You may be breathing inefficiently, and, funnily enough, what you need is CO2.

 

Oxygen is vital for energy metabolism, but for oxygen to reach the cells, the presence of CO₂ is imperative. This is because the supply of O₂ requires a gas exchange (CO₂ and O₂) at the cellular level.

According to an article by www.othership.us, “Carbon dioxide tolerance refers to the body's ability to regulate a temporary imbalance of CO₂ and oxygen. The higher your tolerance, the longer you can hold your breath. Like breathwork, training to increase CO₂ tolerance has gained popularity for its ability to improve physical and mental health!”

 

How CO₂ can improve the utilization of the O₂ you breathe

Mitochondria are the energy centers of cells, where most cellular oxidations occur and most ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is produced.

In the process of cellular respiration, the mitochondrial matrix is not only the final destination of O₂ but also the place where CO₂ is produced.  O₂ and CO₂ must be transported across the cell membrane, the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes, either to reach their destination, in the case of O₂, or to be released outside the cell, which corresponds to CO₂.  

Hemoglobin is a protein in our blood responsible for transporting CO₂ and oxygen. It releases bound oxygen in the presence of higher concentrations of CO₂. And it releases CO₂ in the presence of higher concentrations of O₂.

The relationship between O₂ and CO₂ in the body is explained by the Bohr and Haldane effects:

Bohr - A high concentration of CO₂ in the cells leads to a low pH, i.e., an acidic environment, which causes hemoglobin to unload more O₂ into the cells and absorb CO₂. This is known as the Bohr effect.

On the other hand, a high concentration of O₂ in the lungs causes hemoglobin to unload CO₂ and absorb oxygen. This is what is known in chemistry as the Haldane effect.

 

But why would you want to have higher concentrations of CO₂ in your body besides better oxygen management? The higher the concentration of CO₂ in your mitochondrial matrix, the more efficiently your body can use oxygen and thus produce more energy, and this is thanks to phosphorylation, i.e., the conversion into Adenosine Triphosphate, which is the source of our body's energy to perform all the activities we set out to do.

 

The presence of sufficient CO₂ in the body allows vitamin K to perform its function better, especially the reactions that depend on vitamin K2. If you recall, we take vitamin D3 with K2 to ensure that calcium is deposited in the correct places in our body, i.e., in bones and teeth, while preventing the calcification of soft tissues. This translates into the elimination of what is known as free water or fluid retention, and this is because CO₂, when combined with water, transforms into carbonic acid.  Carbonic acid is hydrophilic, so it quickly leaves the cell, taking with it some of the negatively charged ions, such as calcium and sodium.   But, in addition, vitamin K2 promotes hormonal health. Very important!

The presence of CO₂ is crucial for your gut health. A balanced gut flora has a diversity of good bacteria, known as obligate organisms; and a limited amount of “bad” bacteria or facultative organisms (referring to bacteria that can survive in an oxygen-rich environment). When there is a proliferation of bad bacteria, your gut becomes vulnerable to a myriad of ailments, from predisposition to frequent colds to dysbiosis, candidiasis, irritable bowel, and much more.

For this reason, your colon should be an environment with low oxygen and plenty of CO2 as this ensures the proliferation of good bacteria capable of breaking down complex carbohydrates and providing short-chain fatty acids to our cells.

 

When there is a lack of O₂ in the tissues, this implies that there are higher levels of CO₂, which leads to an increase in blood flow, greater O₂ production, a reduction in inflammation, and angiogenesis or the formation of blood vessels.

 

A review conducted by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences compiles studies that support these observed benefits when administering therapeutic CO₂ and is very interesting.

The conclusions of this review are that

CO₂ activates angiogenesis (creation of new capillaries) not mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1α;

CO₂ is strongly anti-inflammatory,

CO₂ inhibits tumor growth and metastasis, and

CO₂ can stimulate the same pathways as exercise and, therefore, acts as a critical mediator in the biological response of skeletal muscle to tissue hypoxia.

 

CO₂ prevents the accumulation of lactic acid in the cell. Lactic acid is a byproduct of inefficient carbohydrate metabolism that suppresses efficient glucose oxidation and overloads the liver's energy supply.

Higher concentrations of CO₂ improve oxidation and, therefore, prevent lactic acid accumulation because complete oxidative phosphorylation, i.e., proper carbohydrate metabolism, can occur.

