For anyone with an interest in health, human physiology, or the science behind everyday habits, Breath delivers exceptional range and accessibility. Its commercial and critical footprint speaks for itself: the book debuted at number seven on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, spent 18 weeks on that list, sold over two million copies worldwide, and won the American Society of Journalists and Authors award for Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020. Kirkus Reviews praised it as 'a welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system,' and The Boston Globe noted that Nestor succeeds at explaining both the basics and the more complicated aspects of breathing properly. The key caveat is for readers who demand strictly peer-reviewed conclusions — science writer Sam Kean and others have questioned whether the evidence fully supports some of Nestor's broader claims, particularly around ancient breathing practices.

James Nestor

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Reviewed

February 16, 2026

Read Time

8 min read

Age & reading levelAdult

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4.7 · 32,270 Amazon ratings

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Breath

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor Review: A Landmark Popular Science Bestseller

by James Nestor

James Nestor's Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art is a popular science book that blends history, science, and personal investigation to make the case that modern humans have forgotten how to breathe — and are paying a steep physiological price. First published by Riverhead Books on May 26, 2020, the book became an international phenomenon, debuting at number seven on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and spending 18 weeks on that list in its first year. It has since sold over two million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 35 languages. Kirkus Reviews named it "a welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system," and it won Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020 from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

$16.53 on Amazon

Adult

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Curious general readers who want to understand how breathing affects their health and are open to a journey through ancient wisdom, modern pulmonology, and one journalist's self-experimentation — without needing clinical-grade evidence at every turn.

Worth it if

You're drawn to wide-ranging popular science that blends history, physiology, and practical technique, and you appreciate a journalist's knack for making complex biology both urgent and readable.

Skip if

You're a clinician or evidence-based-medicine reader who will bristle when a journalist's confidence in ancient breathing practices outruns the peer-reviewed support beneath it.

What readers & critics say

Kirkus Reviews awarded it a starred "Get It" verdict, calling it "a welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system" and praising its "readable treatise" on a subject half the population is getting wrong. According to the Wikipedia reception summary, the book became an international bestseller — over two million copies sold, 35-plus languages — while some reviewers, including science writer Sam Kean, raised skepticism about whether the evidence fully supports Nestor's broader claims around ancient breathing exercises.

“A welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system — a readable treatise on improving the way we breathe.”

— Kirkus Reviews

Sources: Kirkus Reviews, Wikipedia

4.7from 32,270 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

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Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor is a popular science investigation into how modern humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly — and the wide-ranging physiological consequences of that failure. Grounded in ten years of research spanning ancient medical traditions, Stanford pulmonology labs, and Nestor's own self-experimentation, it is an unusually accessible and wide-ranging case for a profoundly simple intervention. It is essential reading for anyone curious about the intersection of health, evolutionary biology, and everyday habit — with the caveat that readers who demand tightly hedged, peer-reviewed conclusions at every turn may find Nestor's journalistic confidence occasionally ahead of the evidence.

