Summary
Host Dana Kay of the Soaring Child podcast welcomes back Dr. Miles Nichols, a functional medicine expert and founder of the Medicine with Heart Clinic, to discuss how Buteyko breathing can help children with ADHD. Dana shares how a simple breathing technique transformed her son Oliver's sleep, focus, and overall calmness. Dr. Nichols brings both professional expertise and personal experience, having suffered from severe asthma since childhood and trained under Patrick McKeown for Buteyko certification. Dr. Nichols explains the foundational science: carbon dioxide acts as a vehicle for nitric oxide production in the sinuses, and nitric oxide combined with glutathione (nitrosoglutathione) is the lungs' natural mechanism for bronchodilation. He describes how CO2 also thins mucus and shifts the nervous system toward a parasympathetic state, increasing heart rate variability. The episode covers how low CO2 levels are connected to asthma, allergies, chronic cough, ear problems, bedwetting, jaw development issues, and even crooked teeth in children. The practical technique taught is light, slow, deep nasal breathing. Dr. Nichols guides listeners through breath holds after exhalation to build CO2 tolerance, emphasizing that the goal is not maximum breath holding but gentle exposure to air hunger. He explains that children can learn these techniques and that clinical trials show results comparable to rescue inhalers for asthma management.
Key Points
- Carbon dioxide drives nitric oxide production in the sinuses, which is the lungs' natural bronchodilator
- Low CO2 levels are linked to asthma, allergies, bedwetting, ear problems, and jaw development issues in children
- Light, slow, deep nasal breathing increases CO2 and shifts the nervous system into a parasympathetic state
- Breath holding after exhalation builds CO2 tolerance — the goal is gentle air hunger, not maximum holds
- Clinical trials show Buteyko breathing can produce results comparable to rescue inhalers for asthma
- Mouth breathing in children can lead to narrowed airways, crooked teeth, and increased risk of sleep apnea
- Heart rate variability increases with proper breathing, indicating a shift into a relaxed nervous system state
- Children with ADHD can benefit from Buteyko breathing for improved sleep, focus, and emotional regulation
Key Moments
CO2 drives bronchodilation through nitric oxide production
Dr. Miles Nichols explains that carbon dioxide acts as a vehicle to produce nitric oxide in the sinuses, which the lungs use for bronchodilation, and that holding the breath and breathing less can improve airway opening during acute asthma episodes.
"Yeah, and the weird thing about it is that what the research shows is that carbon dioxide does act as a vehicle to produce nitric oxide in the sinuses. And nitric oxide is one of the things that the lungs use to bronchodilate."
Over-breathing causes brain oxygen deprivation via the Bohr effect
Dr. Nichols explains the Bohr effect -- that CO2 is required for oxygen delivery to tissues -- and demonstrates how breathing faster raises blood oxygen but paradoxically starves the brain of oxygen, connecting this to ADHD symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in children.
"if I'm breathing quickly, I have a pulse oxon where I can look at my blood oxygen level. I'll see it going up, going up, going up. However, I'll get symptoms of oxygen deprivation in the brain. I'll start to get a little dizzy, a little lightheaded, and then I'll hold my breath."
Light, slow, deep breathing technique for children
Dr. Nichols breaks down the practical Buteyko technique for parents: reducing the minute volume of air by breathing less and more slowly, while clarifying that diaphragmatic breathing does not require large air volumes -- you can breathe light, slow, and deep simultaneously.
"The confusion is a lot of people think when they're belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing, they have to breathe a lot of air volume. You can actually breathe very lightly, but deeply. You can breathe light, deep, and slow. So light, slow, deep breathing is a very basic technique that will help to be able to increase your"
