Nasal Instinct
The Case for Nose Breathing Products
A couple years ago I woke up one morning to a life changing image. Since nothing in marriage should be secret, my wife showed me a video she had taken of me sleeping the night before. It was appalling, to say the least. My mouth was hung open, my snoring was heavy, and my breathing looked more like I was gasping for air. I now knew why I had a habit of waking up randomly throughout the night, to go along with a terrible sore throat.
My wife had been trying to get me to “mouth tape” around this time, hoping the result would be better sleep for everyone, especially her. Like most people, I found the idea of taping my mouth shut at night (or any time) to be incredibly invasive. Ultimately, after seeing my sleep habits on video (along with a very stern request), I gave mouth taping a shot. The first night I took it off before I even fell asleep. The second night I made it halfway through the night before I took it off again. The third time and ever since, I kept it on, and have had some of the best sleep of my life since. Consistent sleep, no waking up with a dry sore throat, and a happily rested wife. This got me thinking about what other activities I could optimize with better nose breathing.
If you’ve spent any time in the health and performance space lately, you’ve probably heard the buzz around nose breathing, and for good reason. The way you breathe has a profound impact on everything from your sleep quality to your athletic output. But knowing you “should” breathe through your nose and actually “doing” it are two very different things. That’s where a new generation of products comes in: mouth tape for sleep and nose strips for performance.
Here’s what the science says and the two brands worth knowing about.
Why Nose Breathing Matters
Your nose isn’t just a passageway. It filters, humidifies, and warms the air before it reaches your lungs. More importantly, nasal breathing produces nitric oxide, which is a molecule that dilates blood vessels, improves oxygen delivery, and supports immune function. Mouth breathing bypasses all of that.
Chronic mouth breathing has been linked to poor sleep, snoring, increased anxiety, and reduced athletic performance. Switching to nasal breathing, even part of the time, can meaningfully change how you feel day to day.
The catch? Habits are hard to break, especially when you’re asleep or sprinting
For Sleep: Mouth Tape with Dream
One of the simplest interventions you can make for your sleep is also one that sounds the strangest at first: taping your mouth shut.
Dream is a mouth tape brand designed specifically to train you to breathe nasally through the night. It’s gentle, skin-safe, and comfortable enough that most people forget it’s there within a few nights.
Here’s why it works. When you sleep with your mouth open, you’re more likely to snore, experience airway disruption, and wake up with a dry mouth and groggy head. Mouth breathing during sleep also reduces the amount of nitric oxide your body produces overnight, which is the very time your body is supposed to be repairing itself.
By keeping the mouth closed, mouth tape encourages your body to do what it was designed to do: breathe nasally, slowly, and efficiently. Users commonly report:
Reduced snoring (a game-changer for spouses)
Deeper, more restorative sleep
Waking up without a dry mouth or sore throat
Feeling more rested on the same number of hours
If you’ve tried everything for your sleep and you’re still not waking up refreshed, mouth taping at night might be the missing variable. Dream is a low-cost, low-effort experiment worth running.
For Exercise: Intake Breathing Nose Strips
Now let’s talk about performance.
When you’re running or training hard, your instinct is to gulp air through your mouth. It feels like you’re getting more oxygen that way. But research suggests nasal breathing during exercise, even at moderate intensities, can improve CO₂ tolerance, increase oxygen efficiency, and reduce breathlessness over time.
The problem is nasal airflow resistance. Most people’s noses simply can’t move enough air when they’re pushing hard, which forces them back to mouth breathing. That’s the problem Intake Breathing solves.
Intake’s nasal strips and magnets work by mechanically opening the nasal passages from the outside, reducing airflow resistance and letting you pull in more air with each breath. Unlike internal nasal dilators or the older-style drugstore strips, Intake’s design sits on the bridge of the nose and pulls the nasal passages open laterally without adhesive residue or skin irritation.
The results for runners are notable:
Improved airflow means you can sustain nasal breathing at higher intensities
Better CO₂ regulation leads to a calmer, more controlled breathing pattern
Reduced perceived effort (many runners report their breathing feels easier at the same pace)
Faster recovery between hard efforts
Whether you’re training for a 5K or logging long weekend miles, the ability to breathe more efficiently through your nose can shift your ceiling. You’re not just getting more air, you’re getting air that your body processes better.
Intake offers a starter kit that’s a perfect way to test the product without a big commitment.
Two Products, Two Goals: One Philosophy
What’s interesting about mouth tape and nose strips is that they’re solving the same root problem from opposite ends of the day.
At night, Dream keeps your mouth closed so your body defaults to nasal breathing while you rest and recover.
During the day, especially during exercise, Intake Breathing opens your nasal passages so nasal breathing is physically easier, even under exertion.
Together, they represent a 24-hour commitment to breathing the way your body was built to breathe. And unlike a lot of wellness products, both are grounded in simple physiology rather than hype.
Is It Worth Trying?
If you’re sleeping poorly, snoring, or waking up feeling unrestored, mouth tape is worth a two-week experiment. Dream makes it easy to start.
If you’re a runner or athlete looking for a performance edge that doesn’t come in a supplement bottle, nasal strips are worth a try. Intake’s starter kit is exactly that: a starter.
Neither product asks you to overhaul your routine. They just ask you to breathe better. And sometimes the simplest changes are the ones that stick.