Is it worth reading?: For anyone with an interest in health, human physiology, or the science behind everyday habits, Breath delivers exceptional range and accessibility. Its commercial and critical footprint speaks for itself: the book debuted at number seven on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, spent 18 weeks on that list, sold over two million copies worldwide, and won the American Society of Journalists and Authors award for Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020. Kirkus Reviews praised it as 'a welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system,' and The Boston Globe noted that Nestor succeeds at explaining both the basics and the more complicated aspects of breathing properly. The key caveat is for readers who demand strictly peer-reviewed conclusions — science writer Sam Kean and others have questioned whether the evidence fully supports some of Nestor's broader claims, particularly around ancient breathing practices.
Similar books: Readers drawn to Breath's blend of personal investigation and health science will find much to enjoy in the curated selections below. Wim Hof's The Wim Hof Method is the most direct companion read, covering breathing techniques and cold exposure from the practitioner's own perspective. For a broader evidence-based approach to longevity and preventive health, Peter Attia MD's Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity covers similar territory with a clinician's rigour. Jon Kabat-Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living examines how mindfulness and breath-based practices intersect with stress and illness, while Gabor Maté's When the Body Says No explores the physiological toll of suppressed emotion — a thematic complement to Nestor's argument about the body's hidden signals. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food offers a useful parallel: a journalist making a paradigm-shifting case that modern habits have quietly undermined a fundamental human practice.
Who should read this?: Breath is most squarely aimed at adults with a curiosity about health, human physiology, or the science underlying everyday habits — particularly those who enjoy popular science written with journalistic momentum rather than academic density. It also speaks directly to anyone dealing with breathing difficulties, sleep issues, or chronic stress, given its emphasis on actionable, concrete techniques like the 'perfect breath.' Readers who enjoy the paradigm-challenging popular science of authors like Michael Pollan — journalists making a case that modern habits have quietly undermined something fundamental — will find Nestor's approach immediately familiar and compelling. Those who require strictly peer-reviewed conclusions at every step may find the book's reach occasionally exceeds its evidentiary grasp.
About James Nestor: James Nestor is an author and journalist whose work has appeared in Outside, Scientific American, Dwell, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Men's Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, among other publications.
What are the main themes?: The book's central theme is the argument that modern humans have abandoned nasal breathing in favour of chronic mouth breathing, with measurable consequences for health and longevity — a shift Nestor links partly to processed-food consumption altering jaw structure over generations. Beyond that, Breath explores the tension between ancient wisdom and modern science, examining whether millennia-old practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo hold up under contemporary scrutiny. A third thread is the accessibility of the fix: Nestor consistently emphasises that correct breathing is free and universally available, framing it as one of the most democratically accessible health interventions imaginable.
What are the book's weaknesses?: The most substantive criticism of Breath comes from science-focused reviewers who question whether the evidentiary case fully supports all of Nestor's conclusions — science writer Sam Kean, for instance, expressed scepticism about claims regarding the benefits of ancient breathing practices. The book is written from a journalist's perspective rather than a clinician's, which means it synthesises findings across disciplines with a degree of confidence that not every specialist shares. Readers who prefer their popular science tightly hedged and peer-reviewed at every turn may find the book's ambition occasionally outpaces its caution. These are, as the review notes, characteristic tensions of ambitious popular science — and they have not prevented Breath from resonating with a global audience of over two million readers.

Summarize this book

Is it worth reading?

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About James Nestor

What are the main themes?

What are the book's weaknesses?

Summarize this book

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art argues that modern humans have collectively forgotten how to breathe — shifting from nasal breathing to chronic mouth breathing with serious consequences for health and longevity. James Nestor grounds this claim in ten years of research, traveling to ancient burial sites, Soviet-era research facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and São Paulo while collaborating with pulmonary researchers at Stanford University. The book synthesizes thousands of years of medical texts with cutting-edge pulmonology, psychology, and biochemistry, tracing part of the shift to processed-food consumption altering jaw structure over generations. It closes with concrete guidance, including Nestor's description of 'the perfect breath': a 5.5-second inhale through the nose followed by a 5.5-second exhale, yielding 5.5 breaths per minute.

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A global bestseller grounded in ten years of research, Breath makes the case that the most fundamental human act has gone dangerously wrong — and that the fix is simpler than anyone expects.

What the Book Is and What It Argues

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art is a popular science book by science journalist James Nestor, first published by Riverhead Books on May 26, 2020. Its central argument is deceptively radical: humans, as a species, have lost the ability to breathe correctly, and this failure carries serious consequences for health and longevity.

Nestor structures the book as a wide-ranging investigation — drawing on medical texts spanning thousands of years alongside cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology — to examine how and why modern humans shifted away from nasal breathing toward chronic mouth breathing. The book traces this shift, at least in part, to the rise of processed-food consumption, which altered jaw structure over generations.

As Nestor puts it in one of the book's anchoring lines: "No matter what we eat, how much we exercise, how resilient our genes are, how skinny or young or wise we are — none of it will matter unless we are breathing correctly."

Scope and Research Ambition

What distinguishes Breath from a narrow self-help title is its extraordinary geographic and disciplinary range. Nestor travels to ancient burial sites, Soviet-era research facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo in pursuit of answers.

He teams up with pulmonary researchers at Stanford University and tracks down practitioners of ancient breathing techniques — Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo among them — to examine whether millennia-old wisdom holds up under modern scrutiny. Nestor also draws on his own first-person experiences with breathing difficulties, framing the investigation as personally motivated as well as rigorously reported.

This combination of self-experimentation and institutional science is one of the book's defining structural choices. The research behind it spans a decade.

Reception and Cultural Reach

The book's commercial and critical footprint is substantial and well-documented. Breath debuted at number seven on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and spent 18 weeks on that list during its first year of publication.

