It’s a truism, health-wise, that we can’t change what we don’t track. So keeping on top of our stats is an important part of the Age-Well journey for Annabel and I. I keep an ongoing record of routine tests like cholesterol levels, blood pressure readings, blood glucose and Vitamin D levels. In addition, I have an Oura ring (like a Fitbit but for my finger) that tracks my movement and sleep. So far, so good – that’s pretty easy to understand. But when my daughter looked at the app linked to my ring and asked me what the reading for Heart Rate Variability meant, I had to confess I only had a vague idea.
Since then, I’ve been doing my research. Heart Rate Variability (or HRV) isn’t the same as heart rate – the number of beats per minute. HRV refers to the gaps between those beats, the steadiness of the heartbeat, as it were. A higher HRV number indicates a greater range of gaps between the beats which may relate to a better response to stress, and better cardiovascular health. People under stress usually have less variation between their heart beats.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Our HRV is controlled by the autonomic nervous system which regulates many key tasks in the body, including blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. It’s divided into two sections – the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems – also known as the fight-or-flight and the rest-and-digest mechanisms. When the fight or flight mechanism is triggered it seems to even out the gaps between our heartbeat, leading to a lower HRV reading. Looking back over the data on my magic ring, I can see that my HRV is lower in stressful weeks and higher when I’m less busy, or on holiday.
But what’s a low reading, and what’s a high one? There’s a wide range of readings, measuring the gaps between heartbeats in milliseconds (ms). A normal HRV for a twenty-something is anything between 55ms and 105ms; but for a sixty-something, it’s between 25ms and 45ms. According to my ring, I have been as low as 23ms on a stressed day, and as high as 55ms on a relaxing holiday.
HOW TO IMPROVE HRV
I want to improve my readings, if I can. Higher variability means better recovery, which means better autonomic function and, usually, better heart health. To do this, I’ll need to manage stress, keep exercising, make my sleep consistent, keep well hydrated, breathe well (more on that in a moment) and keep my sugar intake low. All things I try to do, but could always do better.
I could also think about drinking watermelon juice: research published last year in the journal Nutrients found that drinking half a litre of a day has a protective effect on HRV. I’m not sure that I really want to be drinking a huge glass of watermelon juice each day, but the science behind this is interesting: watermelon (and beetroot) helps make nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide helps our blood vessels relax and expand, improving cardiovascular health and supporting healthy HRV. As a side note, there are some great watermelon and beetroot recipes in the Age-Well archives – try watermelon and feta salad (pictured above), beetroot hummus, smoked mackerel and beetroot bruschetta, and beetroot and sweet potato soup.
MOUTH TAPING
I’ve recently taken up another simple way of improving my nitric oxide levels: mouth taping when I sleep. Annabel and I have both experimented with this in the past, with mixed results, but I think I’ve cracked it this time. When we breathe through our noses, we produce nitric oxide in our sinuses. I know I have a tendency to mouth breathe at night, but the taping stops that. It was a little strange at first, but I’ve got used to it now. I’m using a brand of tape called Respire, which work better than others I’ve tried. It’s difficult to tell if my sleep has improved as I’m travelling in Australia and New Zealand at the moment, so my circadian rhythms are out of kilter. But I’ve coped better with the dreaded jet lag on this trip than on previous ones, so perhaps the mouth taping helps.
I’m reading James Nestor’s book, Breath, on my travels, which is a fascinating look at how we’ve lost our ability to breathe correctly, and the deleterious impact that has on our health. Annabel’s a big fan of this book and recommends the breathing exercises at the end – I haven’t quite got there yet. But I have read Nestor’s take on mouth taping. Initially sceptical, he became a convert when he found it eliminated his snoring and allowed him to sleep soundly. In the book, he explains that, ‘nasal breathing alone can boost nitric oxide sixfold.’ And, backing this up, research by Florida State University, published last month, found that nasal breathing supports heart rate variability. So hopefully I’m on course to improve the HRV readings on my Oura ring this year!
Have you tried mouth taping? Let us know in the comments.
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SLEEPLESS:
While I’ve been travelling, I’ve also had the chance to read Annabel’s book, Sleepless, and it’s brilliant! A fascinating exploration of sleep, who we become at night, and the creative possibilities that wakefulness can gift us. It was published in the UK, Australia and NZ yesterday and you’re invited to the online launch via Zoom on Wednesday 31st January at 7pm GMT.
