Toratani Continues the Night Oxygen Flow Project and Releases New Analysis on Breathing During Sleep

Toratani Co., Ltd. in Kahoku City, Ishikawa Prefecture, is continuing its Night Oxygen Flow Project, which aims to clarify the realities of breathing infrastructure during sleep, and has released a new analysis on the latest theme. The project organizes, from a physiological perspective, how shallow breathing affects the autonomic nervous system, blood flow, and metabolism, and will apply these findings to future awareness activities and product development. Breathing is not merely the movement of air in and out. It is a hierarchical engine that drives the body. When breathing becomes shallow, oxygen, the autonomic nervous system, and the internal bodily environment quietly fall out of balance, gradually weakening sleep, metabolism, immunity, and many other functions. Breathing is the most upstream engine of life. The body operates along a single causal line: breathing, then oxygen and the autonomic nervous system, then the internal environment, and finally whole-body function. When breathing is deep, this entire line runs smoothly. When breathing is shallow, the functions of the whole body quietly decline. When breathing becomes shallow, oxygen deficiency occurs first, followed by disruption of the autonomic nervous system. As a result, the internal bodily environment, including metabolism, immunity, and body temperature, becomes unstable. This is the very structure in which a weakened upstream engine causes downstream functions to decline in sequence. The depth of breathing is determined by the physics of sleep. Three factors occur during sleep: changes in airway angle, sinking of the rib cage, and restriction of the diaphragm. These are the physics of breathing under a 90-degree shift in gravity. When a person lies down, the direction of gravity changes, creating a structure in which anyone can more easily experience shallow breathing. Viewed as a hierarchy, improving the quality of breathing upstream in the body is connected to preventing illness and maintaining health. Breathing, oxygen, the autonomic nervous system, the internal environment, and whole-body function are five layers that operate in order from top to bottom. This, the company says, is the essence of the body. Although medicine can measure blood data and heart rate, it cannot directly measure the contents of breathing, such as depth, quality, and angle. For this reason, disordered breathing can accumulate for decades as an invisible form of discomfort, gradually reducing bodily function without being noticed. People breathe 20,000 to 40,000 times a day, and most of those breaths are unconscious. In other words, the quality of unconscious breathing determines the future direction of the body, and therefore the direction of lifespan. People with shallower breathing tend to experience more discomfort because the body’s flow comes to a halt. Moderate breathing that continues unconsciously is the foundation that supports sleep, metabolism, immunity, and other life functions. Its quality determines the direction of physical condition and the direction of lifespan. The 90-degree physics of gravity that acts on the body during sleep disrupts the airway angle, disturbs breathing as the most upstream function, and ultimately causes a domino effect of discomfort throughout the body. Based on its knowledge of three-dimensional structure developed through apparel 3D design, Toratani is systematizing this physics of breathing and applying it to improvements in sleep, posture, and metabolism. This awareness series is based on the apparel 3D design knowledge that representative Ikuo Toratani has cultivated over many years, as well as his own experience of improving his health. The company will continue to share information on the relationship between airway physical structure, sleeping posture, and breathing. The background to the release’s discussion of breathing during sleep, hypoxia, the autonomic nervous system, and cardiovascular risk includes international academic research. Davidson TM. (2003) states that, as a trade-off for bipedal walking and language acquisition, humans have a structural weakness that makes the airway prone to collapse during sleep. Isono S. (2012) states that Japanese people, even without obesity, tend to have smaller jawbones and an ethnic characteristic that makes the airway physically narrower. Somers VK, et al. (1995) state that oxygen reduction caused by hypopnea abnormally activates the sympathetic nervous system even during sleep and disrupts autonomic balance. Lévy P, et al. (2011) state that intermittent hypoxia places strong oxidative stress on blood vessels and can become a root cause of arteriosclerosis and metabolic abnormalities. Company information: Toratani Co., Ltd.; Representative: Ikuo Toratani; Location: Kahoku City, Ishikawa Prefecture; Business: apparel 3D design, sleep and breathing research; Official website: https://toratani-kokyu.jp