ASO® Activated Oxygen in Water:
Will it increase Pa02 During Strenuous Activity at Altitude?

 The amount of oxygen that can be bound to hemoglobin is reduced by hypoxia. This reduced oxygen delivery capacity is believed to be the major limiting factor in aerobic performance at altitude. From 2 to 5% oxygen can be dissolved in the plasma. This dissolved oxygen can supplement the primary route of oxygen delivery to the cells, the red blood cells via hemoglobin. Theoretically, if the amount of dissolved oxygen in the plasma could be increased, this might augment the oxygen being delivered from hemoglobin.

The dietary supplement, Activated Oxygen (ASO®), is based upon dissolved molecular oxygen rather than a salts of oxygen formulation. The amount of dissolved oxygen in water is usually small (7-20 p.p.m.). Nevertheless, water is capable of holding a certain amount of dissolved molecular oxygen in solution.

Activated Oxygen (ASO®) is a colorless, non-toxic, hypoallergenic, mineral rich dietary supplement. It is safe to use as a dietary supplement. Preliminary results with 3 test subjects (Suntory) indicated that the BI02 product caused a rise in PaO2 for 90-120 minutes followed by a gradual drop to baseline levels. This research was not done at altitude.

A second study was conducted using 36 U.S. Marines undergoing moderate altitude field training at the U.S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC), Bridgeport CA in cooperation with the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA that maintains a field laboratory at that site. Tests indicated a slight increase in PaO2 levels. However, it was determined that there was not close monitoring of consumption that may have skewed the research.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In results that counter the idea that oxygen free radicals cause aging, an MIT researcher reports in the July 18 issue of Nature that calorie restriction prolongs life because it increases respiration, not because it decreases oxygen free radicals.

MIT biologist Leonard Guarente believes "the conventional wisdom on oxygen radicals is dead wrong. Our results (in yeast) are contrary to the frequent suggestion that calorie restriction functions by slowing metabolism and thereby slowing the generation of free radicals."

Guarente, who is working on a book on aging to be published this fall, discovered in 2000 that calorie restriction activates the silenced information regulator (SIR2) gene, which has the apparent ability to slow aging. This gene makes a protein called Sir2, which Guarente has shown is integrally tied to extending life span in yeast and in the roundworm. Humans carry a similar gene.