Air is one of the basic necessities of life for humans, animals and plants. For example, humans can survive for about 40 days without food, nearly five days without drinking, but only a few minutes without air. Air consists of 21 percent oxygen. We need it to oxidize nutrients, i.e. to burn them. This is the only way we can obtain the energy that keeps our bodies running. The brain is particularly sensitive to a lack of oxygen: performance is immediately impaired, and without oxygen the first brain cells die after three minutes. And although breathing is vital, we usually do it casually and unnoticed – and often even incorrectly. No wonder, then, that we feel unwell or lack power at work. Correct breathing is especially important in competitive sports. And for everyone immediately noticeable is an obstructed breathing with the common cold.
How our breathing works
Breathing in is an active process. Breathing muscles expand the chest and the most important one, the diaphragm, expands the chest space downward into the abdomen. The lungs fill with air. Then, when we exhale, the muscles relax again, the chest tightens, and the air is forced out of the lungs. Through the mouth or nose, the inhaled air flows into the throat, on into the trachea and from there into the bronchi of the lungs. These branch out into ever finer branches (bronchioles) in the lung lobes. Through the bronchioles, the air finally reaches the alveoli, the so-called alveoli, which are crisscrossed by tiny blood vessels with unimaginably thin walls. It is only here that gas exchange with the blood takes place: Fresh oxygen is taken up by the blood and transported throughout the body, carbon dioxide is released as a waste product from the blood to the alveoli and exhaled.
Function of our mucous membranes
To ensure that the sensitive area of the alveoli is reached only with air that is as clean, temperate and humidified as possible, the branching system of cavities and tubes is lined by mucous membranes. These also protect the sensitive interior of the body from invading pathogens. On the mucosa are goblet cells that secrete a mucous viscous component, covering the surface. Deeper, seromucous glands are 40 times more frequent, filling up the underlying thin liquid phase. On this, the viscous mucus floats like a film. By far the largest part of the cells is made up of the so-called ciliated cells, which carry fine hairs, the cilia. The cilia move in the thin liquid phase and beat whip-like in the direction of the respiratory outlet. The mucus film, which is contaminated with dust, viruses and bacteria, is transported forward from below by the cilia like a conveyor belt. The mucus transported into the mouth area, is swallowed down by us reflexively at certain intervals and any germs contained are rendered harmless by the stomach acid.
Numbers around breathing
Every minute, an adult takes 12 to 18 breaths of air, children two to three times as often. We breathe in and out half a liter of air per breath, which is 6-9 liters of air per minute and about 10,000 liters per day. Between the ages of 20 and 30, we have an average lung volume of 4 liters, which decreases to half by the age of 60. Humans have more than 300 million alveoli. Spread out, their surface area corresponds to the size of a soccer field. In the course of his life, a healthy person consumes up to 20 million liters of oxygen (1 liter of oxygen = 28 liters of air). The surface area of the mucous membranes in the nose and sinuses is almost half a square meter, and about five square meters in the branches of the trachea and bronchi.
Breathing and performance
Healthy breathing should be a mixture of abdominal and thoracic breathing. But many people breathe incorrectly, which means they breathe far too infrequently deep into the abdomen. The culprit can be a hunched posture, for example, whether sitting at a desk or on the couch in front of the TV. But be careful: in the long run, incorrect breathing can lead to feelings of tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and fatigue. Tension in the chest and back can also be the result of incorrect breathing. In addition, shallow chest breathing is bad for the body’s oxygen supply. This is because the lungs are well supplied with blood in the lower region and can absorb a particularly large amount of oxygen there. Consequently, deep abdominal breathing is healthier.It is very effective because the body draws a lot of air into the lungs and supplies the body with plenty of oxygen. And this has many advantages – in sports and at work: improved concentration, more vitality and endurance. Conscious abdominal breathing is therefore ideal for strenuous activities, as the oxygen supply strongly influences performance as well as physical and mental fitness. The best way to practice deep abdominal breathing is through breathing exercises. Competitive athletes such as the multiple World Cup winner and nine-time German champion in giant slalom Martina Ertl also improve their breathing in this way and train the respiratory muscles through targeted exercises in order to be able to make optimal use of existing breathing reserves during competitions.
Preventing infections
Those who have trained their respiratory muscles to breathe deeply are also better protected against respiratory infections. In well-ventilated airways, pathogens have a much harder time taking hold and multiplying. However, hardly anyone is immune to colds and when we catch them, breathing becomes difficult and we feel tired. This happens especially often in winter. The reason for this is the reduced blood flow and dehydration of the mucous membranes on cold days. The defense function of the mucous membranes in the nose, mouth and throat is reduced, making it more difficult for them to warm, moisten and clean the air we breathe. This makes it easy for the 200 or so different cold viruses to infect the mucous membranes and cause the typical symptoms of cough, cold and sore throat. When the common cold takes hold, this is usually associated with inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis) or bronchi (bronchitis). The mucous membranes swell and the increased viscous secretion formed can no longer drain.
