Skip to Technical Discussion of Oxygenation

It's lunchtime in Tokyo, Japan. The smog hangs in a thick, ugly layer over the narrow streets as tens of thousands of automobiles compete with pedestrians and bicycles for a pathway through the congested city.

On this narrow street in Tokyo is a small shop where customers enter the shop looking haggard and seemingly out of breath. A few minutes later, they emerge from the shop smiling broadly, a new spring in their step and looking as if they had undergone a complete emotional and physiological makeover.

What is happening in this little shop is also happening in Beijing, China, Toronto and Los Angeles. A peek into these shops reveals a row of customers sitting quietly in chairs reading newspapers, having a cup of herbal tea or orange juice or dozing--but each customer has an oxygen mask over their face.

Each of these oxygen-starved customers is paying $16 to inhale pure oxygen(O2) for 20 minutes. in an OXYGEN BAR

A few years ago, we used to say that we would eat crow before we had to pay to obtain pure drinking water. Now, water stores and bottling companies provide over one third of all Californian's with better drinking water. A multi-billion dollar industry has risen from the need for pure drinking water. Is it possible that we now will have to begin paying to obtain the necessary oxygen for our body?

This "oxygenation" phenomenon is not going un-noticed in the beverage industry where dozens of juice and water bottlers are preparing to introduce various types of oxygenated beverages into health food and convenience stores as well as the larger supermarkets. Already, Wall Street is announcing this new oxygenated beverage market as a billion dollar bonanza for potential investors.

The innovative concept that underlies this new phenomenon is one of placing pure oxygen(O2) in various beverages, such as spring or purified water. The beverage "holds" that oxygen, somewhat like carbonated beverages hold carbon dioxide and then releases the oxygen directly into the body's cells faster, more efficiently and far more economically than inhaling $16 worth of oxygen in one of the "Oxygen Bars" described above.

The difference between a carbonated drink and a properly oxygenated beverage is that in a carbonated drink the carbon dioxide dissipates rapidly after the bottle is opened. The carbonated beverage becomes "stale" or "flat" while a properly oxygenated beverage will hold the dissolved, pure oxygen long after the bottle is opened.

The oxygenated beverage is usually bottled in a standard 1/2 or 1 liter PET(recyclable bottle) and contains oxygen in a concentration sufficient to provide significant physical energy boosts for the athlete while reducing pulse rates by 5-15 beats per minute; a shocking increase in mental acuity and clarity for the office worker or laborer, or a healthier "upper" than coffee for the airlines pilot, the public safety officer on the night beat or the long haul truck driver.

Because of the high oxygen concentration, only a few ounces of the oxygenated beverage are consumed at a time. However, consuming the entire bottle in one sitting will not create any problems except perhaps to begin a cleansing cycle where the oxygen breaks down and disposes of toxins in the bloodstream by an oxidation process.

All of this for about a dollar and a quarter per half liter--with no caffeine, stimulants or side effects.

Actually, the idea of using oxygen in beverages is not new. In addition to steroids, the Soviet Union and Eastern European Olympic teams have used various "oxygen cocktails" for years, dominating all medal categories and causing US Olympic coaches to scratch their heads when the Soviet players showed far more stamina and consistently physically outplayed the better coached US teams.

Oxygenated beverages may well become the most popular non-carbonated drink in several decades, replacing the addictive, sugary "energy" drinks which one often sees on the sidelines on Monday Night Football,

The idea of replenishing the body's electrolytes using various juices is a good idea--but these electrolyte "energy" juices provide little or no benefits when strenuous activity drains oxygen from the body(hypoxia). Without rapid and intensive oxygen replenishment, tissue breakdown may begin to occur.

To be sure, I cannot recall ever seeing a professional football or soccer player actually swallow a so-called "energy" drink on the sidelines. They only rinse their mouth with it, spit it out and then reach for the oxygen mask.

So, why is oxygen such an important factor in our body's operation? Next to pure water, oxygen(O2) is the natural element required for the effective operation of ALL body systems. Unfortunately, we are not getting sufficient levels of oxygen through breathing, even when we exercise, since we live in an oxygen-deficient environment.

Severe urban pollution drops usable oxygen levels to less than 20%, perhaps half the oxygen levels which unpolluted, rural environments provide and only a third of oxygen levels which existed thousands of years ago.

Our brain makes billions of electrical decisions per second, as rapidly as some of the world's fastest computers. Oxygen is essential to proper neurological activity. Deprived from oxygen, the brain can cease to function in less than 6-7 minutes.

Similarly, pure oxygen(O2) is an essential ingredient in any body metabolic function related to proteins, carbohydrates and energy. Without oxygen, there is no energy. Without a continuing supply of external oxygen(via air, water or foods), the body cells, tissue and organs begin drawing on internal oxygen reserves and may deplete these reserves to the level that these reserves are subsequently not adequate to fight pathogens and incoming free radicals, both of which can create unsavory health problems.

