The most important element of life is oxygen. Just a few minutes without it means certain death, or brain damage. A shortage of oxygen in our cells means we do not have enough physical and mental energy, (your brain takes 25% of all the available oxygen), our cells do not have enough energy to regenerate properly and we leave ourselves open to cancer. Oxygen does a fabulous job – when we get enough of it; and although it is very volatile and can (metaphorically) set our body on fire with free radicals. As long as we eat lots of vegetables and fruit that contain the famous antioxidants, everything can work in harmony.
In a nutshell:
- If we do not have enough oxygen in our body we degenerate rapidly.
- If we do not have enough vegetables and fruit in our diet to provide antioxidants to keep the oxygen free radicals in check we can degenerate rapidly.
The answer is simple, get more oxygen and eat more fruit and vegetables.
How do we get more Oxygen?
There are two things we need to do to improve our available oxygen to our cells.
1. Breathing better
It seems so simple, but the fact remains that you almost certainly breath from your chest instead of from your diaphragm. Those of you who have had singing training will know immediately what I am talking about. If I asked you to take a deep breath you would immediately fill your chest with air and your shoulders would rise. This is the wrong way to get more air into your body. The correct method is to take a deep breath and fill your diaphragm (or tummy) and then your chest. You would take in 3 times more air (and three times more oxygen) than breathing into your chest. ‘Does it matter?’ I hear you say. Well yes; if you breath into your chest then your body will consider this to be a signal that you are under stress and put your body into a stress mode. This mode includes closing down your capillaries (making your limbs colder), closing down your digestive system and upsetting your hormones.
What went wrong with breathing?
The main reason we start to breath into our chest is because we allow our stomach muscles to become flabby and particularly the inside set of muscles that are essential for breathing out – or we were stressed for so long we forgot how to relax. If you do not breath out fully by pulling your stomach in and up underneath your rib cage then of course you cannot get new air into your lungs. It could be said specifically that breathing out is more important than breathing in. When you breath out fully and then let go you cannot help but take in new air. The final part of breathing that is not done correctly is holding the breath for 4 seconds between each part of the breath. The correct pattern of breathing is: breathe in to the count of 4 (your stomach should fill up like a balloon), hold for the count of 4, breath out for the count of 8 (your stomach should deflate and be pulled up under your rib cage), and then hold for another count of 4. Then repeat. You will need to practice this as many times a day until it becomes second nature and you do this without consciously thinking about it. Practice this lying down first with your hands on your stomach level with your navel and feel them rise and fall as you breath.
2. Aerobic Exercise
The second and equally important way of improving oxygen availability is to exercise aerobically. That is, just enough to get out heart beating and our lungs working. Oxygen is needed to help regenerate your cells in your eyes and the rest of your body. It is also needed as the main tool of your immune system to fight germs. Do this for 15 minutes, twice a day initially for a month and then 30 minutes daily for another month, and finally 45 minutes. When you exercise, do not sit down until your time is complete, even if you cannot exercise all of the time. This stops you cutting your exercise time too easily.
Which exercise is best?
You choose what is good for you, but whatever you choose you need to get your heart rate to 180 beats per minute less your age (e.g. a person aged 60 would have an exercise rate of 180 – 60 = 120 beats per minute) and keep that going for one hour every day. If you do not want to buy a heart rate monitor to measure your level of exercise then you should exercise just enough to make it feel slightly uncomfortable. This is not the best way and you should really put a heart-rate monitor on your birthday present list. They cost around £40.00.
The Best
Walking fast for 1 hour every day is the very best exercise that anyone can do. Your arms should be swinging and you should stride out as far as you can. This gets your lymphatic system working to get rid of toxins in your body. Your diaphragm and breathing will start to work in harmony and this exercise will also strengthen your muscles. Dancing is of course a wonderful additional ‘fun exercise’ but remember it is ‘additional’.
2nd Best
Rebounding on a 3 feet wide mini trampoline with a built in handrail to keep you steady. When you get stronger you can start to move your arms and legs.
3rd Best
Running on the spot and all the exercises that you did at school e.g. star jumps and arm exercises.
4th Best
Swimming fast enough to make you breathless. I see many elderly people swimming breaststroke, up and down the pool, in a leisurely manner; and they think they are exercising. When they get out they are never out of breath, what use is that? If you are not breathless then you are not getting any extra oxygen into your body and that is the whole point of aerobic exercise.
N.B. It will also stop you getting heart attack (as long as you get extra nutrition). Heart attacks are the most common reason for premature death.
OxySorb
This is a nutritional supplement that has been the subject of many studies showing that it improves the oxygen level in the body. Whilst I really do recommend that exercise is the better way to improve the oxygen levels in the blood, if you cannot exercise then you must improve the oxygen by another method. Oxysorb is a good and easy way to get that oxygen.