The 5 ways enhanced oxygen intake leads to weight loss

1. OXYGEN OPTIMIZES SLIMMING NUTRIENTS

The digestive tract is lined with tiny fingerlike projections called intestinal villi.  Their task: to absorb calcium, iodine, essential fats, amino acids and dozens of other metabolism-boosting nutrients.  But to do this effectively, intestinal villi require a great deal of oxygen – more than most tissue in the body.  And when oxygen is in short supply (as it is for almost 90 percent of us, thanks to shallow breathing), the ability of villi to absorb nutrients plunges by as much as 72 percent, according to research at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.  “But when oxygen intake improves, nutrient absorption is enhanced within minutes, boosting metabolic rate by as much as 30 percent,” says nutritionist Marc David, author of The Slow Down Diet (Healing Arts Press, 2005).

2.  OXYGEN UPS LEVELS OF FAT-BURNING ENERGY

“Steady weight loss and high energy are dependent on the quick conversion of food and fat into tiny packets of usable energy called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP,” explains clinical nutritionist Susan M. Lark, M.D., coauthor of The Chemistry of Success (Bay Books).  But in order for this to happen, cells need to be bathed in fluid that’s slightly alkaline (a pH above 7).  “Oxygen is alkaline,” notes Dr. Lark.  “So deep breathing keeps cells oxygenated, helping the body to easily maintain an ideal pH.  And that’s the key to optimal ATP production.”

3.  OXYGEN USHERS OUT FAT-PACKING TOXINS

Rapid removal of pesticides, preservatives and other toxins is essential for fast, easy weight loss, suggests research at the University of Stirling in Scotland.  Scientists there discovered that as cellular toxin levels rise, the thyroid, adrenals and other weight-regulating glands become sluggish.  Plus, in an attempt to protect these vital organs, the body forms additional fat as storage for toxins.  The good news:  Up to 70 percent of toxins are easily converted into gases that are expelled through deep breaths, so proper breathing can dramatically lessen one’s toxin load.  In fact, according to studies at California’s Sansum-Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic, simply breathing slowly and deeply (to maximize the oxygen inhaled and the carbon dioxide and wastes exhaled) increases the release of fat-packing toxins by as much as fifteen fold.

4.  OXYGEN OXIDIZES EXISTING BODY FAT

The first step in breaking down stored fat is to combine it with oxygen molecules, or to oxidize it.  Incredibly, research at the International Breath Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and elsewhere reveals that most people use less than 25 percent of their lungs’ two-gallon capacity, which greatly shortchanges weight-loss potential.  But when people improve their breathing and maximize their oxygen intake, they more than double the amount of body fat they oxidize and burn each week.

5.  OXYGEN SHORT-CIRCUITS STRESS HORMONES

Keeping the bloodstream oxygenated calms the entire central nervous system, lowering production of the stress hormone cortisol by as much as 50 percent in 10 minutes.  In fact, studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggest that women simply need proper oxygenation to avoid the leading cause of diet-sabotaging binges: cortisol overproduction due to nonstop stress.  “When oxygen levels are high and the nervous system is calm, the pancreas responds by reducing its production of fat-storing insulin,” explains David.  The result: You are less likely to convert the food you eat into body fat!

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