“Food + Oxygen converts to Carbon dioxide and Water in the breath.” — Cellular Respiration in a Nutshell

Fig. 1

Each one of us breathes in two atoms and three atoms are exhaled. That makes your exhaled breath heavier than the inhaled one. Oxygen is inhaled, then oxygen and carbon dioxide are exhaled. As carbon based humans, we all breath out the carbon molecules from our diet. Glucose, or sugars, gives us quick fuel, and the energy transferred is used to break bonds in ADP to add a third phosphate group to form ATP, or energy; the by-products of this process are carbon dioxide and water. It is the proper amount and the quality of carbs, fats and proteins that makes for good balance in life and long term health. All proteins or amino acids are all comprise of only 5 elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. When we burn or metabolize amino acids we end up with the same equation of respiration in Fig. 1 with the addition of urea and sulphate that is peed out.

A normal inhalation is believed to be around 25 sextillion molecules, or 25 with 21 zeros. A number estimated to be more than all the sands on the earths beaches! We take roughly 23,000 breaths per day. A normal inhalation, also known as tidal volume, is typically around 0.5 liters (500 milliliters). This is the amount of air you breathe in or out during a regular, relaxed breath.

Carbon dioxide is one of the mediators of local autoregulation of blood supply. If its concentration is high, the capillaries expand to allow a greater blood flow to that tissue. ¹ Your body needs the right balance of acids and bases to function its best. Optimal blood pH is in the narrow range of 7.35 to 7.45 The lungs are in charge of maintaining homeostasis in your pH levels; they change the speed and depth of your breathing as needed. Breathing deeper or faster expels more carbon dioxide and increases your pH level. Breathing more slowly expels less carbon dioxide and lowers your body's pH level. The majority of carbon dioxide molecules (85 percent) are carried as part of the bicarbonate buffer system.

External respiration occurs as a function of partial pressure differences in oxygen and carbon dioxide between the alveoli and the blood in the pulmonary capillaries. With external respiration, oxygen diffuses across the respiratory membrane from the alveolus to the capillary, whereas carbon dioxide diffuses out of the capillary into the alveolus. ²

Carbon dioxide levels, blood pH, and body temperature affect oxygen-carrying capacity. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen (O₂) have distinct binding behaviors with hemoglobin, the protein responsible for oxygen transport in red blood cells.

Oxygen (O₂) Binding:

O₂ binds to the iron atoms within the heme group of hemoglobin. This binding process allows hemoglobin to transport oxygen from the lungs to body tissues.

The binding of O₂ to hemoglobin follows the equation:Hb(aq) + 4 O₂​(g) ⇌ Hb(O₂​)4​(aq)

O₂ does not directly compete with other molecules during this binding process.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Binding:

Unlike O₂, CO₂ primarily binds to the amino acid chains (rather than iron) on hemoglobin. CO₂ has a higher solubility in plasma than O₂, which explains why more CO₂ is dissolved in the blood. About 5 to 7 percent of all carbon dioxide is dissolved in the plasma. Carbon dioxide can bind to plasma proteins or can enter red blood cells and bind to hemoglobin; this form transports about 10 percent of the carbon dioxide. The binding of CO₂ to hemoglobin is less straightforward, but it involves both σ coordinative bonds and π backbonding.

The equilibrium reaction for CO₂ binding to hemoglobin is:Hb(aq) + 4 CO(g)⇌Hb(CO)4​(aq)

The bond between hemoglobin and CO is much stronger than that between hemoglobin and O₂. Consequently, when CO is present, it binds preferentially to hemoglobin, preventing O₂ from binding effectively. This can lead to inadequate oxygen distribution to body tissues.

In summary, CO₂ and O₂ exhibit different binding affinities with hemoglobin due to their distinct molecular interactions. CO₂’s strong bond with hemoglobin makes it a formidable competitor for binding sites, affecting oxygen transport in the body.

Gas Exchange

When CO₂ reaches the lungs, the carbon dioxide can freely dissociate from the hemoglobin and be expelled from the body. On average, under non-exertion conditions, the human respiratory rate is 12–15 breaths/minute. Gas exchange during respiration occurs primarily through diffusion. Total volume of air in the lungs after a maximal inspiration could reach 6.0 Liters. Tidal volume, the amount of air inhaled during a normal breath is 0.5 Liters. A residual volume is important for preventing large fluctuations in respiratory gases (O2 and CO2).

