismatch diseases – which are defined as diseases that result from our Paleolithic bodies being poorly or inadequately adapted to certain modern behaviours and conditions.

Most mismatch diseases occur when a common stimulus either increases or decreases beyond levels for which the body is adapted, or when the body is not adapted for it at all. Moreover a common characteristic of these diseases, is that they occur from interactions whose cause and effect are not immediate or otherwise obvious. And most of these mismatch diseases are ailments that, as far as we can tell, were rare in our Paleolithic ancestors.

In other words, we get sick because we do what we evolved to do in an environment to which we have not adapted, and then pass these habits and illnesses onto future generations, who also get sick..

Hypothesised mismatch diseases account for a vast majority of deaths in the modern Western World. These are the chronic, insidious onset ailments that include heart disease, cancers (some), stroke, diabetes (Type II), obesity, chronic  respiratory conditions, cavities, apnoea, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ADHD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, IBS/Crohn’s disease, OCD, hypertension Alzheimer’s disease to name a few.

Following this understanding, it makes sense that in preventing and treating these mismatch diseases, we apply what is understood of how we lived and therefore, how our bodies are structured to function ideally.

The aspects of living that most impact our health include:

  • Nutrition
  • How we move and stabilise
  • Breathing
  • Sleep
  • How we think and emote – which influences how we process stress (which subsequently affects all other aspects of living).

This is the primary influence or core philosophy in my approach to treatment and prevention of disease, performance and optimal living. Using what understanding we have of how we performed these aspects of living as we were evolving and applying this in an approach to treatment or living can yield outstanding and life changing results. And, over time, it reduces or eliminates the need or reliance on synthetic or artificial medicines.

Further, the use of accurate and reliable biofeedback to provide information on the efficiency that one is achieving in performing these aspects of living, makes learning much easier and more rapid.

Finally, the use of pure extracts as medicines and supplements, where necessary, provide the perfect balance. As opposed to manufactures and synthetic, or new to nature, pharmaceuticals and supplements, pure extract herbs and nutritional medicines exist in the form that our bodies were exposed to them over millions of years and are therefore far more easily assimilated, or are more bio-available than artificial chemicals and lead to no side effects as a result.

Modalities used to bring about recoveries from these chronic illnesses include:

  1. Mickel Therapy – which addresses imbalance at higher levels – specifically, the hypothalamus which regulates all automatic functions, endocrine function, immune, cognitive function, sleep cycles, neurotransmitters etc.
  2. Nutritional medicine
  3. Breathing retraining
  4. Therapeutic fasting
  5. Herbal medicine

The more we begin to understand how nature has adapted us to live and living our lives in accord with this, and using foods and medicines provided to us by nature throughout our evolutionary history, the more we will shift the focus of medicine from treatment to prevention and optimal living.

By Tim Altman 07/11/2017 Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Naturopathy, Nutrition and Weight Loss, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Nasty Side-Effects of Too Much Sugar

What Sugar Does To Your Body and Brain

I’ll let this image do the talking for itself, other than to say that all of the nutritional programs I run focus on moderating sugar intake and regulating blood sugar levels – be they programs for energy and vitality; optimal wellness; weight loss; weight gain; fasting; intermittent fasting; detox; performance; boosting the immune system; ketogenic programs; paleo; elimination diets; FODMAP etc. etc.

I have found after close to 20 years of doing clinic and askingmost clients their average daily diet, that very few people actually regulate their blood sugar levels well, or at all. This includes many apparently ‘healthy’ people who eat organic foods etc.

Regulating blood sugar levels does the following:

  • Allows the cells to produce energy more efficiently.
  • Eliminates insulin resistance.
  • Reduces inflammation.
  • Regulates other hormones.
  • Detoxes your system.
  • Improves your immune system.
  • Mobilises the body to burn fat for energy – so you can lose weight more easily.
  • Prevents and treats many chronic illnesses – diabetes Types I & II, fatigue, hormonal issues, heart disease, stroke, gastro-intestinal problems, headaches and migraines, sleep disturbance etc.

If you’d like to learn how to regulate you blood sugar levels and function so much better,contact me at tim@timaltman.com.au or 0425 739 918 for an appointment.

