THE OXYGEN ADVANTAGE BY PATRICK MCKEOWN

BOOK REVIEW

TITLE: THE OXYGEN ADVANTAGE. THE SIMPLE, SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN BREATHING TECHNIQUE THAT WILL REVOLUTIONISE YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS.
AUTHOR: PATRICK MCKEOWN.
PUBLISHER: WILLIAM MORROW, USA AND PIATKUS, GREAT BRITAIN.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2015
NUMBER OF PAGES:370

“The quantity of the air you breathe has the potential to transform everything you thought you knew about your body, your health and your performance, whether you’re a “pre-athlete” just trying to get off the couch, a weekend warrior running an occasional 10k or a professional athlete in need of a game-changing edge over your competition”.

We all spend a great deal of time and attention on what we eat and drink but how many of us pay attention to the air we breathe? Proper breathing is as important or even more important than what we eat or drink. We can survive without water for a few days and food for a few weeks but we can not survive without air for more than a few minutes.

In the book, The Oxygen Advantage. The simple, scientifically proven breathing techniques that will revolutionise your health and fitness, the author, Patrick Mckeown shares some easy to follow breathing techniques backed by recent research, clinical case studies and personal experiences. Claim is that these breathing exercises would help individuals improve their athletic performance and certain cardiovascular and respiratory issues as well as help with weight loss.

Breathing whilst being a natural process is negatively influenced by the modern day sedentary lifestyle, stress, unhealthy diets, overheated homes and lack of fitness. This has caused an epidemic of chronic over-breathing across the industrialised world. Chronic over breathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness and compromised performance, as well as contributing to many ailments including anxiety, asthma, fatigue, insomnia, heart problems and even obesity. Patrick explains that proper breathing is based on the simple principle of Bohr effect. Most of us are under the misconception that carbondioxide is just a waste product of cellular respiration but the reality is that carbondioxide is the the key variable that allows the release of oxygen from the red blood cells to be metabolised by the body. Not only does our body require healthy amount of carbondioxide in the blood, it also requires another gas that is overlooked i.e. Nitric oxide (NO) which plays a role in dilation of blood vessels, homeostasis, neurotransmission, immune defence and respiration. Scientific findings have shown that this molecule is released in the nasal airways and is transferred to the lower airways and lungs through nasal breathing. Nasal breathing is one of the basic components of The Oxygen Advantage programme.

The book, The Oxygen Advantage is divided into four parts titled The secret of breath, The secret of fitness, The secret of health and Your oxygen advantage programme. Each part is highly informative, educational and includes breathing exercises appropriate for the particular issue in question, relevant research references and case studies.

The Oxygen Advantage programme is designed based on individuals Body Oxygen level (BOLT) score. Ideal BOLT score is approximately 40 seconds but don’t worry if your BOLT score is less than 10 seconds. By doing exercises specifically designed for people with low BOLT score you can slowly progress to more advanced levels.

Interestingly the author dives into the topic of mindfulness in part II of the book. Not surprising is the fact that some of the modern meditation teachings and practises have diverted from the true ancient practises which never encouraged mouth breathing. The Oxygen Advantage programme emphasises on nasal and diaphragmatic breathing which formed the foundation of ancient mediation, yoga and chi.

Part IV of the book includes table form summaries of eight different Oxygen Advantage exercises, step by step guide on what exercises should be practised and frequencies for individuals with different BOLT scores, for children and teenagers and for weight loss or obesity,

The author of the book, The Oxygen Advantage. The simple, scientifically proven breathing techniques that will revolutionise your health and fitness, Patrick Mckeown was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He later studied in the Moscow clinic of the founder of the Buteyko Breathing Method; The late Professor Konstantin Buteyko. Patrick suffered from asthma from a very young age and depended on an array of medications and inhalers until he came across the Buteyko Method at the age of twenty six. For the first time in twenty years was Patrick’s asthma under control and Patrick credits this to Buteyko method. Seeing these changes in his personal health motivated Patrick to change his career in order to help children and adults who suffer from similar breathing problems. Patrick Mckeown is now the President of Buteyko Professionals International. He is also a member of the Management Board and the Advisory Faculty of the International Academy of Breathing & Health. For more information visit Patrick Mckeown’s website.

I came across Patrick Mckeown in a you tube video titled, The Three Pillars of Breathing. He talked about the biochemistry of breath, how our body influences the biochemistry of blood and biomechanics and cadence of breathe. It was intriguing. Curiosity lead me to read this book. Being a big fan of Wim Hof method, the first thought that entered my mind was what was the difference between the two methods. Both methods claim similar benefits. What I found is that the two methods i.e Wim Hof Method and Buteyko Method, despite teaching different breathing techniques were based on the same basic principle. It gave me some insight in the science behind Wim Hof method.

Key take-home messages for me include:

• Nasal breathe at all times during the day and night.
• “Breathe light to breathe right”.
• Being able to hold breathe is important not just to improve your athletic performance but also for cardiovascular and respiratory health and weight loss.
• Quality and quantity of air you breathe is essential for optimal health.
• Amount of carbondioxide and nitric oxide in the blood play an important role in oxygen transportation to the tissues, organs and muscles.
• Practise diaphragmatic breathing.
• Be mindful of how you breathe.
• Aim for a BOLT score of forty seconds.
• Practise relaxation.
• Practise mindfulness. Not only does it relax and calm you, it helps you focus and concentrate.

Above list is only a fraction of what I have learnt. Some information in this book are not widely taught and probably not widely known or perhaps just overlooked. I read The Oxygen Advantage as a textbook. Hearing Patrick’s interview with Dr. Chatterjee, I knew I would have to take a lot of notes and I did.

I thought it was extremely clever how the author weaves breathing with mindfulness and athletic performance. “The breath is the bridge between the mind and the body”. Patrick mentioned that you can feel your breath entering and leaving at four distinct places. After observing a few cycles of my breathe I do agree. All these years of breathing and I had never noticed that.

Not being a mouth breather or suffering from any respiratory issues I was surprised at the result of my BOLT score test. My BOLT score was less than twenty seconds. Patrick explained in this book how modern lifestyle (mentioned earlier) has a big impact on our breathing. I will definitely be looking at making certain changes to my lifestyle. As mentioned in this book it is not just a few weeks project but a lifelong lifestyle change. Not being an expert or having much experience with The Oxygen Advantage programme I can not comment on the benefits claimed by the author. I intend to try this programme until my BOLT score is approximately forty seconds and see if there is any obvious changes. From looking at the exercises I know it will definitely help me with my concentration and focus.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to improve their athletic performance, anyone suffering from respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, anyone battling with weight and anyone wishing to improve their general well-being. There is a bit of repetition but I felt it was at times necessary in order to put the messages across. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of summarised forms of exercises in Part IV of the book. I intended to go back and make notes but the summaries definitely saved me time and effort. The book is well organised with messages clearly conveyed in easy to read, everyday language with minimum use of scientific jargons. Grammar, vocabulary, layout of the book and use of punctuations are all spot on.

This book is intended for general audience and I believe everyone could benefit from the breathing exercises. Apart from the repetition (which easily be skipped), I found no other fault in this book.

Right now we are going through a pandemic with COVID-19. This virus affects the human respiratory system. Patrick Mckeown has kindly made a you tube video to help us improve our respiratory health.

Coronoavirus Free Breathing Exercise By Patrick Mckeown.

Stay Safe everyone🙏🏽!