How to strengthen your immune system by breathing through your nose

When it comes to strengthening your immune system, many factors may immediately come to mind: what we eat, how we exercise, which herbs and supplements we take. What about the way we breathe?

According to human performance specialist and breathing expert Brian Mackenzie, how we breathe is an integral part of strengthening our immunity. Namely, nasal breathing: The nose is the first line of defense for the immune system, he says.

That’s not to say you should ignore proper guidelines in place to help protect you from bacteria and viruses like wearing a mask, for instance, but the nose does have its own way of keeping you healthy. Consider nasal breathing an extra layer of immune support—it can’t work entirely on its own.

Our nasal passages are able to filter bacteria and viruses in the air, which can block dust and bacteria from reaching your lungs—we have as many hair follicles inside our nose as we do on our head, that are able to filter the air as you inhale, those particles just have to be smaller than a certain diameter.

Nonetheless, our noses can function as a great particle grabber; those particles are then either blown into a tissue when you sneeze or killed by your stomach when you swallow the mucus as gross as it sounds, Mackenzie notes you swallow tons of mucus throughout the day).

Noses and immune systems are inherently linked, our noses even have their own microbiome, which might make you more conscious of your own breath, especially if breathing through your mouth feels more natural to you. While you can breathe out of your mouth occasionally, Mackenzie notes at least 80% of your day should be through your nose only.