|  Drinkable
Oxygen?
By Del Millers, Ph.D.
Super-oxygenated waters sold under various brand names have been
quite the rave lately. The manufacturers of these waters claim that
their products contain "over 4000 percent the oxygen of normal
bottled waters. Their advertisements also say that the body absorbs
the extra oxygen, resulting in increased blood oxygen levels, reduced
pulse rate, improved stamina, faster recovery time, improved performance,
less fatigue and greater mental awareness and concentration. But
are these waters "perfect for the athlete looking for a competitive
edge or anyone who wants to be truly healthy," as one advertiser
claims, or are you better off drinking regular bottled water?
The theory behind super-oxygenated water
In the body, proper levels of oxygen are needed to support functional
activity and exercise levels. The idea behind these products is
no different than we have seen so many times in the supplement industry.
The emphasis being ‘more is better.’ In this case, if
you can provide more oxygen to the working muscle tissue, then your
muscles can use it to create more energy. Likewise, if your blood
were carrying more oxygen, then your body wouldn’t need to
pump as much oxygen to do a particular activity. The result of which
should be lower heart rate and blood pressure. The big unanswered
question, however, is if you drink oxygen does it have a measurable
effect on blood oxygen levels? In other words, does your body absorb
it, and if it does, can it use it? Let’s find out.
The facts
A recent study conducted at the Human Performance Research Lab at
the University of Wisconsin compared the physical performance effects
of athletes using super-oxygenated water to those using regular
tap water.
Researchers found that drinking super-oxygenated water had no measurable
effect on the subjects resting heart rate, blood pressure or blood
lactate values. Similarly, there was no effect on heart rate, blood
pressure or blood lactate values during either sub-maximal or maximal
exercise tests.
Researchers then conducted a second maximal test immediately following
the first to investigate the effects of super-oxygenated water on
exercise recovery. If, in fact, additional oxygen had been absorbed
into the blood stream and delivered to the tissues, there should
have been measurable reductions in the sub-maximal and maximal exercise
heart rates and blood lactate values. The result was that blood
oxygen levels were not elevated at all or not enough to have a significant
effect on oxygen delivery to the tissues or tissue metabolism.
The bottom line
The truth of the matter is that there is no scientific evidence
to support the claims that super-oxygenated water manufacturers
make. As far as scientist know, there is no physiological mechanism
that allows the body to absorb ingested oxygen through the gut and
then into venous blood. Even if there were, as soon as it passes
through the lungs for the first time the blood would more than likely
release the oxygen.
The only known way of increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood
is to increase the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs by breathing
either hyperoxic ( higher percentage of oxygen) or hyperbaric (greater
pressure than found in the body) oxygen mixtures during exercise.
Both of these techniques have been shown to increase blood oxygen
levels and have resulted in lower exercise heart rates. However,
this technique can only be used during exercise.
The bottom-line? Save your money and buy a good filter for your
tap or drink bottled water. It really doesn’t matter how many
extra milliliters of oxygen advertisers claim to have in their water,
its just not going to get into your blood stream where it can be
used.
— Del Millers, Ph.D. is a fitness and nutrition consultant
and author of three books. Visit his website at delmillers.com
to sign up for his e-mail nutrition newsletter.
DID YOU KNOW:
Did you know that fruit and vegetable capsules
can supply your body with an abundance of nutrients on a daily basis?
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