Annabel will also be speaking in person:
Sunday Jan 28th – Sevenoaks Book Shop, Kent
Thursday Feb 1st – East Grinstead Book Shop, Sussex
Saturday Feb 3rd – Stony Words, Milton Keynes, Bucks
REST RESET:
I’ll be hosting a Rest Reset event with incredible Yoga Nidra teacher Kanan Thakerar on Saturday March 9th. This is a two-hour event focussed on the importance of rest at Soho Works, White City, in West London. I’ll talk about the science of resting and how to create habits which allow us to get the rest we need; Kanan will lead a deeply restorative session of Nidra.
Join the waiting list here for more info.
Susan
I have been mouth taping at night since I read james Nestors book soon after publication. I credit it with stopping moth breathing, improving my sleep, and helping my asthma.. It was quite a revelation and doesnt take long to get used to. His breathing exercises are worthwhile too. I do believe correct breathing is, for me, the key to better health.
Thanks so much for this, Eileen. Really good to hear how beneficial correct breathing is for you. I feel my journey is just beginning!
Much better to read and follow Patrick Mc Keown. He has written several books focussed on practical steps to improve your breathing. Mouth taping is only one element. He runs excellent workshops.
Thanks Stuart. Patrick McKeown is next on my breath work reading list!
Although I’m a nose breather I have been taping my mouth for a few years since reading Patrick McKeown’s book.
Thanks Jane. His book is next on my breath work reading list! What benefits have you found from mouth taping?
Hi,
I’m just wondering if you’ve written about your Oura ring and your experience/thoughts/research on it ?
I would be interested to read it if you have.
Many thanks
Lee Williams
Good question Lee! I haven’t written about actually, but perhaps I should. I’ve found it very helpful to be able to track my sleep and movement and it does keep me focussed on achieving the simple goals I’ve sent for myself in those areas (11K+ steps a day and 7+ hours of sleep). I can’t compare it to a fitbit as I’ve never had one – or any other sort of device. It’s also simple to use and looks nice, which helps!
Nau mai, welcome to Aotearoa NZ, Susan. I hope you are enjoying our summer and managing to get out walking in our bush (forest) and swimming at the beach.
Ngā mihi
Gabriel
Thank you so much Gabriel! It’s been blissful in the NZ summer – and the fresh air, sunshine and incredible natural surroundings. I’ve spent a lot of time ‘forest bathing’ and enjoying ‘blue spaces’!
I too am a nose breather and have been taping my mouth since I discovered this reading James Nestor’s book. However, I don’t find it foolproof and would like to try other methods/tapes. I use a micropore strip vertically from under my nose to my chin
Thanks Diana. I’m using strips from Respire (respire.com) which complete cover the mouth. I also tried Myotape (myotape.com) which goes around the mouth and gently holds it close but they didn’t work so well for me.
I had a fit bit to see how much I was sleeping as I knew for the last 59 years I hadn’t slept a full 6,7 or 8 hours.
I gave it away as the amount of sleep I was getting was far worse than I’d thought.
I can’t say I’ve noticed any but I do it as I know it’s a good thing to do. I have a very unhealthy sleep pattern.
Recently I’ve been wondering what is more detrimental to my health lack of good sleep ( before practicing intermittent fasting I often would get up and eat up to 3 times during the night as this would help to put me back to sleep. I still do this on occasions) or drinking alcohol to excess which guarantees me a much better night. I am fortunate that I have always functioned during the day. I’ve tried Googling this question but can never find the answer.
Thanks for this Jane. It’s good to hear that you got rid of your Fitbit – tracking sleep doesn’t work for everyone and if you were finding it upsetting then you’re better off without it. But it does sound as if your sleep patterns need further investigation. Have you talked to your doctor about a referral to a sleep clinic? Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol to facilitate sleep will be detrimental to your health. Spending time at night resting, rather than feeling you have to actually be asleep, may help you break the cycle. Annabel and I will be covering this area in our free Zoom conversation next week. This is the link if you haven’t yet signed up:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qqu9UpyrSPupQRSYMLEj6w
Can I recommend, “Invincible” Leah Lagos. It links you to an app” Elite HRV”. I believe that there are apps which do similar things. You set a comfortable breath rate for you, I like 4 in 6 out. The flower grows & shrinks to show you when to breath in & out. I did that 20mins, twice a day for quite a long time and found it very helpful. It’s a lot of time staring at a screen so now I just count the seconds. I found it helpful & soothing. I found the latter part of the book less helpful, thinking & imagining things as you breathe. That’s probably just me
I recently started mouth taping at night and my HRV, which was already low, is even lower. Make it make sense?
Gosh that is strange. How recent is ‘recently’? Your body may need a little more time to settle into it
I did it for about 5 days and my HRV decreased. So I stopped and it increased to a higher number than my average. I do wonder if my body just needs some time to adjust. I am going to try again.