It became a bestseller in Germany, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the United Kingdom, and by April 2023 had sold over two million copies worldwide after being translated into more than 35 languages. It won the American Society of Journalists and Authors award for Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020 and was a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize in 2021.

Critics called it a "fascinating treatise" on breathing, while Kirkus Reviews praised it as "a welcome, invigorating user's manual for the respiratory system." Writing in The Spectator, psychiatrist Kate Womersley characterized the book as "playful and optimistic" for its blend of science, self-experimentation, and ancient technique.

Genuine Strengths: Accessibility and Synthesis

One of the book's most praised qualities is its ability to make technical science readable without flattening it. Kirkus Reviews noted that Nestor succeeded in delivering a "readable treatise," while the Wikipedia-sourced reception summary records that Stuart Miller of The Boston Globe wrote that Nestor succeeded at explaining both the basics and the more complicated aspects of breathing properly.

The book's synthesis is genuinely unusual: it moves fluidly between ancient spiritual traditions — prana, chi, pneuma, atma — and peer-reviewed pulmonology, treating neither as inherently superior. Nestor also provides concrete, actionable guidance within the text, including his description of "the perfect breath": a 5.5-second inhale through the nose followed by a 5.5-second exhale, yielding 5.5 breaths per minute — a finding he presents as free and universally accessible.

Limitations and Who May Push Back

Breath is not without its critics, and readers with a strong background in evidence-based medicine may find points of friction. As Wikipedia's reception summary notes, some reviewers, including science writer Sam Kean, expressed skepticism about Nestor's claims regarding the benefits of ancient breathing exercises, questioning whether the evidence fully supports the broader conclusions drawn.

The book is written by a journalist, not a clinician or academic researcher, and it synthesizes findings across disciplines with a degree of confidence that not every specialist shares. Readers who prefer their popular science tightly hedged and peer-reviewed at every turn may find the book's wide-ranging ambition occasionally outpaces its evidentiary caution.

That said, these are the characteristic tensions of ambitious popular science writing — and Breath has demonstrably reached, and resonated with, a global audience that most science books never approach.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

Cited in this review
1
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
barnesandnoble.com
2
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor - Linden Tree Books
lindentreebooks.com
Further reading
3
James Nestor — author profile
James Nestor, LuvemBooks
4
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
5
BREATH | Kirkus Reviews
kirkusreviews.com
6
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art | Improve Your Breath Now — MRJAMESNESTOR
mrjamesnestor.com
7
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art James Nestor
bookshelfdiscovery.com
8
Book Review: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor – Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing)
writeoutloudblog.com
9
All Book Marks reviews for Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor Book Marks
bookmarks.reviews
10
Review: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor - This Chick Reads
thischickreads.com

Age & Reading Level

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Adult

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who it suits

Skip if you require strictly peer-reviewed, clinician-authored conclusions and won't tolerate journalistic confidence outpacing the evidentiary record.

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Books like Breath

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If you liked Breath

In our catalogue

The Wim Hof Method

Wim Hof

Same breath-as-medicine premise, but Hof's approach is experiential and cold-exposure-driven — ideal for readers who want a practice, not just a science case.

Where Nestor builds his argument through research labs and historical medicine, Wim Hof anchors his in decades of personal extremity — ice baths, breath holds, and Himalayan climbs in shorts. Both books treat controlled breathing as a lever for the autonomic nervous system, but Hof gives you a step-by-step protocol from page one. Readers who finished Breath hungry to actually do something will find this the most direct next step.

In our catalogue

Outlive

Peter Attia

Rigorously evidence-based longevity science with the same self-experimenter energy — expands Breath's physiological lens to sleep, exercise, and metabolic health.

In our catalogue

Full Catastrophe Living

Jon Kabat-Zinn

The definitive clinical case for mindful breathing and body awareness — shares Breath's evidence base but adds structured Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction practice.

In our catalogue

When the Body Says No

Gabor Maté

Explores how chronic stress and suppressed emotion manifest as physical disease — the emotional counterpart to Breath's case that modern habits damage physiology.

In our catalogue

In Defense of Food

Michael Pollan

Same 'we've been doing a basic human thing wrong for decades' thesis — Pollan on eating, Nestor on breathing — written with identical journalistic accessibility.

Not your thing?

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Michael Moss

For readers who wanted harder investigative journalism and less self-experimentation — Moss is a Pulitzer-winning reporter exposing industry manipulation with no first-person detours.