The Backup System For Oxygen
It all starts with ATP.
Adenosine Triphosphate is needed to make proteins and for a protein to move, it takes energy. That energy takes the form of a phosphate group. ATP is then needed for Phosphorylation - which is when a phosphate group attaches or detaches from an amino acid on a protein.
ATP is needed to power the cell and when there is no energy, nothing happens. The cell is dead. This is called thermodynamic equilibrium.
In 1989 biochemist James Blackstock calculated the amount of energy in the form of ATP our bodies use everyday. His calculations suggested our bodies synthesize its own weight in ATP everyday. A 70kg person needs to synthesize 70kg of ATP every day.
But how do we do that? Oxygen!
Oxygen is more important than food for energy/ATP production and it's easy to prove. The world's longest fast without food is 382 days. The worlds longest breath hold is nearly 25 minutes. If we don't breathe, the cell simply has no energy.
It is absolutely necessary to focus on deep nasal breathing, especially while we are sleeping.
Before we dive into this, let’s ask a question;
If body fat is the backup system for food. What is our backup system for oxygen?
The answer is Hypoxia. More specifically, Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1)
HIF-1 is how cells survive when oxygen is not present. HIF-1 is the master regulator of oxygen homeostasis!
Now what happens when we are mouth breathing during the day or even worse, throughout the night while we sleep? We are simply over-saturating the blood with CO2 and not taking in enough oxygen. Our cells are now deprived.
When the cell is deprived of oxygen while we sleep, we are causing "Cyclic Hypoxia" which in turn, causes a re-oxygenation injury. Meaning; a sudden increase of molecular oxygen into a cell that has been hypoxic (deprived of oxygen) will increase oxidative stress and generates ROS (reactive oxygen species).
***Molecular oxygen is a free radical***
There are so many hacks to truly destroy excess hypoxia but for now we will cover the Seattle protocol found in The Immunity Code.
At bedtime:
Mouth Tape (to train the body to breathe through the nose)
Breathe Right Strips (to take in more oxygen through the nasal passage)
Saline Spray (to help the airway passage)
This is a great start for controlling cyclic/intermittent hypoxia.
You can add Niacin with flush (25-50mg) + Zinc (25mg) to aid in lowering inflammation and clearing excess hypoxia within the cell.
Let’s dive a bit deeper and uncover more about the damaging effects of the hypoxia protein, HIF-1.
Excess (which is the key word) HIF-1 caused from oxygen deprived cells can be a major cause of;
IBS: HIF-1 Drives Immune Suppression in irritable bowel syndrome and can be the root cause.
Obesity: HIF-1 directly drives obesity by inhibiting thermogenesis in your adipose mass. M1 Macrophages have excess HIF-1 which = inflamed Fat.
Cancer: HIF-1 modulates “metabolic plasticity” in cancer. It is literally the switch between oxphos and glycolysis.
Nitric Oxide Production: HIF-1 controls iNOS. We see levels of Nitric oxide decline heavily in the aging body.
It is insane how no one is talking about hypoxia, yet it seems to be at the root of disease states like cancer.
Oxygen deprived cells can be the root cause of pretty much everything.
There are many cool hacks to discover around this topic.
Book a coaching session to learn a more focused strategy on how to clear excess HIF-1.
