Kean expressed a 'similar skepticism' about Nestor's claims regarding the benefits of ancient breathing exercises. Kean also felt the book contained 'dicey' evidence which reminded him of Linus Pauling's vitamin C advocacy. Stuart Miller of The Boston Globe wrote that Nestor succeeded at 'explaining both the basics' and the 'more complicated aspects of breathing properly.' Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Sam Kean praised the book's 'good foundation' but criticized Nestor for not exercising enough skepticism and investigating the placebo effect further. Kirkus Reviews called it a 'welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system.' Publishers Weekly called it a 'fascinating treatise' on breathing. īreath received favorable reviews, with a cumulative 'Positive' rating at the review aggregator website Book Marks.

Reception īreath won the award for Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020 by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and was a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize of 2021. As of April 2023, Breath has sold over a two million copies worldwide and has translated into more than 35 languages in 2022. By February 2022, the book had sold over a million copies.

The book spent 18 weeks on the The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list in the first year of publication and was a bestseller in Germany, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the UK. The book debuted at number seven on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending May 30, 2020. Nestor promoted the book with appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and CBS This Morning. Publication and promotion īreath was published by Riverhead Books on May 26, 2020. Nestor wrote the book after ten years of researching the subject. He also worked with scientists at Stanford University whose research suggests that returning to a state of nasal breathing will improve an individual's health. It includes Nestor's first-person experiences with breathing. Nestor explores research that argues that this shift (due to the increased consumption of processed foods) has led to a rise in snoring, sleep apnea, asthma, autoimmune disease, and allergies. It investigates the history of how humans shifted from the natural state of nasal breathing to chronic mouth breathing.

The book examines the history, science, and culture of breathing and its impacts on human health. The book became an international bestseller, selling over two million copies worldwide. The book provides a historical, scientific and personal examination of breathing, with a specific interest in contrasting the differences between mouth breathing and nasal breathing. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art is a 2020 popular science book by science journalist James Nestor.

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