 

Sugar Side-Effects

By Tim Altman 04/08/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Latest News, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Nutrition and Weight Loss, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How You Deal With Stress is the Number One Contributor to Your Mortality

Our Cortisol Slope, via Our Relationship to Stress, is The Greatest Predictor of Total Mortality

A fascinating video (linked at the bottom) from Food Matters TV during their recent Sleep and Stress Online Event chatting with Dr Alan Chritianson discussing the relationship with stress and mortality and highlighted some findings from the Whitehall II study in the UK, which revealed that for cardiovascular mortality, cigarette smoking was the number one predictor of mortality, with cortisol slope (via our relationship to stress) following closely behind. They also compares these with the usual health metrics such as exercise levels, blood pressure, cholesterol levels etc. etc.

Yet, for overall mortality, cortisol slope was the highest predictor of mortality.

The implications for this on how to prioritise your health incentives are huge – Dr Christianson, said these results hit him like a tonne of bricks. You could be a non smoker, non-alcohol drinking, clean food eating, exercise loving health nut, yet if your relationship with stress, or how you deal with stress is dysfunctional, it could make you ill or kill you quicker than a smoking, drinking, junk food eating couch potato who doesn’t get overly stressed too much. That sucks!!

These results basically suggest that, whilst it is important to focus on our nutrition, exercise, alcohol consumption, eliminating cigarette smoking etc. for our health, we should make how we deal with stress our number one priority.

Fortunately, two of the modalities I use with clients focus one exactly that.

  1. Diaphragmatic breathing – of all of the automatic functions that our body performs, breathing is the only one that we can consciously control, with ease. And the same nervous system that regulates our automatic functions (including breathing), the autonomic nervous system (ANS), is also the same nervous system that regulates stress. Moreover, most of us breathe in emergency mode, far too quickly, with an exhale to inhale ratio that is out of whack, so we end up in permanent emergency mode, or ‘fight or flight’ functioning. By learning how to diaphragm breathe in certain rhythms, we can get out of emergency, or ‘fight or flight’ mode, and restore a nervous system that is more restful and relaxed, than it is on the go.
  2. Mickel Therapy – this technique, which is far from therapy as you might think of it, is an ‘action based’ technique that focuses on restoring harmony and optimal function to the ‘hypothalamus’ gland in our brain stem, which is the gland responsible for regulating the function or our autonomic nervous system, and therefore our stress response, all automatic and endocrine gland functions of our body, our immune system, our sleep cycles, neurotransmitter levels and many other bodily functions. It is like the ‘general’ of our bodily functions and it’s job is to maintain homeostasis, or efficient, healthy functioning of our body. It is also like a link between our brain and our body. A healthy relationship with stress requires, at the highest levels of our functioning (in our brain) a healthy relationship between our instinctive, emotional brain (which registers threats to our system and, therefore, stress) and our thinking, or rational brain (which, ideally, interprets the signals of stress sent by the emotional brain, negative emotions, and creates actions to deal with them). This allows us to functionally deal with stress as it arises. However, we ‘modern’ humans have created a huge mismatch between the bodies we have inherited (from our hunter gatherer ancestors) and the culture we have created, and this mismatch leads this healthy relationship in our brain between our instinctive emotions and our thinking, to break down. The result being that rather than dealing with stress functionally, most of us, most of the time, suppress it; and the hypothalamus is the gland in the body that first deals with this suppressed stress, causing it to go into overdrive. The follow on effect of this is that homeostasis within our body is upset and our automatic functions start to go into emergency mode, resulting often in symptoms of acute and/or chronic illness.

Hopefully these explanations may shed some light on why our relationship to stress is the number one predictor of overall mortality.

If you would like to explore using these modalities to improve your relationship with stress, overcome any chronic illness that you believe stress may play a role in (CFS, Fibromylagia, IBS, Anxiety/Depression, Auto-Immune etc), or you would like to explore increasing your quality of life, or the duration between now and your inevitable mortality :-), then contact me via tim@timaltman.com.au or call 0425 739 918.

https://www.facebook.com/foodmatters/videos/10154761999126570/

 

By Tim Altman 01/08/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Nutrition and Weight Loss, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Scientists Suggest A Possible Blood Test Diagnosis for CFS

Article: ‘Yuppie flu’ an inflammatory disease which blood test could easily diagnose, say scientists.’

