Buzz
The internet is flooded with glowing reviews from people swearing by the benefits of oxygen cans. But in a world dominated by influencers eager to promote products, it’s important to consider the placebo effect. So, does inhaling oxygen really improve your workouts, help you relax after a tough day, or ease a hangover? To answer that, we turn to science.
Is supplemental oxygen truly effective in speeding up recovery?
Does inhaling supplemental oxygen assist in faster recovery from exercise?
First off, it’s important to understand that if you're healthy, your body is constantly receiving all the oxygen it needs. The air we breathe is made up of roughly 21% oxygen, and at rest, your blood oxygen levels are typically between 95% and 99%. This means that just by breathing, you're doing just fine, and there's no need for pure oxygen to achieve these levels.
The concept behind supplemental oxygen is that when you push your body hard, your oxygen levels dip as you burn through the supply. This is true, which is why you breathe harder during physical exertion to get more oxygen in. The idea that a can of oxygen could help you recover faster and perform better seems reasonable.
However, science has found no substantial evidence to support this claim. Studies indicate that supplemental oxygen doesn't improve performance or accelerate recovery in any meaningful way. NFL players might believe they catch their breath a little quicker with a shot of pure O2, but in reality, it's likely due to their elite cardiovascular systems, not the oxygen.
All about condition
The real question here is—if your body is already at 99% oxygen saturation, can it actually make use of the extra oxygen you're inhaling? Probably not.
What about claims that supplemental oxygen can improve mental clarity, reduce hangovers, or provide other benefits? Mostly exaggerated. Hangovers, for instance, are caused by dehydration and your liver working hard to detoxify your body, not by blood-oxygen levels. Even if blood-oxygen were involved, the reality is that when you wake up with a hangover so intense it feels like you were dropped from a skyscraper, your oxygen levels are almost certainly over 95%, and more won’t help.
The bottom line is this: Anything people say extra oxygen can do, it probably can’t—because your body already has all the oxygen it requires.
A final point: Breathing in short bursts of pure oxygen is safe, so if you want to spend some money on a can of air and see what happens, go ahead. But breathing pure oxygen for extended periods (several hours, for instance) can be extremely harmful, leading to conditions like 'shock lung.' So, don’t go overboard and inhale it all day.
