Last month we talked about metabolism, so this month I wanted to dive deeper into one of the components of metabolism.
Oxygen is absolutely essential for human life. While there are a few extreme exceptions, most of us can only survive a few minutes without oxygen. The main point of our heart, lungs and vascular system is to move fresh oxygen to the organs, and to move the waste product CO2 out of the body.
How Does Oxygen Impact Our Cellular Energy?
What exactly does oxygen do for our body any way? And while we know completely cutting off the supply can lead to death, what about a hard cardio work out, or chronic low levels of oxygen?
Oxygen is one of the components in a chemical reaction that makes ATP, which is the energy that our body uses. With each breath in, red blood cells pick up oxygen in our lungs and carry it to the cells through out our body. The cells pick up the oxygen and drop off CO2 to the red blood cells which carry it back to the lungs. We breath our CO2. When our cell's need to make more energy to work out harder, to fight an infection or to critically think through a problem they crease more of the CO2 waste product. You will start breathing faster and your heart rate will go up as your body attempts to get rid of the CO2 faster and carry more oxygen to your cells.
When your body can't get enough oxygen, your cells continue to try and make the energy they need to survive without the oxygen, but there are more waste products, like ammonia that start to build up and destroy cells.
Acute Hypoxia
Acute hypoxia happens with events like a heart attack, drowning, a blood clot that cuts off the blood supply to a specific organ in the body or a severe asthma attack. Symptoms include shortness of breath, anxiety, and confusion. Acute hypoxia will likely need to be treated with medications or medical interventions to quickly reverse the cause and get vital oxygen back to your whole system immediately. If the organs cannot get the oxygen they need and the waste products build up too much, they will start to shut down.
Chronic Hypoxia
Chronic hypoxia can be caused by chronic lung issues, heart failure, living at high altitudes, vascular diseases and smoking. There may be a slower build up of waste and you may not even feel the symptoms. Over time though, the organs will still start to shut down, the waste products will start to affect your body, and your heart and lungs will be forced to work hard against unwealthy tissue which will wear them down and could lead to heart and vascular disease. All of this can lead to chronic health problems, mental decline, digestive trouble, slower injury and muscle recovery and even the slow shut down of organs.
How to Optimize Oxygen Levels
You can keep your metabolism running well with cardio workouts so you have a strong healthy heart and blood vessel system. Short states of low oxygen like during a work out can actually help the system learn how to be stronger and bounce back faster when an air supply is cut off. Some people need to wear oxygen or even oxygen with a pressure system to help open the lungs open enough for oxygen to get to the red blood vessels. Some people may need medications like steroids to decrease inflammation in the lungs and allow for oxygen exchange. If your partner says your snore at night, or you wake up feeling tired and unrested, you and your organs may benefit hugely from wearing oxygen at night.
If you have any more detailed questions about how oxygen works in your body please reach out at hello@laurenjhealth.com
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