There are many healthy reasons to breathe through your nose, and some serious consequences to mouth-breathing
There are many healthy reasons to breathe through your nose, and some serious consequences to mouth-breathing
"Mouth-breather!" It's a term people might fling as an insult or say as a joke, but breathing through the mouth has some very real, and very serious health consequences. Here's a partial list:

- Breathing through the mouth has been proven to significantly increase the likelihood of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.
- Mouth breathing can cause bad breath, because of altered bacterial population in the mouth.
- Breathing by mouth results dries the tongue, teeth and gums; consequently, levels of acid in the mouth can lead to tooth decay and gum problems
- Another undesirable consequence of mouth breathing, especially when asleep, is dehydration - how often do mouth breathing sleepers awake with a dry mouth?
- Some research had drawn connections between mouth breathing and asthma
- Sports performance can suffer from mouth breathing; when we inhale and exhale through the mouth, oxygen uptake in the lungs can go down.
- There is some research evidence that ADHD is exacerbated by mouth breathing
- Children who breathe through their mouths are at greater risk of abnormal facial structure, head posture, and impaired respiratory strength
- Nose breathing, especially the resistance to airflow that comes from exhaling through your nose, keeps the air in your lungs a little longer. This can increase the amount of oxygen that enters your bloodstream with each breath as much as 20 per cent
- Much more than your mouth and throat, the nasal passages are designed to warm and humidify the air you inhale. The temperature of your breath can rise more than 40°F on the way from your nose to your lungs. This is especially important in cold weather
- Breathing through the nose helps remove a significant share of germs, irritants and bacteria from each lungful of air you breathe
- It's easier to breathe regularly when you inhale and exhale through your nose
- Nitric oxide (NO), which plays an important part in immune response and vasoregulation, is released in the nasal passages, following the air stream to the lungs