Before oxygenated drinks were possible, scientists and medical personnel had to rely on "surrogate" methods of providing higher levels of oxygen to the body. Many forms of oxygen were used to conduct this so-called "oxygen therapy".

Hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) and ozone(O3) were, and continue to be used, primarily outside of the orthodox medical community, as a means for such oxygen therapy. The positive oxidation effects obtained by hydrogen peroxide and ozone, both of which are recognized as free radicals, do not come without a price--in some cases that price can be serious side effects.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved ozone or hydrogen peroxide therapy and because of the known side effects of such procedures, the legality of such procedures varies from state to state.

Additionally, various types of "stabilized oxygen" products have found their way into the health and nutrition markets. These "stabilized" oxygen products do not use natural oxygen but rely on the use of various chemical compounds, including chlorine, to extract or release reserve oxygen from cells rather than providing additional oxygen to the body's cells, tissue and organs. We know of no products in this category which have FDA approval.

By comparison, the use of pure oxygen(O2) is becoming increasingly popular in a widening array of conventional and acute medical situations. Traumas such as crash injuries, burns, gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning and other serious conditions routinely use pure oxygen to both facilitate healing and prevent infection. One such popular medical process is called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy(HBOT), where the patient is placed in a sealed tube and subjected to pressurized pure oxygen for 30-120 minutes.

The main difference in these cases is that the type of oxygen is a natural oxygen, O2, versus a "derivative oxygen" obtained by ozone, hydrogen peroxide or chlorine dioxide-type compounds used in so-called "stabilized" oxygen products.

Unfortunately, the response of the orthodox medical community to oxygenated beverages has ranged from tepid to derogatory to say the least. While we know of no oxygenated beverage bottling or manufacturing operation which is making medical claims, the testimonials coming in daily clearly indicate that some surprising physiological effects are occurring after the use of oxygenated beverages. The medical community needs more convincing, through the types of tests described elsewhere in this section on structured water.

Beverage bottlers are now taking this "natural" form of oxygen(O2)--oxygen which has conclusively demonstrated itself to be highly "bio-available", or having characteristics which allow it to enter the bloodstream quickly and efficiently, and trying to put it in a dissolved form into their beverages.

Some bottlers use high pressure, low temperature, rapid mixing, or a combination thereof to achieve temporary, elevated oxygen concentrations in their beverages. These processes do not use natural energy effects and consequently the effectiveness of holding the dissolved oxygen in the beverage is poor.

Others have found more advanced, natural techniques for bonding the pure oxygen into the beverages--and subsequently holding the oxygen in the beverage for extended periods of time.

Some companies have determined that simply "mixing up" or "stirring in" some oxygen in water does not necessarily guarantee that the oxygen will be carried into the body's cells nor arrive there in a healthy, bio-available format.

Several companies have begun licensing or selling their oxygenation technologies worldwide to high-speed bottling operations involved in water, aloe, herbal, homeopathic and cosmetic manufacturing where the introduction of pure dissolved oxygen in these products can be revolutionary to say the least.

Combining pure oxygen, pure water, and nutritional supplements may create hundreds of new products for the beverage and nutritional industries.

The ability to "bring oxygen home" to the body's bloodstream quickly and efficiently has been a dream of scientists and medical personnel worldwide for the last hundred years. Now, it seems that these successful processes have a bright and useful future in the commercial arena.

Now, the average individual, be they a sports enthusiast, a senior citizen, a youngster playing soccer or little league baseball, an airlines pilot who experiences "hypoxia" or oxygen deprivation at high altitudes, the individual who always seems to be "tired" or who simply "can't catch their breath" or the millions of other individuals who simply want an additional energy surge and mental clarity during their workday can now obtain pure oxygen, mixed with pure water, in an energizing and refreshing drink, free from sugary or caffeinated additives.

All this in a portable, disposable water bottle, without the need for an oxygen mask, expensive health foods, complicated medical treatment or questionable "pseudo-oxygen" sources such as ozone or hydrogen peroxide.

Remember: pure, natural oxygen(O2) is a very powerful catalyst for body energy. Taking oxygenated beverages before retiring for the evening may result in a sleepless night. They are best used in the morning or afternoon hours, during tedious physical or mental jobs or during and after strenuous exercises when oxygen demands by the body are highest.

Using an excessive amount of oxygenated water may induce a detoxification or cleansing process. This may be especially true if environmental pollution continues at its alarming rate and if Americans continue to look for better ways to improve their health and physical stamina at either work and play.

A SPECIAL NOTICE: since this above article has been written, we have learned from a number of well-known medical journals that oxygen in excessive amounts can seriously damage the DNA and reduce the expected lifetime of cells. What can be considered "excessive" is certainly open to discussion.

In addition, many of these deleterious effects may be due to improper "bonding" of the oxygen in the beverage(s) as well as the possible (mis)use of ozone as a source for oxygen in these beverages.

EXPERT OPINIONS ON OXYGENATED WATER

HOW OXYGENATED WATER IS MADE