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AN INTRODUCTION TO OXYGEN
By
Allen Glonek
Why is oxygen so important?
Oxygen is a fundamental primary nutrient. Without it,
life could not
exist. We know that we can live without food for weeks,
and we can go on a fast without water for between three
to seven days.
But how long can we live without oxygen? Five minutes.
That's how important it is. Oxygen is also one of the most significant anti-aging
components. The more we saturate
our cells with stabilized oxygen (called oxygenation), the lower the
rate of wear and tear on our bodies. Did you know that 90% of our nutritional
energy comes from oxygen, and only 10% is derived from ingested food?
Oxygen has a policing role in our bodies, it's natural ability
to
catabolize or oxidize bacteria, fungi and viruses plays
a very
significant role in preventing degenerative diseases
and sustaining the
natural immortality factor of the cell. Let's consider
this
policing function of oxygen for a moment. We know that
if we were to
take any fungus, virus or pathogenic bacteria (all of
which are responsible for a host of diseases), put these
invaders in a
petri culture dish, then drop stabilized oxygen on them,
they would all die on contact. The challenge, then, is
clear:
get
enough oxygen directly into the cells where these anaerobic
pathogens live.
Oxygen
is also necessary to burn up toxins in the
body, those that we generate internally and those that
come
from outside us in our food (especially junk food), water, and
environment. The purpose of our immune system is to fight
invaders and prevent degenerative
disease. However, the
fulfillment of
this purpose really hinges on the amount of oxygen
saturation in the body. The lower the oxygen content,
the less energy
to fight disease, to burn toxins and to heal. Without
sufficient oxygen, cells cannot function properly and
disease can set in. In the 1940's Nobel Laureate Dr.
Otto Warburg stated emphatically that all disease is
ultimately related to
oxygen starvation. More recently, Dr. Stephen Levine
has
been saying the same thing: "hypoxia,
meaning low oxygen levels in the
cells, results in disease." The
average concentration of
oxygen in the blood stream is between 60 and 70%.
At this level,
people generally feel okay, with average energy and
intelligence. However, if the oxygen level drops below
60%,
disease begins to take over the management of the cells
as
they become overwhelmed by pathogens. The minimum concentration
of
oxygen needed to sustain life is about 52%,
but at this level, one is not very much alive. We can
see that we want
to keep our oxygen supply way above 60%
(optimally around 80%) so that we can maximize
our energy and
feel terrific. If we can get our oxygen level up to about
80%, then we can really detoxify the body, wipe
out infections
and boost our health, vitality and natural intelligence
enormously.
Why aren't we naturally getting enough oxygen?
With millions of square miles of oxygen regenerating
rainforest already
destroyed (and disease growing in our remained
forests), and huge amounts of precious oxygen producing
sea algae
compromised with pollution, our great sources of oxygen
are being severely damaged. Scientific studies reveal
that while 200
years ago the concentration of oxygen in the air was
somewhere between 36 and 38%, recent measurements
show a mere 19%. That's a 50% reduction in what
was available to our most recent ancestors. In some heavily
industrialized areas with high pollution levels, the
oxygen content
can be as low as 9%. Now, imagine being in a typical
urban
setting during rush hour, behind a bus or in a traffic
jam.
It's no wonder that we come home with oxygen deficient
aching muscles,
headaches,
and feelings of irritation and depression, not to mention
foggy thinking. Remember that pollutants deplete
oxygen in the air because oxygen is used to burn these
toxins in the air, just as it does in our bodies.
Just look at the epidemics of both infectious and chronic
degenerative
diseases. Both of these types of illness are indicative
of
a lack of the fundamental nutrient energy needed to create
a rapid,
dependable healing process. The greatest energy source
in
our bodies for killing pathogens and repairing tissue
is oxygen.
Basically, your body starves without oxygen. Oxygen is one of
the most basic needs. Each one of the body's estimated 100 trillion
cells requires oxygen for all of its metabolic processes.
You need oxygen in order to combust foods, to provide energy for the
heart, brain and cells. Without oxygen, the cells will
starve for energy. They become impaired and dysfunctional, they become
vulnerable to invasion from pathogenic organisms
and junk food, pollution and other debris, or they themselves mutate and
begin to attack their healthy counterparts. With a
reduced supply of oxygen, our immune system suffers because it requires oxygen to kill off foreign invaders like viruses, fungi
and pathogenic bacteria. We also need oxygen to burn waste products in
the body, including waste from our metabolic
functions. And oxygen combusts pollutants that are carried in the air,
in food and in water.
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