Claim Check: "Breathwork Detoxes the Body and Releases Toxins"

The claim

Some breathwork classes and posts say that special breathing "detoxes" the body, "flushes out toxins" or "cleanses" the organs.

Our verdict: no good evidence of benefit for this claim

We found no study showing that a breathing practice removes toxins beyond what ordinary breathing already does. Evidence label: marketing claim; Proper evidence not found for toxin removal by breathwork.

What we searched

We searched PubMed for "breathwork AND detoxification" and "breathing exercise AND toxin elimination" and got no results for either. We also read the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) page on detoxes and cleanses and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) description of the lungs. Absence of studies is not proof that nothing happens, but a claim without any study behind it should be treated as unproven.

What breathing does remove

The NHLBI explains that in the lungs, carbon dioxide, a waste gas, moves from your blood to the lungs and is exhaled. [1] That is a real, constant process that happens with every breath, without any special technique. The sources we read do not show that a particular style of breathing removes anything else, and they do not describe a way to measure "toxins" leaving through the breath.

What "detox" means in the research

NCCIH describes "detoxes" and "cleanses" as diets, regimens and therapies suggested as ways to remove toxins from the body, lose weight or promote health. [2] It reports that a 2015 review concluded there was no compelling research to support "detox" diets for eliminating toxins from the body. [2] Those studies were about diets, not breathing, but they show how the word is used: often with little evidence behind it. NCCIH adds that some programs can be unsafe and falsely advertised. [2]

Why the claim sounds believable

• Breathing out carbon dioxide is real [1], so "breathing releases waste" is partly true. The leap is to unnamed "toxins".
• After a session, people may feel calm or tired. Slow breathing studies measure changes such as heart rate patterns, not toxin levels. [3]
• The word "toxins" is rarely defined, so the claim cannot be tested.

Where to go next

For the wider detox picture, see detox and cleanse claims and the claim check Detoxifies the Body. For what breathing practices have been shown to do, see breathwork evidence overview.