Oxygen

Found an excellent site showing and explaining how simple breathing excerises will increase oxygen in-take, water out-take, and help remove free radicals from the blood even for those who are physically restricted.

Offered by Pat.

Oxygen Metabolism, Roger Jahnke, O.M.D., 1996

The human system will begin to disorganize and die after several minutes without oxygen. It is a logical progression of thought that leads to the possibility that altering oxygen metabolism might be curative for diseases that have an oxygen deficiency component to their etiology. Both moderate and vigorous body movement and the accompanying muscle work increase oxygen demand in the cells. Evidence from research in exercise physiology demonstrates that muscular activity accelerates the rate of oxygen uptake from the blood. It has been shown that training and practice increase ventilitory threshold, anarobic threshold and mechanical efficiency. This suggests that regular body movement with increased breath activity supports adaptation toward increased functional efficiency in the uptake and utilization of oxygen from the blood.

One early source (1896) suggests that just the muscular activity of the breath mechanism itself is enough to increase the uptake of oxygen from the blood. This is not a widely accepted idea. However, most traditional systems of medicine include elaborate methods of breath practice. Some exploration of this mechanism for the absorption and utilization of oxygen is being undertaken. A recent animal study demonstrates that the movement of the breathing apparatus alone may generate oxygen demand. Both Qigong and Yoga/Pranayama include breath practices where there is no body movement except of the breathing apparatus itself. Such research suggests that simple breathing techniques alone may increase the amount of oxygen absorbed from the blood. Individuals who are resricted in their movement due to health problems may have access to some of the benefits that have traditonally been reserved for those who do vigorous exercise.