SUPER-ENRICHED OXYGEN BATH

When virgin forests covered the Earth, and when our oceans teemed with life, the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere was 38%. Today, the oxygen content of our atmosphere is less than 20%, and even lower in most urban areas. In Japan, we now see the use of oxygen booths on the streets.

Oxygen is vital for all aspects of health–for human, animal, and plant life. 90% of the body’s energy is created by oxygen and it is, with food, the primary nutrient of the cell. In fact, a good definition of vitality is the body’s ability to assimilate oxygen.

Sufficient oxygen in the human body allows proper metabolic activity; better circulation; proper assimilation, digestion and elimination of food; strengthening of the immune system; and provides the energy required for the nervous system to process information. The link between insufficient oxygen and disease has been firmly established, and can result in anything from mild fatigue to life-threatening disease. The National Cancer Institute endorsed researcher Otto Warburg’s findings on the relation between cancer and oxygen, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine twice. Warburg demonstrated and stated that “the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of body cells by an anaerobic (oxygen-less) cell respiration”. Since Warburg’s initial discovery, many scientists have confirmed the findings: among them, renowned molecular biologist and geneticist, Steven Levine says, “…the lack of oxygen in the tissues is the fundamental cause of all degenerative diseases.”

As we age, the efficiency with which we extract oxygen from the environment and transport it to cells is lessened. When the body doesn’t have sufficient oxygen, it reverts to a lower level of functional ability: it can’t carry out its hundreds of thousands of activities necessary for health. Instead of burning glucose through the process of oxidation, as healthy cells do, the oxygen-starved cells ferment glucose anaerobically (without oxygen), producing large amounts of lactic acid. Cells and tissues, then, become over-acidified; they break down, leading to the various diseases of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and other immune insufficiencies.

Oxygen therapy is one of the most powerful therapies used today to reverse an anaerobic condition. Specifically, the form of oxygen used in La Casa’s Super-Enriched Oxygen Bath is ozone, oxygen with an added molecule: think of it as oxygen with a higher energy level.

When you enter La Casa, you may notice a particular fragrance in the air that seems familiar, but you can’t quite place it. This is the ozone, which we generate from an air purifier every evening after we close, and every morning before we open. Ozone is a natural gas that is generated naturally by lightning flashes, as well as ocean waves, waterfalls, and sunlight on fields of snow. It has the effect of cleansing the atmosphere.

Not only is ozone produced by natural phenomena, it is also produced by pollution. When sunlight, moisture and temperature meet the chemical molecules that constitute pollution, a photochemical reaction takes place that strips off one of the molecules of atmospheric oxygen (O2) and forms ozone (O3), or activated oxygen. In other words, the more pollution there is, the more ozone is generated. On polluted days, we get a high ozone count, but without ozone, the cities would be so polluted, they would be unlivable.

The use of ozone as a therapy has been used in medical clinics throughout Europe for 70 years, and extensive research has been conducted to determine its precise health benefits. Ozone inactivates bacteria, viruses, yeast, protozoa and fungi; it enhances circulation and purifies the blood and lymphatic system; it stimulates oxygen metabolism and disrupts malignant tumor metabolism; it reduces inflammation and pain; it excretes heavy metals; it normalizes hormone and enzyme production; it improves brain function because the brain uses over 15% of all oxygen in the body. Ozone is the best free radical scavenger that exists; it stimulates the production of the specific enzymes in the cell wall that serve to protect the cell from free radical damage (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase).

At La Casa, we use activated oxygen in the form of ozone for whole-body detoxification. We introduce medical-grade ozone into the body through a steam sauna. The steam opens up the pores of the skin, and the ozone is absorbed into the pores, effecting distribution through the bloodstream, and then throughout the rest of the body. You stay in the steam cabinet for up to 30 minutes, and you come out with your whole body carrying a sweet scent as though you were caught unexpectedly in a refreshing, summer drizzle.

Benefits of an oxygen/ozone sauna:

• Relaxes and loosens muscles by reducing the buildup of lactic acid and increasing muscle flexibility
• Oxidizes toxins so they can be eliminated through the skin, lungs, kidneys and colon
• Boosts blood circulation, helping injured muscles to repair quicker
• Stimulates vasodilatation of peripheral blood vessels relieving pain and speeding the healing process
• Eliminates bacterial and viral infections of all kinds
• Speeds up the metabolic processes of the inner organs and endocrine glands resulting in a loss of 200-450 calories in a 20 minute session
• Inhibits tumor metabolism
• Reduces or eliminates clumping of red blood cells, thus reducing viscosity of blood that leads to build-up of arterial plague

Healing Response

As with any detoxification, you may have a slight detoxifying reaction. This will most likely take the form of an allergy-like reaction–a runny nose, eye tearing, or temporary fatigue. Like any detox, this reaction is good, not bad. The ozone is simply doing its job by breaking down the pollutants in your body. Spectra tests have confirmed that when mucus is discharged, this material is the by-products of the toxins that are being broken down. The lungs produce the mucus in order to get rid of these by-products.

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