What do professional athletes like Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and World number one tennis player Iga Swiatek have in common with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Graham?
They all use mouth tape for a balanced lifestyle and better sleep.
Mouth taping has gained notoriety as an at-home treatment that encourages nasal breathing, the optimal breathing method.
Mouth breathing, on the other hand, leads to a whole host of problems like snoring, lowered immunity, bad breath, and poor dental health.
The main reason celebrities and professional athletes use mouth tape? They’re aware of how damaging mouth breathing can be.
When we breathe in and out of our mouths, our air is unfiltered.
As you may have noticed, you have tons of small nose hairs in each nostril. These hairs, called cilia, serve the specific function of filtering the air we breathe before it reaches the lungs.
Oxygen goes through while dirt, toxins, bacteria, germs, and other pathogens are blocked from entering the body and lungs.
That means if you’re a chronic mouth breather, your immune system is hit with germs you could avoid contact with by nasal breathing instead.
On top of that, our noses produce nitric oxide, but our mouths don’t. Nitric oxide is a powerful vasodilator that kills off bacteria and activates our parasympathetic nervous system.
This parasympathetic activation helps us rest and digest. Mouth breathing, however, places the body in a state of fight or flight, only worsening our stress levels.
Moreover, our mouths don’t add any moisture to our breath. This makes oxygen harder than necessary for the lungs to absorb.
Mouth breathing even harms the teeth and gums. During mouth breathing, saliva evaporates.
Believe it or not, saliva plays a huge role in protecting our teeth. It acts as a barrier between teeth and germs (plaque) within our mouths.
Once saliva dries out as a result of mouth breathing, the teeth are left defenseless against plaque. Cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease follow.
When we mouth breathe during sleep, all of the aforementioned health risks are present. On top of that, airway tissues fall backward due to improper tongue posture.
Airway tissues then vibrate together and produce the sound of snoring. This fragments our sleep, leading to grogginess, irritability, sleep debt, and even sleep disorders like sleep apnea over time.
Therefore, somatic breathwork via nasal breathing is key to a healthy, balanced lifestyle – whether you’re awake or asleep.
Celebrities and athletes using mouth tape sounds like a new trendy health fad. But it’s actually helping many to return to ancient breathwork practices that our ancestors valued.
Somatic breathwork, named after breathing related to the “soma,” AKA body, is a therapeutic method reliant upon full, conscious breathing to shift our physiology into a relaxed state.
These techniques rely upon ancient breathing practices to deliver more oxygen to the body and brain.
Nasal breathing is at the forefront of most of these somatic breathwork practices, making it a key pillar of a balanced lifestyle.
Air intake through the nose is steady and slow, providing ample amounts of oxygen when compared to mouth breathing.
Air taken in through the nose offers just enough resistance to offload carbon dioxide effectively.
The nose warms and humidifies our air, adds nitric oxide to our breath, and protects us from inflammation, illness, tooth decay, and sleep disturbances.
Ancient humans instinctively knew this: nasal breathing was a common practice of humans of the past.
“Many ancient cultures breathed exclusively through their noses and understood breathing as a medicine in ways that Westerners have forgotten,” James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art says.
Aside from being a valued breathing practice by ancient humans, nasal breathing may even help improve performance during physical activity.
Many athletes rely on mouth tape while training to build enhanced endurance while cutting down on recovery time.
Whether they choose to use mouth tape solely for better sleep or for the additional health benefits associated with nasal breathing, here’s what celebrities and athletes are saying about it, starting with Gwyneth Paltrow.
Wellness guru and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow shared her health habits on Instagram, including mouth tape for the promotion of nasal breathing.
“People have been asking me about my actual wellness routine on a Wednesday, so I filmed some of it,” she told viewers in her stories.
Paltrow said she begins her day with tongue scraping and oil pulling, a practice that involves swishing coconut oil around in your mouth for 15 minutes or so for better oral health.
She then meditates for 20 minutes and performs a dance workout. She consumes a glass of celery juice every day and swears by mouth tape for better sleep at night.
She said in an Instagram Stories post about mouth tape: “This is probably the single best wellness tool I have found recently. Breathing through your nose at night apparently creates alkalinity in the body and promotes the best quality sleep.”
While it may not be surprising that a wellness-centric celeb is into mouth tape, supermodels are, too.
Model Ashley Graham recently shared an image of herself sleeping with her mouth taped shut at night as an at-home treatment to address snoring.
In a post shared to her Instagram Stories this May, the mid-30s model appeared to be sound asleep with earplugs in and mouth tape across her lips.
"I started taping my mouth shut when I sleep and I have never slept better - and even better when I wake up. Don't knock it till you try it!!” Graham said.
While some stars tape their mouths for better rest, some use it to amp up their performance.
Celebrities have praised mouth tape as a major key to better sleep and a balanced lifestyle, but athletes use it both on and off the playing field.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland recently boasted about the benefits of mouth tape for improved sleep and better performance on the Impaulsive podcast.
“I think sleep is the most important thing in the world,” Haaland says. “You should try to tape your mouth closed,” he tells host Logan Paul, pausing before adding “at night, and when you train.”
Haaland isn’t the only top athlete known for using tape for improved endurance.
World number one women's tennis player Iga Swiatek was spotted training for the Canadian Open with tape covering her mouth.
Swiatek told reporters, “It's the way to kind of work on my endurance by not having me, you know, run so fast and do extreme things.”
Since nasal breathing is the most efficient method of oxygen delivery, it allows the muscles to achieve maximum endurance.
Moreover, nasal breathing speeds up recovery after a workout thanks to nitric oxide and enhanced cardiovascular performance.
Long story short? Using mouth tape during a workout can help you push harder and faster for longer (without extra sore muscles and added fatigue afterward).
Whether you want to tape for a more balanced lifestyle, better beauty sleep, or a more adequate workout, SomniFix can help you integrate somatic breathwork into your daily life like the stars.
Nasal breathing is far superior to mouth breathing in every way.
Mouth tape ensures that you nasal breathe when you’re not thinking about it, like during sleep or exercise.
Any old tape won’t do. Most tapes contain harmful chemicals within their adhesives that cause skin rashes and irritation.
Rashes aren’t a good look. That’s why SomniFix was created to help you tape like your favorite athletes and celebrities.
Our strips were designed with all skin types in mind.
Moreover, they’re hypoallergenic, latex-free, and gluten-free. Our gel-like adhesive is so comfortable, you’ll forget you’re wearing mouth tape in the first place.
Tape like the stars! Achieve all of the benefits that nasal breathing and mouth taping have to offer with the help of SomniFix tonight.
If you don't LOVE your sleep in 7 nights, we'll give your money back guaranteed! 🌟
