WHY BREATHING TECHNIQUES MAY NOT CLEAR PSEUDO-HYPOXIA

Oxygen is life. You can only live for a few minutes without breathing. Our bodies require the right amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide to sustain life.

When the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratios are off, our bodies sensor this change and engage our back up system, HIF-1. Hypoxia Inducible Factor -1 senses when our O2/C02 ratios are off and kick in our back up system to bridge the gap between a short-term hypoxia state and homeostasis.

Post-workout short-term hypoxia is a normal effect of exercise, depending on the workout, where you might notice a lot of excessive breathing.  This is your body clearing out C02 & taking in more 02 in order to bring the body back into balance.  HIF-1 senses this alteration, and bridges the gap between the lack of 02 and excess C02, basically supporting the tissues to return to balance. This example is the proper use of HIF-1 along with when you Fast & HIF-1 is excellent for the skin too, to name a few.

However, when we stay hypoxic for too long, the HIF-1 bridge stays around too long, and when the oxygen/carbon dioxide levels don’t return to balance, HIF-1 will stabilize in the tissues because it still senses dysregulated oxygen tension.Another name of stabilized HIF-1 is called PSEUDO HYPOXIA. When is stabilized HIF-1 a bad thing?

During Sleep - think sleep apnea

Overweight or Obese - think poor metabolic function, lack of ox phos

Age related accumulation - think fasting too much, too much intense exercise, skin issues, poor metabolic, etc.

WHY BREATHING TECHNIQUES MAY NOT CLEAR PSEUDO HYPOXIA Once HIF-1 stabilizes in the tissues, it stays put!  This effect causes alterations in gene transcription and expression in the TISSUES!

The alterations in the tissues impact the metabolic function of the tissues. Without proper oxygen tension in the tissue, you can’t run your metabolism properly.

Altered metabolics can lead to alterations in the metabolic of your IMMUNE SYSTEM!

When your immune cells don’t have the proper metabolics, the immune cells don’t function properly.Altered 02/C02 tension = warburg metabolism = altered immune function = leads to cancer. Key Point - When HIF-1 stabilizes in the tissues, no breathing technique can touch it!  The problem is now tissue specific and you must clear HIF-1 from the tissues FIRST so that 02/C02 tension can return to normal, leading to Ox Phos metabolism, and a balanced immune system.

WILLIAM MALCOLM

INTUITIVEWELLNESSNOW