Weight Loss, Dieting & Obesity

Oxygen Therapy for Weight Loss - Part Two

In Part One, we discussed the theory of Oxygen Therapy for weight loss - then saw how it most likely does not work. Aerobic ("air breathing") exercise is the only form of oxygen therapy that is proven to show benefit for weight loss.

A visitor to this website has offered a more detailed, scientific explanation of this topic. With his permission, I offer his comments here in full and acknowledge his copyright in the following article:

Copyright 2005 © Michael Proctor
http://www.4d2.org

I'm not a doctor, I don't sell prescription drugs, and I'm definitely a proponent of alternative therapies. I believe that science can't dismiss remedies just because it can't explain how they work. However, science has an extremely clear understanding of chemistry and physiology, at least as they relate to oxygen, and it's clear to me, based on this knowledge, that oxygen therapy could not possibly be effective for weight loss.

The chemistry offered up by proponents of oxygen therapy does appear to be straightforward. Fat + O2 -> CO2 + H2O + energy. The problem is that this reaction would never occur spontaneously because a great deal of energy is required to break the bonds between atoms within fat molecules and to get the reaction started. So you'd have to add a great deal of heat. The reaction described above is, in fact, the combustion reaction, which occurs when you burn practically anything containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The heat required to start the reaction is the reason why a candle or a piece of wood, both containing a great deal of stored energy, must be lit with a flame from another source before that energy can be expressed. There is not nearly enough heat present in the body to accomplish this, and if there was, weight loss would be the least of your worries because you'd be on fire.

So adding oxygen to human fat, even in a test tube, would accomplish nothing, because there is not enough energy for the reaction to proceed. It's clear that this reaction does not describe the way fat is broken down in the human body; the body does not burn fat at high temperatures (obviously). In fact, in the body, fat is broken down chemically under a complex metabolic process that liberates the energy stored in the fat. The reaction starts with fat and oxygen, and ends with carbon dioxide and water, but the process is completely different and involves many intermediate steps. The rate at which it proceeds is directly tied to your overall metabolic rate, as are your rate of respiration and heart rate. When you exercise, this process goes into overdrive so more energy can be obtained from fat, which is why your breathing rate and heart rate increase - to supply more oxygen. In simple terms, the body tends to take in what it needs.

But even if you managed to get extra oxygen into your bloodstream, it's unlikely that it would ever even come into contact with fat. Fat is stored in special adipose cells, and oxygen is not present in the bloodstream as oxygen itself, but as oxygen molecules bound to the hemoglobin in our red blood cells. These things cannot act directly on each other like the fat and oxygen in our hypothetical reaction. The oxygen has to be purposefully removed from the bloodstream and carried into the cells that need it, and each individual cell takes in oxygen only when it is required (for example, during exercise). This sort of inert storage is a very common theme in the design of the human body. Most potentially reactive materials are stored in a different form, and some of the most complex systems we have (the lungs, the kidneys, the digestive system) exist to convert molecules between their natural, free form and our metabolically active form.

So taking in more oxygen will probably not increase your ability to burn fat, in the same way that taking 50 times the recommended daily dose of vitamin B12 will probably not give you extra energy. Taking in more of either one will only help if you are deficient. Oxygen deficiency is basically slow suffocation, and it's usually the result of serious - and obvious - cardiopulmonary diseases. The saturation of oxygen in the bloodstream of a healthy person does vary, but usually only within 5% of 100%. If you decide to get that extra few percent by taking deep breaths, go for it. As I discussed above, the mere presence of more oxygen will not cause fat loss; you have to increase your metabolic rate. But performing a deep breathing exercise can reduce your stress levels, and that will benefit nearly every aspect of your health, weight loss included.

The most important warning I can pass along is to those who would seek to take in more oxygen by breathing a mix richer in oxygen than normal air. Some proponents of oxygen therapy actually appear to be doing this.

Beware! Normal air is about 21% oxygen, and breathing richer concentrations of oxygen (usually 50% and up) can actually cause lung damage through a sort of "overload." Another fact that's commonly overlooked is that oxygen, giver of life, is also the source of the harmful "free radicals" that are believed to cause serious damage to the body. That's why certain foods are praised for being high in "antioxidants."

Breathing oxygen-rich gas has been shown to cause increased formation of free radicals. And as I've said, in order to use that extra oxygen to burn fat, you'd still need to exercise to increase your metabolic rate.