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I'd like to see Buteyku breathing exercises added to the list of remedies as there are very few ailments that would not be improved by re-establishing or normalizing the flow of oxygen to the cells. Below, you'll find an essay I've just written on the subject titled Of Carbs and Carnivores:
This is about the OTHER carb - carbon dioxide.
Carbohydrates have a place in the diet of carnivores which is as a stop-gap in times of famine - I.e. the absence or unavailability of prey.
In a famine, carbs provide strength and energy for a short period of time. Not the carbs themselves, but the adrenaline production they trigger.
This is good for providing energy in an otherwise weakened animal so that it can hunt food, but what it does is not good as a way of life.
Adrenaline creates a state of hyperventilation which floods the muscles with oxygen-loaded blood. Which is good in famine conditions, but what that does, is not good as a way of life.
Hyperventilation interferes with the production and processing of carbon dioxide which is also good, but not as a way of life.
Depleted carbon dioxide enriches the blood with oxygen which is good, but not as a way of life.
Without carbon dioxide, the blood can't release its oxygen to the cells, which isn't good as much as it is a handy thing to be able to do when one is weakened by hunger to facilitate the strength and energy to hunt for a short period of time.
When the cells' flow of oxygen is reduced to that degree, pathogens go in and the oxygen in the cells is spent destroying them. Then the cell is oxygen depleted which means the next pathogens to come along can move right in.
Oxygen and pathogens can't coexist which is why dead bodies decompose - no oxygen=pathogen party.
Carbon dioxide is not waste. It is absolutely necessary to get the blood to release oxygen to the cells and it is provided in the pause between breaths. Hyperventilation eliminates the pause, thereby interrupting the carbon dioxide supply and inviting pathogens into the cells.
Proper, healthy, calm breathing is a light breath in, a light breath out and a pause. One can test one's overall state of health by relaxing, breathing normally/lightly through the nose with the mouth closed, holding one's nose after exhaling and counting the seconds that elapse before you feel a need to take a breath. Not to measure how long you can hold your breath, but to measure how long before you feel the need for another breath. 40 seconds and above is considered good - 60+ seconds is considered optimal and there aren't a lot of people who are in the "good" range of 40 and above.
