Oxygen

 

We all know that effective breathing should be unconscious and effortless, but for many people breathing is negatively affected by stress, poor health, underlying medical conditions and respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma or Covid-19. This blog will focus on oxygen and the life-sustaining gas exchange that takes place every time we inhale and exhale, while exploring what makes healthy lungs and healthy levels of oxygen.

 

Oxygen in healthy lungs

Healthy lungs have effective airflow in and out of the lungs, with flexible bronchial tubes and alveoli that inflate and deflate easily with each breath. Healthy lungs keep the blood oxygenated, but if levels of oxygen drop below 90%, this is a cause for concern. People with limited or obstructed airflow will typically have impaired gas exchange as their lungs are unable to take in sufficient oxygen and must work harder to clear excess carbon dioxide.

During the ongoing outbreak of Covid-19, there has been an ongoing concern about abnormally low levels of oxygen in Covid-19 patients, which causes a mismatched air-to-blood flow ratio (common also in many respiratory illnesses including asthma and COPD) and ‘silent hypoxia’.[1] Interestingly, research has shown that low blood oxygen levels can predict the severity of Covid-19.

While contemplating this recently, I also read a brilliant book called The Oxygen Advantage which gives huge insight into nasal breathing to improve oxygen levels. Chronic mouth breathers habitually take in too much oxygen with each breath and ironically have very low levels of oxygen available in their body. Why is this?

The process by which oxygen moves out of the blood stream to the rest of our body depends on the correct balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen in our blood. While some people think of carbon dioxide as a waste gas that is breathed out during an exhale, it is actually very important. What determines how much oxygen your body can use is actually the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood. So, even if you have an optimal amount of oxygen in your blood, this oxygen will not get to your muscles, organs and tissues without the correct amount of carbon dioxide present in blood cells. This physiological principle, used to explain the release of oxygen to working muscles and organs, is known as the Bohr Effect.

Nasal breathing restricts the amount of oxygen coming into the blood stream, helping to regulate the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. Furthermore, nasal breathing is produced inside the nasal cavity, which is another important aspect of nasal breathing. Nitric oxide is as essential gas for the maintenance of good health and the nose is described by McKeown as a ‘reservoir for nitric oxide’.

 

What can we do to promote healthy lungs and healthy levels of oxygen?

Oxygen is one of the most vital nutrients for the brain so if you are suffering from poor brain function or memory problems, it is worth checking that oxygen is being efficiently circulated to your brain.  Vascular dementia (the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s Disease) can be due to poor blood flow therefore low oxygen in the brain.

You can buy a Pulse Oximeter which measures oxygen saturation, blood flow circulation, haemoglobin and pulse rate for between £20-£40 to help you measure the level of oxygen in your blood.

 

Focus on nutrition!

Progressive lung diseases (especially COPD) make breathing difficult due to obstructed airflow (airways are inflamed, damaged or clogged with mucous). In particular, expiration is particularly limited and overall breathing is a conscious effort which can increase resting energy expenditure by up to 15%. Healthy diets with sufficient nutritious calories are necessary to supply these increased energy needs. This can lead to better breathing and support the lungs as they work harder to clear excess carbon dioxide, as well as reduce hypercapnia.[2]

Research also shows how important oral or enteral nutritional support is during non-invasive treatment for respiratory distress:

…the dilemma should not be whether to breathe or to eat; instead, we need to use effectively the combination of new respiratory support devices with the appropriate route for nutritional therapy.[3]

Food intolerances – particularly dairy – can cause an increase in mucous in the lungs. As a personal testimony, I grew up with asthma and eventually, in my early thirties, I cut out dairy from my diet and the asthma went away.  More recently it came back again and then I realised that I was reacting to nuts.  When I avoided these the asthma, again, went away. You may find that identifying food intolerances is a simple way of reducing your own discomfort if you suffer from asthma as well. However, please do not avoid dairy without getting professional advice as you may lack dietary calcium.

 

Focus on effective breathing

As I wrote in a blog post last summer, we want to aim for slow, low and small breathing that moves the diaphragm and not chest and that comes through the nose and not the mouth. Diaphragmatic breathing helps get oxygen down to the lower lungs and to activate the parasympathetic system (rest and digest system). You can read more about the benefits of Optimal Breathing here. 