The article above (and linked below) by science editor of the Telegraph newspaper in the UK, Sarah Knapton suggests that:

“Chronic fatigue syndrome is an inflammatory disease which could soon be diagnosed through a simple blood test, scientists have said.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine discovered that people suffering the symptoms of CFS show spikes in 17 proteins produced by the immune system. The bigger the rises, the more severe the condition.”

Given that diagnosis of CFS, Fibomyalgia, ME, Post Viral Syndrome, Adrenal Fatigue (or whatever name you choose to label it) has always been so difficult to diagnose (in fact, it is a diagnosed by exclusion, meaning that everything else yielding similar symptoms that can be diagnosed via a number of tests is ruled out), this is great news.

The failure, or difficulty in diagnosis of CFS, and therefore the failure to recognise this condition as an actual, or legitimate illness by much of the medical community, and the general public, has led to untold suffering and frustration over extended periods of time for those unfortunate enough to live with this illness.

Knapton says: “But for decades the illness was largely dismissed by skeptics as ‘yuppie flu’ because no cause could be found.”

So often clients present to doctors and health practitioners feeling extremely helpless, frustrated and depressed, and to have the medical professional offer them anti-depressants as the only, or main solution, is extremely offensive, and frequently exacerbates their feeling of helplessness, frustration and depression.

So, the news that this condition may be diagnosed via a blood test in the future is very positive.

However, I remain very wary about being overly optimistic as, whilst a faster and simple diagnosis may lead to more universal acceptance of this illness, which is extremely positive, it is highly unlikely to remove the sense of helplessness and depression sufferers feel as the diagnosis as an inflammatory illness will not make conventional medicine and science any more capable of providing a cure or treatment solution.

The mainstream medical approach, by and large, merely palliates inflammatory ailments (also including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity etc.) rather than eliminating or curing them. And, the anti-inflammatory drugs used invariably result in a myriad of side effects that can be as uncomfortable as the original, condition itself.

To create an effective treatment, or a cure, we need to take a step back from biochemistry and pharmacology, and look at what causes these conditions in the first place. And the answer lies more in genetics and anthropology.

Evolution takes a long, long time. In fact, research suggests it takes 40-100,000 years for a change in our environment to be fully assimilated by our bodies. What this means is that the body we have inherited is that of our hunter gatherer ancestors some 40,000 years ago, or more. In short, our body still thinks we are wandering the bush.

We were built to eat food directly from the source, exercise a lot in order to survive, live in social, supportive tribal settings where our only biological needs were to stay safe, comfortable, fed and happy. We did not live in isolated family homes, watching screens for entertainment, sit a lot, eat highly processed foods with as many chemicals as nutrients, have expectations to succeed, earn large incomes, have mortgages, or spend most of our day working. In fact, research has suggested the average hunter gatherer culture worked only 15-25 hours per week (hunting and gathering). The rest spent in leisure, or family/tribe time.

We have developed our culture so quickly, that we have created a mismatch between the body we have inherited and the culture we have created. Address and rectify the mismatch, and the biochemistry and physiology of the body will be optimised, and the body will return to ideal health. It’s that simple, yet it requires a thorough approach.

My favourite quote, that beautifully summarises this dilemma is as follows:

“We didn’t evolve to be healthy, but instead we were selected to have as many offspring as possible under diverse, challenging conditions. As a consequence, we never evolved to make rational choices about what to eat or how to exercise in conditions of abundance or comfort. What’s more, interactions between the bodies we inherited, the environment we create, and the decisions we sometimes make have set in motion an insidious feedback loop. We get sick from chronic diseases by doing what we evolved to do but under conditions for which our bodies are poorly adapted, and we then pass on those same conditions to our children, who also then get sick. If we wish to halt this vicious circle then we need to figure out how to respectfully and sensibly nudge, push and sometimes oblige ourselves to eat foods that promote health and to be more physically active. That too, is what we evolved to do.” Daniel Lieberman, ‘The Story of the Human Body. Evolution, Health & Disease.’

My complete recovery from CFS over 20 years was achieved by this approach. That is, addressing the factors of living that influence our health and performance, and comparing how we we’re built to perform these, with how we actually do it nowadays. This process oriented approach was extremely thorough, and yielded a permanent outcome, that far better than I believed could have been possible (prior to treatment). In fact, I became far healthier than I ever was prior; and continue to be so. Exploration of the upper limits of health and performance have been a focus for myself and many clients ever since.