Furthermore, the more CO₂ you can tolerate, the slower your heart rate will be. Running with low tolerance causes the heart to beat fast, which will make you feel breathless and tire more quickly. Being able to tolerate more carbon dioxide (CO₂) means your heart continues to beat slowly, allowing you to increase your running pace for a longer period of time. 

CO₂ production is a practical way to manage depression symptoms. A study conducted by the HHP Foundation found that people with higher CO₂ tolerance exhibited less anxiety at critical moments. This suggests that increasing your CO₂ tolerance for anxiety can help you maintain a sense of calm not only in daily life but also when facing difficult situations.

 

How to increase your CO₂ levels or tolerance?

It is true that having a large amount of CO₂ in the body is harmful. However, by practicing breath-holding exercises where you start to accumulate a small amount of CO₂, it will notify the brain of the need to breathe. Thus, by increasing your CO₂ tolerance, you will be able to temporarily hold your breath, gradually increasing the retention time, as happens when practicing techniques where several rounds of inhalation and exhalation are performed followed by a retention period. Also, maintain slow and deep breathing during periods of high stress; and finally, avoid hyperventilation.

 

There are several methods to increase CO₂ tolerance. Here I explain two of them, but there are more, and perhaps one will catch your attention and motivate you to practice it. Among them, box breathing or 4-4-4-4; or my favorite: the Wim Hof method. 

 

Box breathing

 

This technique involves inhaling for a count of 1 to 4, pausing for a count of 1 to 4, then exhaling for a count of 1 to 4, and pausing again for a count of 1 to 4. This breathing exercise is one of the easiest to perform, and perhaps its main benefit is immediate stress relief. People looking to improve their CO₂ tolerance will benefit from this exercise, as it incorporates breath-holding.

Procedure:

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

Inhale through your nose, counting to 4.

Hold your breath, counting to 4.

Exhale through your mouth, counting to 4.

Hold your breath, counting to 4.

Repeat this cycle as many times as you wish.

  

Wim Hof Method

This technique is part of a method that includes three pillars:  breath retention, cold exposure, and a commitment to consistency. Regarding the breathing technique, this method has several types, depending on the objective. To increase CO₂ tolerance, I focus on the most common technique, which is a mix of abdominal and diaphragmatic breathing, favoring the expansion of the abdomen and rib cage during inhalation and contraction during exhalation, maintaining a calm but focused rhythm.

 

Benefits:

Improved lung capacity

Reduced stress and anxiety

Decreased heart rate and blood pressure

Increased respiratory muscle strength

Improved digestion

Hormonal function (in my case, as anecdotal experience)

 

Procedure

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

Inhale deeply through your nose, focusing on your abdomen and torso expanding outward as you breathe in, and feeling the air you inhale reach your neck and larynx.

Exhale the air (not all of it) slowly and evenly through your nose or mouth.

Continue with this deep breathing rhythm, focusing on filling all cavities from the abdomen to the head with each inhalation.

 After about 30 breaths, exhale and hold your breath until you feel the need to breathe again.  As you calmly allow CO₂ to accumulate in your body, what Hof describes as "the seer" emerges. Psyche-nauts and people who work with ancestral medicines understand what I mean: the conscious perception of timelessness and the network that connects your body and mind.

Inhale and hold that air for at least 15 seconds.  This allows you to balance yourself while prolonging the perceptions gained during the retention time.

Then, exhale gently.

You can repeat the exercise for several rounds and you will notice that in each round you can last much longer holding your breath, that is, accumulating CO₂ and, consequently, becoming more tolerant to it.

The bonus with the Wim Hof method is that the cold exposure aspect, in this case, can be showers or immersions in an ice bath, also requires a type of calm breathing where you inhale through the nose and can exhale calmly either through the nose or mouth. By maintaining this breathing rhythm, you find calm and manage to endure the cold water for several minutes; the important thing is to seek and maintain calm and concentration. Here, of course, CO₂ tolerance is also trained and increased. 

The third pillar of this method refers to the commitment of dedication required to know and experience what your body is capable of.

The valuable thing about the Wim Hof method, or at least from my perspective, is that I have adopted it as a meditative discipline. I believe it is an ideal form of meditation for us Westerners who have difficulty focusing attention and finding calm when facing complex situations.  It is by awakening our capacity for concentration and determination that we discover the superhumans we are.