As we learned above, it is so important to ensure you are breathing through your nose at all times.  Somnifix sleep strips can also help keep your lips comfortably closed while you sleep.

I would also recommend the breathing exercises in this document titled ‘Breathing Techniques‘ in order to ensure abdominal breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing, which has been proven to change the oxygenation levels in your body as well as strengthen the diaphragm.

You may find that HeartMath will be an invaluable tool in this journey of optimal breathing, as I did. It is a great way to balance emotions, calm an overactive mind and replenish energy levels. Please contact me if you would like to explore these self-regulating techniques based on very simple breathing exercises combined with emotional awareness exercises. Or you can read more here.

 

Explore your oxygen levels

Did you know that a breathing rate of six breaths per minute has been shown to reduce hypercapnia and hypoxia.[4] Taking time to develop healthy breathing patterns based on deep, diaphragmatic breathing, as well as good posture and meditation, not only helps with stress but also improves oxygen levels.

You might also be interested in the BOLT test – a simple experiment taken from The Oxygen Advantage that will give you a good example of oxygen levels in your body and also your CO2 tolerance level. You can take the BOLT test here and also read more about how to reduce breathlessness and improve oxygen delivery for better sleep and improved core strength.

 

Improve your oxygen levels!

Here are some of the things that could increase your oxygen levels, help your body utilise oxygen more efficiently and improve quality of life.

• Check for anaemia (either low iron, vitamin B12 and/or folic acid) as this causes an inability to carry and transport oxygen to your cells.  Typically you will feel tired all the time and look pale.

• Get your heart rate up for as quickly and for as long as possible (without hurting yourself!) to help improve oxygen circulation.  This can include skipping, rebound trampolining, sprinting, squat jumps and any other high-intensity aerobic exercise.

• Feverfew extract, butcher’s broom extract, ginkgo biloba, huperzine, and vinpocetine are all herbs which can improve tissue oxygenation.

• Remember plants give off oxygen so they can help increase the oxygen levels in your home. I like Aloe plants for this reason! If you are concerned about air pollution, you might like to get an air-filtration system.

• Avoid chemicals. Try to stay away from chemical-filled candles and air fresheners as they are known to contain carcinogens. Instead use all-natural beeswax candles and plenty of fresh air!

• Increase your water intake. Water is made up of oxygen so by increasing your water consumption you can increase the amount of oxygen in your body.

• Eat oxygen-rich foods. Foods that can naturally increase your blood oxygen levels include green raw foods (such as kale, broccoli and celery), iron-rich foods (such as meats, poultry, fish, and legumes), antioxidants (found in cranberries, blueberries, red kidney beans and dark leafy vegetables) and essential fatty acids (found in soybeans, flaxseeds and walnuts).

 

I did a CPD lecture this morning and my lecture mentioned The Oxygen Advantage and the importance of breathing through the nose. What great timing to have this blog coming out this month.  I hope learning more about oxygen will help you on your journey to better health, as it has helped me on mine! If you would like to know more about my recent research and training on neuro-inflammation which has also inspired this blog post, please see my recent post on ‘Emma’s Activity’.

 

With every blessing,

Emma

 

Emma Maitland-Carew – Registered Nutritional Therapist

Dip.ION, mBANT, CHNC Registered Practitioner,

Metabolic Balance® Coach, HeartMath Coach.

 

 

References

[1] Herrmann, J., Mori, V., Bates, J.H.T. et al. Modeling lung perfusion abnormalities to explain early COVID-19 hypoxemia. Nat Commun 11, 4883 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18672-6.

[2] Ferreira IM, Brooks D, Lacasse Y, Goldstein R. Nutritional intervention in COPD: A systematic overview. Chest. 2001;119(2):353-363. See also Ferreira IM, Brooks D, Lacasse T, Goldstein RS. Nutritional support for individuals with COPD: A meta-analysis. Chest. 2000;117(3):672-678.

[3] Singer, P., Rattanachaiwong, S. To eat or to breathe? The answer is both! Nutritional management during noninvasive ventilation. Crit Care 22, 27 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-018-1947-7

[4] Bernardi, L., Gabutti, A., Porta, C., & Spicuzza, L. (2001). ‘Slow breathing reduces chemoreflex response to hypoxia and hypercapnia and increases baroreflex sensitivity’. Journal of Hypertension, 19(12), 2221-2229.