Subsequently, my approach to clinic work, specialising in CFS has also focused on this methodology. In treating a client, I aim to correct any imbalance in the following aspects of living, that then restore the person back to full health. I have found this approach far more effective than a reactive approach aimed out eliminating individual symptoms, or an approach using product to attend to theoretical deficiencies. The modalities I use include:

  1. How we process stress via the hypothalamus addressing the relationship between our rational, thinking brain and our instinctive, emotional brain via Mickel Therapy. This technique has been incredibly potent in yielding complete resolutions as it addresses the highest or root cause of chronic illness.

    mickel therapy

  2. How we eat and drink based on our understanding of how our hunter gatherer ancestors ate and drank.

  3. How we breathe – via Breathing Dynamics. Most people do not realise that we invariably over breathe (too often and too much volume) compared to how we should (or what we are built for). And this affects not only our energy production, but a number of other functions throughout the body.

  4. How we rest and rejuvenate – via relaxation, meditation, sauna therapy, detox/fasting etc.

  5. How we sleep.

  6. Also using herbs as medicines.

If you suffer from CFS, fibromyalgia, post viral syndrome, ME, adrenal fatigue, IBS, anxiety, depression or any other chronic ailment and would like to be free of it, feel free to book in the calendar on this website, or email tim@timaltman.com.au.

Or, if you have any further questions, please call +61 425 739 918.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/07/31/yuppie-flu-inflammatory-disease-blood-test-could-easily-diagnose/

 

 

By Tim Altman 16/07/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Testimonials , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breathing Interview – ABC Radio National ‘Saturday Afternoon’

Recently I was interviewed on the subject of breathing for health and well-being by a former client, Joel Spry, who overcame IBS and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), on his Saturday afternoon session on ABC Radio National.

We combined breathing retraining techniques and Mickel Therapy to treat Joel, and he applied everything with openness and enthusiasm (along with some trepidation initially, which is expected), and fully earned the full recovery he achieved.

It was a pleasure to work with a client who was very inspiring in his openness and application to his treatment.

And now he is working on national radio!! Woohoo.

No stopping Joel now.

Here is the interview..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsDO1umJLfA&spfreload=10

By Tim Altman 04/05/2017 Chronic Illness, Evolutionary Medicine, Mickel Therapy, Naturopathy, Performance , , , , , , , , , , ,

There is a Cure for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – CFS, ME, Fibromyalgia, Adrenal Fatigue

The Cure For CFS is Mickel Therapy

I’m going to keep this blog brief.

Linked (below) is a page from the Victorian Government ‘Better Health Channel’.

I have grabbed a section from this page and pasted it here:

“Scientists are starting to understand the biological causes of ME/CFS, although they have not yet found a prevention or cure. Genes appear to be a factor in many cases.”

Other medical and government pages state that ‘there is no cure for CFS, ME etc. etc.”

This is universally accepted in the medical community.

I have only 3 thing to say about this:

BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT

They may not have a cure with their approach or their paradigm, however there is a cure, and I have witnessed it many times now in clients.       The solution lies in finding a completely different approach to the medical/natural medicine approach. A different paradigm in fact, which involves investigating the ‘root cause’ of chronic illnesses like CFS, ME, fibromyalgia etc. at higher levels than where the symptoms show up – that is, going to the level of the brain stem that regulates all automatic bodily functions. The hypothalamus. By rectifying a dysfunctional hypothalamus (one in overdrive), the body finds it’s own way to health.

To be specific, by cure I mean a complete removal of symptoms.                                                                                                                           These sound like strong, fighting words, and when I first investigated Mickel Therapy, whilst it made sooo much sense, I didn’t entirely believe. I sounded too good to be true. However, my experience as a practitioner once I started using Mickel Therapy surprised me in ways I hadn’t dared to imagine. Based on my education in the medical paradigms, I did not believe that any technique could yield such potent results.                         It is not often in this world that we are left both speechless (despite what Facebook says) and very pleasantly surprised. That has been my experience since incorporating this technique. I have guided and witnessed multiple complete recoveries or ‘cures’ from a range of chronic illnesses, including:

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), ME, Fibromyalgia, Adrenal Fatigue, Post Viral Fatigue.
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  • Anxiety/Depression
  • Chronic Pain – including arthritic.
  • Auto-Immune Conditions.
  • It is alse fantastic for removing blockages to performance and happiness.

