Oxygen / Deep Breathing

Everyone knows that we can live without food for quite a while but without oxygen we lose consciousness and die very quickly. What most people don't know is that we can control the amount of oxygen that we bring to our tissues, and that the amount has a potent effect on our health.
Most people breathe much more shallowly than is optimal. For example, our brain is between 1 and 3 percent of our body weight but requires about 20 percent of our oxygen intake. The brain needs oxygen to perform all its tasks, and if there is an insufficient supply, our thinking process will be impaired. However, slow, deep breathing that fills our lungs with this life-giving substance allows our bloodstream to absorb more air and to transport it to our brain for optimal brain function.
Experts in the field say that our bodies require oxygen to produce as much as 95% of the energy that we need. If adequate amounts of oxygen are not available, it may result in a lactic acid buildup. Scientists have found that injecting calm people with lactic acid can cause them to experience panic attacks. So it seems that lactic acid buildup from inadequate oxygen (due to shallow breathing and/or poor circulation and from spending time in low oxygen environments such as sealed rooms) can be a primary cause of anxiety. Antidepressant drugs actually make the problem worse because these pharmaceuticals may deplete oxygen levels even further. They also cause people to become more dependent on the drugs. Thus a vicious cycle is created. Chronic anxiety and depression seems not to come from the mind but from the cells.
For vibrant health, the bloodstream must be able to carry optimum amounts of oxygen. Research has shown that a diet containing saturated fats from animal products (including cow's milk and fish) and hydrogenated or cooked vegetable fats lessens the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, resulting in less oxygen to the brain, muscles, organs and so forth. Research has also shown that a diet high in dark green, leafy vegetables increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, resulting in more oxygen delivered to vital organs.
Deep breathing increases the amount of oxygen delivered to the lungs for absorption into the bloodstream and ultimately into the tissues of the body. Most people take very shallow breaths and do not use the full capacity of their lungs. I recommend full inhales and exhales whenever possible.
Breathing through the mouth is like drinking from a dirty puddle without filtering the water first. The reason for this is that your lungs need warm moist air. When we breathe through the nostrils the air is warmed, moistened and filtered through the sinuses. The sinuses produce mucus to catch airborne debris. If we breathe through the mouth we bypass this wondrous filter. That is why it is important to breathe through your nostrils.
It has been said that our lymphatic system is the body's sewer system. It cleans up most of the waste products of cellular metabolism. The body contains about four times as much lymphatic fluid as blood. If our lymphatic system were to shut down for only 24 hours, we would die. The lymphatic system does not have a pump like the bloodstream has. The only way that the lymph fluid gets pumped through the tissues of the body is by muscular movement such as exercise and/or deep breathing, which both move the lymphatic fluid extremely well.