James Nestor

James Nestor is a is a science journalist and bestselling author. In his most recent book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, Nestor lays out his ten-year personal investigation of breathing in a spellbinding, comedic, and riveting fashion. The book explores the history of how humans shifted from the natural state of nasal breathing to chronic mouth breathing. Humans typically take about 25,000 breaths per day — often without a second thought. But the COVID-19 pandemic has put a new spotlight on respiratory illnesses and the breaths we so often take for granted. Nestor 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. He also worked with scientists at Stanford whose research suggests that returning to a state of nasal breathing will improve an individual’s health.