Enough talk.

There is a cure for CFS. Just because the medicos haven’t seen it or researched it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!!

Go to the Mickel Therapy tab on my website, watch the videos by Dr Mickel.

Feel free to call me on 0425 739 918 to discuss. I’ll even send you Dr Mickel’s book for free.

It also works equally as effectively via Skype or phone if you live remotely.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-cfs

 

 

 

By Tim Altman 24/02/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Chronic Illness, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , ,

Breathing Dynamics Solutions for Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

Breathing Dynamics for the Treatment and Prevention of Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

Snoring is the resultant sound caused by vibration of respiratory structures (usually the uvula and soft palate) due to obstructed air movement during breathing whilst sleeping. The blockage in the airways can be due to a number of reasons:

  • Obesity – fat gathering in and around the throat.
  • Dental Reasons – mispositioned jaw, caused by tension in the muscles.
  • Alcohol or drugs relaxing throat muscles.
  • Throat weakness – causing it to close during sleep.
  • Nasal passage and sinus obstruction.
  • Obstructive sleep apnoea – indeed snoring can be one of the first symptoms or signs of sleep apnoea in a person, and is almost always present in sleep apnoea.
  • Sleeping on the back – leading to the tongue dropping to the back of the mouth.
  • The tissues at the top of the airways touching each other.

Whilst incidences of snoring can vary, it is estimated that at least 30% of adults snore.

The impact of snoring occurs both for the snorer and those who sleep with or near them. The impact can include sleep deprivation, daytime drowsiness, lack of energy and focus, irritability, decreased libido and potential psychological problems.

Research on snoring has confirmed an association or correlation of snoring with a number of diseases, including:

  • A correlation between loud snoring and increased risk of heart attack (+34%) and stroke (+67%).
  • Development of carotid artery atherosclerosis (due to turbulence in the artery closes to the airways).
  • Risk of brain damage.
  • Significant improvement of marital relations following correction of snoring.
  • Treatment of Snoring
  • Treatment options for snoring are varied and can depend on the believed causative factor. All treatments focus on clearing the blockage in the breathing passage. Treatments range from:
  • Weight loss
  • Cessation of smoking.
  • Reduction of alcohol consumption.
  • Having patients sleep on their side.
  • Over the counter aids – nasal sprays, nasal strips, nose clips, lubricating sprays, anti-snore pillows and clothing.
  • Dental appliances – splints (mandibular advancement splints – are far more compliant than CPAP machines).
  • The Pillar Procedure – surgical insertion of strips to strengthen the soft palate.
  • CPAP machines – continuous positive airway pressure machines – mainly for sleep apnoea. Is quite invasive as it requires wearing a mask and having a machine beside the bed (that can be noisy). Compliance is as low as 13%.
  • Surgery – i.e. removal of tissue in the back of the throat (although this involves risks of side effects, including scarring), or turbinate coblation (removing obstruction caused by enlarged turbinates in the nose).
  • Pharmaceuticals drugs or herbal preparations.

Breathing Retraining to Prevent and Treat Snoring

Note: it is recommended you read the previous blogs on breathing,  nose breathing and the Bohr Effect, relevant to snoring on this website prior to reading this section, as the following is a simplified summary based on a knowledge of this theory.

The Breathing Dynamics approach to snoring addresses an aspect that is prevalent in most snorers. That is mouth breathing at night.

Up to 6 times the volume of air can travel in and out of the mouth compared to the nostrils. Given the anatomical, physiological and biochemical make-up of our respiratory system is designed for us to breathe through our nose, the increased volume of air flow experienced during mouth breathing can not only increase the air flow in the throat and likelihood that any obstruction or loose tissue will rattle, it can seriously upset our blood chemistry and reduce delivery of oxygen from our arterial blood to our cells for energy production (based on ‘The Bohr Effect’) and lead to smooth muscle constriction or spasm in the respiratory, circulatory, lymphatic, urinary and digestive systems (any systems that involve tubes). This can obviously lead to a number of symptoms throughout the body.

In addition, in normal breathing (according to diagnostic norms), not only should you breathe through the nostrils only, your tongue should rest at the roof of the mouth, preventing it from falling to the floor of the mouth and obstructing the throat (as is often the case during mouth breathing). An obstructed throat at night can or will usually results in snoring. When you breathe through your nose, with your mouth closed, your tongue will naturally sit at the roof of your mouth.

