June 29, 2021
We all know breathing is important.
That’ll surprise nobody.
But what exactly does oxygen do other than prevent you from passing out? How does your body’s oxygen absorption rates affect your health?
In this article, we’ll dive into important studies about oxygen uptake to answer some of these questions.
Study #1 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It Helps You Perform Physically
You know how when you go on a run your breathing starts to increase? How about when you're lifting weights? Or just moving up the stairs?
That’s because, when your body is in motion, it needs more oxygen than when it’s stationary. And when you are less in shape, you notice that oxygen difference more acutely. Hence why an out-of-shape person might get breathy by the time they make it up the stairs while a more athletic person might have to run a mile or two before noticing a substantial change in their breathing.
To get rid of this out-of-breath problem, you have two solutions. One is short-term and the other is long-term.
The short-term solution is to breathe more. Hence why your breathing gets heavy. After all, if you can only absorb X percent of the oxygen you breathe, and you need more than that to accomplish whatever you’re doing, you need to make up the difference by taking more breaths.
The long-term solution is to strengthen your heart and lungs, while supplementing your body with nutritious foods that help your blood to more efficiently distribute oxygen. Over time things like exercise, sleep, hydration, and nutrition will help you increase the percent of oxygen your body can absorb from each breath which means you can go longer and harder without running out of air.
Study #2 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It Helps Your Body When You’re Sick
When you’re sick, you do everything less efficiently. Sleep feels less restful. Food doesn’t fuel you as well. And every breath you take just doesn’t oxygenate the way it’s supposed to. With some extreme sicknesses, you may even need the help of supplemental oxygen.
Sickness while having a sedentary lifestyle is a health detriment that can affect the very air you breathe. That’s why it’s important to stay as healthy and active as you can. So when you’re sick, your body can use every breath as efficiently as possible. This will, in turn, help your body function as optimally as possible given your sickness, which will help maximize the immune system’s response as well as your body’s natural healing process.
Study #3 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It Helps You Manage Life When Injured
When you’re injured, your body needs to rush more oxygen and nutrients to the site of the injury to help your body heal. And depending on the injury, your body may need more oxygen to just go about daily life.
For example, people who are walking around on crutches may need significantly more oxygen just to walk from place to place. That extra oxygen used while walking takes away from your body’s ability to send extra oxygen to the injured part of the body which desperately needs every bit of help it can get.
But a strong heart, lungs, and healthy diet can help counteract this problem.
Think of it as another variation of the situations mentioned above.
If you take proper care of your body, it won’t tax you as much when something has gone wrong. Meaning your body is better able to handle the stress of sickness and injury.
That’s not to say hobbling around with crutches won’t be exhausting but if you build your health and take care of your body’s cardiovascular system, it will likely tax it less.
Study #4 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It Helps Your Autonomic Nervous System
What’s the autonomic nervous system?
It’s the part of the nervous system that controls your unconscious bodily functions. Your breathing, heartbeat, and digestive processes are all part of your autonomic nervous system. And every part of your autonomic nervous system requires a rich supply of oxygen to function as optimally as possible.
Without an optimal amount of oxygen, your heart won’t beat as well as it could and that means your oxygenated blood won’t go as far as needed. Your digestive tract won’t absorb all the nutrients it needs from our food. These issues compound because it requires that you either go without that optimal nutrition and oxygen (not really a possibility) or you have to consume more of both leading to heavier breathing and a likely excess in calories. And those issues create a negative ripple effect throughout your life if left untreated.
Again, staying fit and healthy where possible is a great solution to this problem because it helps you get more of the oxygen you need which makes the rest of your body as efficient as possible, creating a near-opposite healthy ripple effect across your life.
Study #5 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It’s Good For Your Heart
We already mentioned the link between oxygen and heart health, but it’s worth repeating.
Your heart is responsible for pumping blood to every part of your body. Meaning that it is responsible for providing your entire body with oxygen and nutrition. When you’re getting improper oxygen to your heart, it can not perform as well as it should. When it does not perform well, it has to work harder to achieve the same result as it otherwise would.
Improving your oxygen intake also improves your heart's ability to perform without overexerting.
Study #6 Oxygen Uptake Is Important Because It Helps You As You Age
As you get older, your body won’t hold up as well as it did before. For example, as people age, their bones start losing calcium at a higher and higher rate. The body has a hard time utilizing our body fat. Hearing, eyesight, and muscle mass also decline.
That being said, you don’t have to get older with age.
In fact, studies show with consistent exercise, and the right training regimen, older folks can stay physically active much longer than we generally expect. A big determining factor is the elderly’s ability to improve their oxygen intake so they could continue to exert a consistent exercise-paced amount of physical activity.
Support Your Body’s Oxygen Uptake Abilities With Sun Chlorella
Your blood needs B12 to stay healthy. And healthy blood helps your body get the oxygen it needs to function optimally. Additionally, chlorophyll may help support the production of red blood cells.
If you’re looking to support your blood oxygen intake, you can do so by supplementing your nutrition with healthy foods like chlorella.
If you’re looking for high-quality chlorella products, you need not look further than Sun Chlorella. Begin shopping today!