Surprising reason why you only breathe through one nostril at a time

If you have ever felt like you're mostly breathing out of one nostril but don't even have a cold, no you aren't going mad. Instead, you may have just noticed one of the coolest and least known cycles in your body.

There are biological processes going on inside ourselves all the time that we don't notice, whether that is the 300 billion cells in our body being duplicated and replaced each day, or the 100,000 times our hearts beat and push blood throughout our miles of veins and arteries.

We might even be aware of some of these automatic processes, like breathing. But even our respiratory system is out of our control, as even if you were able to hold your breath until you passed out, your brain would immediately take over and restore normal function.

But surprisingly, the reason you mostly breathe through one nostril at a time is a result of another automatic system in our body, which cycles between each nostril roughly every two hours. This process is called the 'nasal cycle'.

There are a number of ways you can test which of your nostrils is currently the dominant one (Getty Stock Image

This nasal cycle kicks in multiple times throughout the day and, chances are, you have never even noticed it. But this autonomic nervous system process helps to keep your nose healthy and clear of pathogens.

While this cycle is less frequent when we are asleep, due to the lower respiratory rate needed to maintain homeostasis while you sleep, it also continues while you are unconscious.

The way your body manages this without you noticing is by causing your currently dominant nostril to become congested, while making the other side decongested. This flips which nostril becomes the main one you draw air through.

But this biological process, which has developed over millions of years, doesn't exist just for the fun of it, the Independent reports. In fact, cycling between each nostril in this way is a passive way to prevent either from drying out too much.

No, you're not going mad, you are mostly breathing through one nostril at all times (Getty Stock Image)

When air dries the nostril too much, the small amount of mucus in your nose also dry out. This is not a good idea, as this mucus is what protects this major airway from all the bacteria and pathogens it inhales on a daily basis.

Instead, every two hours, the blood flow to one of your nostril will automatically increase, causing it to become more congested. This helps to repair any damage from its time as the dominant nostril, while also warming and moistening any air that enters.

No doubt, you are now exhaling air out of your nose to try and figure out which nostril is currently dominant. But there are a number of really simple ways to test this.

You can get a mirror and exhale through your nose onto it, this will show which side is blowing out more air as one side will leave a larger fog mark.

Or, if you are currently lacking a mirror, you can also try breathing out while closing each side of your nose, one should feel like more air came out of it than the other.