The objective in breathing retraining is to:

  1. Ensure that the mouth is closed at night – there are a number of techniques to achieve this, sometimes initially involving the use of other techniques or interventions such as dental splints or retrainers (especially if there is obstruction due to the positioning of the mandible) in addition to our techniques, but, over time, this can become habitual.

  2. Retrain the person to habitually breathe at all times using the nose, not the mouth. This second aspect takes time and requires the use of breath hold techniques to increase the body’s tolerance to elevated CO2 levels (as are seen when breathing through the nose and with patterns that promote breathing at the right rate and volumes) and CapnoTrainer biofeedback technology to retrain functional breathing patterns that will have your body become more comfortable with nose breathing and slower breathing rates with reduce volumes of air flow.

Once your body becomes more used to breathing with mouth closed (except when eating or talking/singing), and with reduced air flow and breathing rate, this eventually becomes more habitual.

To book in for a consultation to see Tim regarding the use of Breathing Dynamics to prevent or treat asthma, email Tim or call 0425 739 918.

Alternatively, the Breathing Dynamics for snoring and subsequent breathing retraining techniques and rhythm development can be purchased via the shop section of this website.

By Tim Altman 23/02/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Performance , , , , , , , ,

Advanced Breathing: The Last Unchartered Frontier of Sporting Performance

Breathing Dynamics for Sporting Performance

Benefits derived from optimal breathing during exercise:

  • Greater surface area of lungs used for gas exchange.

  • Increased oxygen delivery to cells.

  • Delayed lactic acid onset.

  • Enhanced buffering of lactic acid (via bicarbonate derived from CO2)

  • Reduced heart and breathing rates.

  • Increased relaxation.

  • Greater access to ‘alpha’ or ‘zone’ states.

  • Greater postural stability and potential injury prevention via diaphragm and deep system stabilization.

The Bohr Effect states that the lower the partial pressure of CO2 in arterial blood, the tighter the bond between haemoglobin and oxygen (and subsequently less O2 is released to cells).
As a result of less O2 delivery, cells produce less energy. And, during exercise, lactic acid is produced  more plentifully and quickly.

In addition, CO2 is necessary for the production of bicarbonate ions which buffer the affect of lactic acid on blood pH. If CO2 levels are low this does not occur as effectively. Arterial CO2 levels are lowered as a consequence of over breathing or mouth breathing. Our respiratory system is designed for us to breathe primarily through our noses. Mouth breathing is far less efficient in that requires more energy, and higher breathing and heart rates to deliver sufficient oxygen to cells. Mouth breathing serves as an emergency mechanism to acute stress or if our nose becomes blocked. It is not designed to be our principal method of respiration.

Learned behaviors (as a response to stressors) and a lack of understanding have led us to mouth breathe (or over breathe) not only during exercise, but also in most of our day to day functioning. Consequently, our bodies become used to lower levels of arterial CO2 and we develop a breathing pattern that is elevated in rate and volume, and uses mostly our chest and shoulders rather than our diaphragm (meaning that we do not necessarily fill our whole lungs).
The result of this ‘over breathing’ pattern is that our cells receive a reduced level of O2 from our breathing and arterial blood and our body creates a range of adaptive mechanisms designed to reduce CO2 loss (and resultant reduced arterial CO2) that may include smooth muscle constriction or spasm, apnoea or excessive mucous production.
In addition, over breathing creates or exacerbates an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system, specifically between our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Over breathing (or mouth breathing) leads us to be sympathetic nervous system dominant or perpetually in fight or flight mode rather than being able to draw on either this or a more relaxed mode of functioning (via the parasympathetic nervous system) as desired during exercise. If not balanced or moderated over time, this sympathetic nervous system dominance or ‘fight or flight’ mode of functioning can become extremely debilitating to our bodies.

The balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems during exercise will allow us to attain ‘zone’ like or ‘alpha’ even at high level exertion, such as in competition. This ‘zone’ or ‘alpha’ state allows us to be super relaxed and quietens our mental chatter during exercise or performance.

