Breathing exercises help lose weight and reduce excess fat

Breathing exercises have been used to promote health in Eastern cultures for thousands of years. In recent years, several studies have found that these exercises can help reduce stress levels and improve attention and mental health.

What's more, some proponents of this popular workout method even claim that adding breathing exercises to your routine can aid weight loss and increase fat burning.

What are breathing exercises?

Breathing exercises are a simple practice that involves minimizing outside distractions and paying more attention to your breathing.

Studies show that breathing exercises may offer a number of potential health benefits, including reduced anxiety and improved attention levels and sleep quality.

According toHealthlineThere are many types of breathing exercises, including:

- Deep breathing: This form of breathing exercise involves taking a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, and then exhaling slowly.

- Alternate nostril breathing: With this exercise, you practice inhaling and exhaling through two nostrils alternately by closing each side with your fingers.

- Pursed Lip Breathing: This breathing practice involves inhaling through the nostrils and exhaling slowly through pursed lips.

- Diaphragmatic breathing: Also known as belly breathing, this variation requires you to lie down, place your hands on your upper chest and rib cage, and exhale through pursed lips as you tighten your abdominal muscles.

- Senobi: This Japanese deep breathing style involves leaning back, stretching your arms over your head, and inhaling and exhaling slowly several times.

While each style has slight differences in how it is practiced, all forms are used to help promote relaxation and relieve stress by focusing on the present moment.

Relation to weight loss

Several studies have found that practicing breathing exercises can promote weight loss and reduce body fat.

One study in 40 women noted that practicing senobi breathing increased both urinary hormone excretion and sympathetic nerve activity, which triggers your body's fight-or-flight response. This is an automatic physiological response.

Furthermore, obese participants who repeated the exercise regularly for 1 month had significant reductions in body fat.

In another small study in 38 people, participants who practiced diaphragmatic breathing exercises had a higher resting metabolic rate, which may lead to greater weight loss.

Additionally, a 2-week study showed that practicing breathing exercises for 45 minutes per day, 6 days per week significantly reduced body weight and body mass index (BMI), compared with a control group.

Some studies show that regularly practicing breathing exercises can aid weight loss and fat loss.

May reduce hunger and cravings

Several studies have found that practicing breathing exercises can reduce feelings of hunger, which may help reduce food intake and promote weight loss.

One study in 60 people found that performing a breathing exercise that involved holding your breath for 3–4 seconds while contracting your abdominal muscles reduced feelings of hunger when you were hungry. Similarly, a small study observed that practicing slow-paced breathing for 10 minutes significantly reduced hunger in 65 women.

Another study in 68 people evaluated the effects of supervised yoga practice for 45 minutes, twice daily for 15 days, including 33 minutes of breathing exercises per session. The results showed that participants not only significantly reduced BMI and belly fat, but also increased levels of leptin, the hormone responsible for stimulating feelings of fullness.

Thus, studies show that breathing exercises can reduce hunger and increase leptin, the hormone that regulates feelings of fullness.

Can reduce stress levels

Breathing exercises can be an effective way to reduce stress levels. In fact, many studies show that breathing exercises can help reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, can lead to a higher risk of weight gain and obesity. Furthermore, higher cortisol levels may be linked to increased appetite and contribute to emotional eating.

Although more research is needed, this suggests that practicing stress-reducing activities, such as breathing exercises, may help prevent overeating and promote weight loss.

As such, breathing exercises can reduce stress levels, which can contribute to weight gain, cravings, and emotional eating.

How to get started?

Adding breathing exercises to your daily routine doesn’t have to be tedious or time-consuming. Start by setting aside a few minutes a day to practice, ideally 3-4 times a day.

You can choose whatever style or variation works for you, whether it’s alternate nostril breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, or simply deep breathing. Make sure you’re sitting or standing in a comfortable position and minimizing any outside distractions so you can focus fully.

Practice your chosen breathing exercise for a few minutes and gradually increase the length of your sessions as you begin to feel more comfortable. Once you find what works for you, you can also incorporate other postures, mantras, or mindfulness practices into your practice, such as yoga or meditation.

For best results, remember to combine breathing exercises with a balanced diet and other healthy habits, including regular physical activity and exercises like yoga or meditation.