WHY DO WE NEED OXYGEN?

Oxygen is essential for sustaining life through aerobic respiration in humans and animals. It is arguably the most crucial "nutrient" for survival. While we can survive for a few days or weeks without food and water, the absence of oxygen limits our lifespan to just a few minutes.

Oxygen plays a vital role in the production of energy within our cells, specifically in the mitochondria. Mitochondria are tiny power generators that convert glucose and fats from our food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - the molecule that supplies energy for all cellular processes. Inside the mitochondrial inner membrane, oxygen serves as the terminal electron acceptor in the oxidative electron transport chain, a series of biochemical processes. This chain leads to the synthesis of ATP, with water and carbon dioxide being harmless by-products. In other words, in the presence of oxygen, glucose is efficiently "burned" in the mitochondria, generating ample energy (ATP) without producing toxic waste.

This oxygen-dependent process can be considered a clean energy pathway, contributing to the body's efficient energy production and minimizing the production of harmful by-products.

NORMAL WAYS THAT OXYGEN GETS TO YOUR CELLS

The air we breathe contains approximately 20% oxygen. When we inhale, the air travels into small airspaces in the lungs called alveoli. These alveoli have thin membranes that allow for the transfer of oxygen to the blood, which is carried by tiny blood vessels that wrap around the alveoli.

• How is oxygen carried in the blood?

Oxygen is not very soluble in the plasma (the watery part of blood) under normal air pressure, especially at sea level. As a result, the amount of oxygen dissolved in the plasma, known as "dissolved oxygen," is typically low. The majority of oxygen is carried inside red blood cells, bound to a red blood pigment called hemoglobin. When the lungs function properly, all the hemoglobin in the blood cells becomes saturated with oxygen, while the plasma contains only minimal amounts of dissolved oxygen. Only when atmospheric pressure increases can more oxygen be dissolved in the plasma.

• Delivering oxygen to the cells

The oxygen carried by red blood cells is distributed throughout the body, supplying oxygen to tissue cells. For a cell to receive oxygen from hemoglobin, it must release carbon dioxide, a gas produced when glucose is converted into energy by the oxidative electron transport chain mentioned earlier. This exchange occurs through changes in acidity caused by carbon dioxide and is known as the Bohr Effect.

• How does oxygen exist inside your cells?

Before oxygen can enter our body cells, it must first dissolve in water. This is because our cells have a high water content of approximately 60%, and all the cellular activities that require oxygen for energy production occur within this watery environment. Oxygen needs to be transported through the watery interior of cells and into the watery interior of mitochondria, where it can be used to produce energy (ATP). Dissolved oxygen is crucial for the utilization of oxygen by the cells.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS INSUFFICIENT OXYGEN (HYPOXIA)?

This is where it gets a little technical! Hypoxia is a state in which the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. In this state, cells generate energy (ATP) in a different location outside the mitochondria, due to the mitochondria’s inability to power up the electron transport chain to ‘burn’ glucose without oxygen. Outside the mitochondria, the cell uses anaerobic glycolysis (oxygen-less sugar breakdown) to generate ATP. This method, however, is inefficient and gives a poor yield of ATP, producing 16 times less energy than by the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Furthermore, making ATP in the absence of oxygen does not produce carbon dioxide. Instead, a less pleasant by-product, lactic acid, is formed. Lactic acid lowers the pH level of your cellular environment, making the cell environment very acidic and unpleasant for the cells. This is what happens after intense exercise during which your muscles run out of oxygen, leading to hypoxia and lactic acid production. Lactic acid accumulation from strenuous exercise is a factor that shortens endurance and impairs your ability to do further exercise.

"THE TRUE CAUSE OF ALLERGY IS LOWERED OXIDATION PROCESS WITHIN OUR BODIES, CAUSING THE AFFECTED INDIVIDUAL TO BE ABNORMALLY SENSITIVE TO ENTERING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES. ONLY WHEN THE OXIDATION MECHANISM IS RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL HIGHEST REQUIREMENT OF EFFICIENCY CAN THE SENSITIVITY BE ELIMINATED."

Dr. Wendell Hendricks from Hendricks Research Foundation.