anxiety

There are a lot of easy tests you can do from the comfort of your own home to measure different aspects of your health. Of particular note are longevity tests like the SRT (sitting-rising test), which purports to give you valuable data on how long you might live, or the Dead Hang test, which offers similar insights.

A new viral breath test is making waves on social media, and claims to do something even more immediately useful: expose your hidden stress and anxiety levels.

Holding your breath with empty lungs can tell you a lot. Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

You've probably heard of breath-hold tests, or even tried seeing how long you could hold your breath just for fun (though experts warn not to try going longer than a minute without professional or medical supervision). The twist is that this new technique is a breath-hold test done after a complete exhale. Normally, to test your lung capacity, you'd inhale a deep breath and hold for as long as possible. In this test, you're trying to see if you can make it just 30 seconds on an empty set of lungs.

Breathwork expert Mitch Fox explains a variation of the Buteyko Method Test in a recent TikTok video:

"All we're going to do is take a normal breath in, a normal breath out, and then hold our breath as long as we can until we feel air hunger. Not until you're about to die. And you have to go back to normal breathing afterwards."

In other words, no gasping.

When you exhale and empty your lungs without breathing in again, carbon dioxide begins building up inside your body. People have different tolerance for this depending on their fitness, how well-practiced they are in breathwork, and potentially other factors.

"Your body starts to experience an air hunger feeling" after a few seconds, Fox explains. "It doesn't mean you're actually out of oxygen, it just means that CO2 is rising and it creates a stress response in the body. Most people start to panic immediately and start to gasp for air."

The idea is that if you're not able to pass the test, it could indicate high underlying levels of stress, anxiety, or a heightened state. Fox says practicing in this oxygen-depleted state can help your body respond better to this and other stressors.

How long does it take for your body to feel extremely uncomfortable during this test? I made it about 20 seconds before my brain started screaming at me to breathe!

Millions of people viewed the video and decided to try the test at home...with varied results.

"Most people are stuck in a low-level fight or flight the entire day, and they have no idea," Fox says in another video. This state is called hyperarousal and it's definitely on the rise, as indicated by much higher rates of anxiety disorders seen in young people. Symptoms of stress and anxiety are made worse by screens, social media, and our hectic pace of life.

Maybe that explains why so many viewers struggled to make it through his challenge. "This test actually reveals whether you are in fight or flight," Fox says.

"16 seconds but started freaking out at 11," one commenter wrote.

"I started panicking at 22 but made it to 25," said another.

"17 seconds then panic feeling," another added.

Many people in the comments also reported passing the test with flying colors.

One interesting thing Fox mentions is that while regular training and practice can help increase your CO2 tolerance, you don't have to wait to see a better result. Calming your body and mind with some slow breathing and trying the test again often yields a stronger result, which tells us a lot about what the test is really measuring.

Andrew Huberman’s YouTube channel also featured a similar test.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

The science mostly agrees that this is not just a woo-woo TikTok phenomenon. How we handle rising CO2 in our bodies is definitely related to how we manage stress.

For example, a study in the International Journal of Exercise Science found that "Increasing tolerance to CO2 and improving breathing mechanics may reduce state anxiety. This can be particularly valuable for high stress/risk environments or sports that require significant amounts of concentration."

Much of the research around CO2 tolerance has been related to athletic performance, where it's definitely a big deal.

"CO₂ tolerance is a real concept," writes Dr. Daniel Atkinson at Treated. "When carbon dioxide levels rise, many people experience symptoms such as breathlessness, dizziness, or anxiety. In some people, a sharp increase in carbon dioxide can even trigger panic attacks. A CO₂ breath-hold test can indicate how well your body recovers from stress or after exercising. Improving your CO₂ tolerance can support better fitness and improve athletic performance. ... By improving your CO₂ tolerance, you can [also] stay calmer and increase your overall endurance."

But how you respond to the buildup of CO2 in your body says a lot more than just how fit you are or how much yoga you do.

Dr. Geny Ann Augustine, a family medicine physician at Solace Health, says, "Those with higher anxiety or who are chronically stressed may have a more sensitive 'CO2 alarm system,' triggering the urge to breathe earlier, when oxygen levels are still safe. This reaction is due to the body’s fight-or-flight reflex, and NOT due to a lack of fitness."

"If you have been failing at breath-hold workouts, instead concentrate on slow nasal breathing and extending your exhale," Augustine adds. "That slight shift trains your nervous system to stay quieter when you’re moderately stressed. Over time, increasing CO2 tolerance like this can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety, increase endurance and support overall respiratory health."

It should be noted that the Buteyko Clinic also advocates for methods like sleeping with mouth tape and claims that its specific style of breathwork can cure asthma. Science disagrees and says those ideas are dangerous. Additionally, experts agree that you should not attempt prolonged breath-holding if you have heart or breathing issues like asthma.

A home breath-hold test is not a medical diagnostic tool, but performing this simple exercise is an interesting data point, if nothing else. The benefits of regular breathwork (like yoga, meditation, deep breathing, etc.) are scientifically proven. So whether you believe in CO2 tolerance tests or not, taking the time every day to practice a few slow breaths can only mean good things for your mental and physical health.