In the body, oxygen is used by cells of the body’s tissues and carbon dioxide is produced as a waste product. The ratio of carbon dioxide production to oxygen consumption is the respiratory quotient (RQ). RQ varies between 0.7 and 1.0. If just glucose were used to fuel the body, the RQ would equal one. One mole of carbon dioxide would be produced for every mole of oxygen consumed. Glucose, however, is not the only fuel for the body. Protein and fat are also used as fuels for the body. Because of this, less carbon dioxide is produced than oxygen is consumed and the RQ is, on average, about 0.7 for fat and about 0.8 for protein. ³

In red blood cells, the enzyme carbonic anhydrase catalyzes the conversion of dissolved carbon dioxide to carbonic acid, which rapidly dissociates to bicarbonate and a free proton:

CO₂ + H2O → H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3−

When a tissue's metabolic rate increases, so does its carbon dioxide waste production. When released into the bloodstream, carbon dioxide forms bicarbonate and protons through the following reaction:

CO₂ + H2O↽− −⇀H2CO3↽− −⇀H++HCO3−

Tidal Volume

A normal inhalation, also known as tidal volume, is typically around 0.5 liters (500 milliliters). The average total lung capacity of an adult human male is about 6 litres of air. A half liter ordinary tidal breath weighs 0.6 g; the mass of this breath is approximately a gram. VO2max (maximal aerobic capacity, or, how efficient the lungs are at taking in and delivering the most oxygen possible to working muscles)

Nasal Cycle

The nasal cycle occurs in people with a deviated septum, that's between 70% and 80% of the population. This nasal cycle leads to an unconscious sequence of spontaneous alternation of partial congestion and decongestion between the left and right sides of the cavity. ⁴ Turbinates consist of bony projections covered by erectile tissue, much like the tissues of the penis and clitoris. Erectile tissue in the nose fills up with blood and blocks the non-dominant nostril and has a mean duration of two and a half hours but varies widely with age, body-posture, and other conditions. The nasal cycle is considered an ultradian rhythm of side-to-side nasal mucosal engorgement with a phase length ranging from 30 min to 6 hours.

Ultradian rhythms of alternating cerebral dominance occur during waking and sleep hours, with periods of rhythm approximates 1.5–3 hours in awake individuals and is tightly coupled with the nasal cycle. ⁵ Nasal venous sinusoids have a dense adrenergic innervation, and stimulation of these fibres causes the release of noradrenaline, which results in vaso-constriction and in a reduction of nasal airway resistances.

MOVEMENT:

Exercise, for example, increases the demand for oxygen due to increased energy requirements at the cellular level. Higher levels of carbon dioxide are then released due to the metabolization of oxygen. As a result, breathing rates increase to facilitate the exhalation of these greater concentrations of CO2.

The only way to lose weight is to exhale, through movement, all those carbs that were once eaten. The carbon molecules that we exhale as carbon dioxide comes from eating carbohydrates. The body produces approximately 2.3 pounds (1.0 kg) of carbon dioxide per day, containing 0.63 pounds (290 g) of carbon.

Nutritious Movement

The way the body works and feels is directly related to how the body moves throughout the day. Living cells are constantly exposed to mechanical stimuli arising from the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) or from neighboring cells. To respond and adapt to these ever-changing physical cues, cells employ a set of intracellular molecular processes known as mechanotransduction. Moving muscles, tissues, and limbs allow them to adapt, change, and take form.

Alignment

In sports, exercises, work, and in everyday living, proper form will promote proper forms. Starting in a correct and proper form that finishes in a proper and correct form and posture, nearly assures that the intermediate form was also proper. Notice for example when a golfer, a bowler, tennis player, etc

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Detailed Respiration Process

Glycolysis In glycolysis, glucose—a six-carbon sugar—undergoes a series of chemical transformations. It then gets converted into two molecules of pyruvate, a three-carbon organic molecule. In these reactions, ATP is made, and NAD+ is converted to NADH. . Pyruvate oxidation Each pyruvate from glycolysis goes into the mitochondrial matrix—the innermost compartment of mitochondria. There, it is converted into a two-carbon molecule bound to Coenzyme A, known as acetyl CoA. Carbon dioxide is released and NADH is generated.

Citric acid cycle The acetyl CoA made in the last step combines with a four-carbon molecule and goes through a cycle of reactions, ultimately regenerating the four-carbon starting molecule.

The atmosphere has roughly 21 percent oxygen. The atmosphere has approximately 10^44 molecules of oxygen. In prospective the size of a molecule would equal the size of an apple, if an apple would be the size of the earth. Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old and there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year. So, approximately 142.98 quadrillion seconds have passed since the Earth’s formation. 142.98 quadrillion or 1.4298 \times 10^17 Each tidal breath has much more molecules or 10^22 almost 1500 times more than all the seconds of time on earth.

ATP is produced, and carbon dioxide is released. Oxidative phosphorylation. made in other steps deposit their electrons in the electron transport chain, turning back into their "empty" forms and as electrons move down the chain, energy is released and used to pump protons out of the matrix, forming a gradient. Protons flow back into the matrix through an enzyme called ATP synthase, making ATP. At the end of the electron transport chain, oxygen accepts electrons and takes up protons to form water.

Foot Notes