What’s the TRUTH about the mouth taping fad championed by Gwyneth Paltrow and Erling Haaland?

It is a hack that has been praised by actress Gwyneth Paltrow and football superstar Erling Haaland, among others.

But can something as simple and bizarre as ‘mouth taping’ really do wonders for your health?

Well, as with everything in the world of wellness, it’s complicated.

Dozens of studies have suggested that breathing through the nose – which is what you do when you tape your mouth shut at night – will eliminate bad breath, help you stop snoring and reduce your risk of gum disease.

To top it all off, researchers have even found some evidence that this could improve your exercise performance.

But taping one’s mouth at night is undoubtedly dangerous, and it sparked warnings when the craze swept social media earlier this year.

Leading experts also claim that there is ‘no reliable evidence’ that says it does anything useful.

Last night a wellness guru was due to showcase his mouth tape product – available for children and adults – on Dragon’s Den. Patrick McKeown was expected to explain how the technique and breathing exercises helped him combat his asthma symptoms.

But BBC bosses removed the Irish entrepreneur from the hour-long programme.

The decision came after the BBC was accused of failing to properly investigate wellness brands featured in Dragons’ Den and making ‘outrageous claims’.

Ear seeds said to ‘cure’ ME and a cocoa-based ‘antidepressant’ are among the products touted in the latest series, but a scientific group wrote to BBC Director General Tim Davie last week demanding ‘immediate action’.

So, what’s the truth about the mouth taping trend?

Dr. Hana Patel, a London-based NHS GP, recommends always breathing through your nose, even when exercising, because of the ‘many health benefits’ this brings.

The nose filters the air we breathe and helps prevent material such as dust, pollen, ash and other dangerous particles from entering deep into the lungs, she explains.

When inhaling through the mouth, this filter is not present, which means that it goes directly into the lungs.

Breathing through the nose is also vital for babies and children, experts say, because excessive mouth breathing can cause their jaw and teeth to develop incorrectly.

“People don’t recognize that the way they breathe can have a significant impact on their health levels, on sleep quality, anxiety, breathing disorders like asthma, athletic performance and more,” says James Nestor, a San Francisco-based science journalist and author of Breath : the new science of a lost art, told MailOnline.

He claims that his previous mouth breathing habit was the cause of his recurring respiratory infections, which he was eventually able to shake after a doctor told him to breathe through his nose.

‘I thought she was crazy. I made it. And I haven’t had any of these problems since. That was over ten years ago.’

The bestselling author, who shares his findings in a BBC Maestro online course, says the vast majority of breaths should be taken in a slow rhythm through your nose, and not through your mouth, unless you are sick.

“We need to breathe the way we naturally evolved to breathe,” Mr. Nestor said.

‘There is nothing special about it, just look at a healthy child breathing in a slow rhythm into his stomach and through the nose.’

According to Mr. Nestor, about 60 percent of the population breathes through their mouth while they sleep.

Doing so can dry out the gums and tissue lining the mouth.

It can also make snoring worse because air hits the back of the throat directly and causes vibration, instead of passing over the soft palate, which happens when breathing through the nose, according to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnea Association.

Some experts claim that mouth taping is the solution.

This involves placing a piece of tape over the closed mouth (both the upper and lower lips) before going to sleep, so that a person cannot easily open their mouth. The logic is that it encourages people to breathe through their noses while sleeping.

Hypoallergenic, surgical and athletic tape are commonly used for mouth tape, but some specific products also exist, such as those promoted by Mr. McKeown.

However, taping the mouth can disrupt sleep by causing irritation, anxiety and difficulty breathing through the nose, the Sleep Foundation warns.

Experts also say it can be dangerous and even life-threatening, as a child with their mouth taped shut can choke on vomit and die.

Professor Edzard Ernst, a leading expert in alternative medicine, formerly of the University of Exeter, said: ‘I am not aware of any reliable evidence to suggest that mouth tape improves sleep, stops snoring, cures sleep apnea or helps with any other problem. .’

However, for those who choose to tape their mouths, Mr. Nestor recommends using surgical tape over the center of the lips, taking care not to seal the entire mouth. The tape should come off easily and train the mouth to close while you sleep, he says.

Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a sleep specialist at the University of Southern California, explains that mouth tape can be “very dangerous” if you have obstructive sleep apnea, which interrupts the patient’s breathing while sleeping.

Dr. Patel recommends people speak to their GP if they are concerned about mouth breathing at night as they can suggest appropriate treatment.

Consistently breathing through the nose, rather than through the mouth, can provide a range of health benefits, says Mr Nestor.

Many of us breathe through our mouths and too quickly, which can worsen stress responses and anxiety, says Mr. Nestor.

But breathing lightly through your nose can reduce stress levels by lowering your heart rate, which promotes concentration and relaxation, he says.

The NHS recommends breathing slowly through the nose and mouth to control panic attacks.

Research shows that breathing through the nose can also improve athletic performance.

‘Athletic performance is significantly hampered if you breathe too much. “Most athletes breathe way too much because they think they will have more energy, when the opposite happens,” says Nestor.

That’s because breathing slowly through your nose allows you to use more air, experts say.

‘You don’t use the vast majority of the air you breathe. It never reaches the areas in the lungs that can participate in gas exchange. So you just put it in your throat, in your mouth, in the bronchi and exhale without ever using it,” Mr. Nestor said.

So by breathing more slowly, you can use more air.

A 2018 study tested the theory on ten runners. They ran on a treadmill, breathing once through their nose and a second breath through their mouth.

During each run, researchers measured breathing markers such as oxygen consumption, breathing rate and carbon dioxide production.

They found that although the runners consumed the same amount of oxygen during both mouth and nose breathing exercises, the number of breaths they took per minute was lower when they breathed through their nose.

This means that it took less effort for them to breathe the same amount of oxygen through their nose.