The objectives of Breathing Dynamics for sports performance training include:

  1. Nose breathing at all times.

  2. Building tolerance to hypercapnia (elevated CO2 )

  3. Developing diaphragmatic strength

  4. Creating a breathing rhythm with reduced breathing rate and volume

The exercises take time to learn, but you will learn to exercise whilst breathing using nose only, driving breathing using the diaphragm and with lower heart rates and breathing rates at most levels of exercise intensity.

I coach athletes to nose and diaphragm breathe whilst performing their sport or during recovery phases either one on one, or in groups. Contact me to set up a time to make a difference in your performance.

By Tim Altman 17/02/2017 Breathing Dynamics, Performance, Sleep Enhancement , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video: A 3 Minute Diaphragmatic Breathing Bodyhack to Relax and Recharge

An example of a 3 minute diaphragmatic breathing rhythm session to show how you can switch your nervous system from constant low level fight or flight into complete relaxation in a very short amount of time. It feels fantastic and is the only automatic bodily function that we can consciously control quite easily, so it is a way of regulating the same nervous system that regulates our response to stress – the autonomic nervous system (ANS). And all other automatic functions – digestion, metabolism, elimination, detox, immune, all endocrine glands, mood, sleep cycles etc. etc. As such, it allows you to give your body a profound, internal rest and recharge as often as you want 🙂

 

By Tim Altman 23/01/2015 Latest News , , , ,

February 2015 Detox and Juice Fast

 

Starting in early February I will be offering a group (or individual) juice fast and/or clean food driven detox as a way of eliminating the toxins accumulated throughout 2014 and the festive season, and cleansing from the inside out to improve energy levels, digestive function, mental clarity, sleep quality and the immune system to prevent the 2015 winter colds and flus and spring hayfever – amongst other benefits.

There will be 5 different juice fast or clean food driven detox options offered.

I will monitor all participants along the way, including using Bio-Impedance testing which will offer measures of biologocal age, cellular energy production, toxicity and inflammation levels and muscle and fat mass levels.

As an introduction, I will be offering a free talk at Surfcoast Wholefoods on Thursday 29th January at 7pm, where I will discuss the benefits of fasting and outline  all of the details of the 5 fast or detox options. And the differences between each option.

Give your body a fresh start and a head start for 2015. It will love you!!

Below is a testimonial from a client who has previously conducted my longest juice fast on offer.

 

“I would absolutely recommend to anyone to do the 2 week fast followed by the 4 week detox which Tim recommends and supports you through.

You must be mentally prepared. Fasting is not an easy challenge, it is breaking all habits and living a very clean and simple life with minimum intake. Fast = juicing + herbal teals…THAT IS IT for 2 weeks!!!

Therefore some days are extremely tough and you just want to throw it all in…however you get past day 3, coffee cravings have gone as have the thirst for wine!

Day 4 is onward and upwards. Certainly not the energy you are use to but a lighter feeling indeed and not just because you are losing weight (which was not the reason I signed up to do this!!) but there is a sense of feeling very clean…cleansed!

Fast is finally over and onto the detox program, reintroducing simple, fresh, raw foods. Eating small meals, regularly. Not too dissimilar to the way I was eating but no wine, less socialising but a great new outlook on life.

My new outlook was you can socialise without food, without alcohol. You can sit around a pot of herbal tea of veggie meal and have an amazing time with your friends.

The process was to cleanse my body, which it did, then reintroduce whole foods which I did, and gradually bring back meat, poultry, fish, etc.

My partner and I did this together, his support was crucial, very much leant on each other. We didn’t exercise throughout the fast for obvious reasons, but once we started getting our energy back from our food intake we had healthy minds and so much energy. We achieved so much personally and physically throughout this program.

We met Tim weekly and had our tests done, I decreased weight, lost necessary fluids, lost inches and gained my youth. I am 33 years of age and came out as a 29 year old!! Got to love that.

Tim would talk us through the different stages, the feelings we were having, encourage us when we were at a low and reassured us we were on the right track.

Tim has been through the fast/detox many times and can help you through the feelings of doubt and can share the celebrations at the end of each week’s measurements.

Almost 3 months on and I still very much feel the benefit of the program.

My mind is clearer, I don’t feel the need to have a wine with dinner, eat a lot of raw, organic food, a lot of juices.  I don’t crave sugar like I use to and I just simply feel great, healthy and full of energy.

Good luck!”

Melinda Cummins