Summary
Dave Asprey hosts Brad Pitzele on The Human Upgrade to discuss EWOT as a 15-minute biohack for mitochondrial optimization. The conversation positions EWOT as an accessible, time-efficient alternative to hyperbaric oxygen therapy, with Dave drawing on his own biohacking background to contextualize the benefits for his audience. Brad explains how increasing metabolic demand in a high-oxygen environment produces unique metabolic benefits that can shut down autoimmune inflammation. They discuss the synergy between EWOT and red light therapy, where red light stimulates mitochondria to increase oxygen demand while EWOT floods the body with supply. The episode covers EWOT's applications for chronic illness recovery, athletic performance, cognitive function, and anti-aging, with Brad sharing his personal transformation from barely functional to running multiple ventures.
Key Points
- Increasing metabolic demand in a high-oxygen environment turns off autoimmune inflammation
- EWOT pairs synergistically with red light therapy: red light increases oxygen demand, EWOT provides supply
- Red light at 810nm displaces nitric oxide from mitochondria, forcing oxygen to dock for energy production
- In 15 minutes of EWOT you take in as much oxygen as 12-14 hours of normal breathing
- EWOT is more practical than HBOT: 15 minutes at home vs 90 minutes in a clinical chamber
- Oxygen is the gating factor for mitochondrial ATP production in every cell type
- EWOT accelerates healing, improves skin health, reduces wrinkles through enhanced collagen production
- The combination of PEMF, EWOT, and red light therapy forms the basis of the Superhuman Protocol
Key Moments
EWOT turns off autoimmune inflammation through high-oxygen metabolic demand
Brad explains how increasing metabolic demand in a very high oxygen environment produces unique metabolic benefits that can shut down autoimmune inflammation, a key mechanism that differentiates EWOT from passive oxygen therapies.
"Increasing metabolic demand in a very high oxygen environment has unique metabolic benefits that turn off, in some cases, tons of autoimmune inflammation."
EWOT and red light therapy synergy for mitochondrial optimization
Brad explains the synergy between EWOT and red light therapy. EWOT massively increases oxygen supply while red light at 810nm stimulates mitochondria to increase oxygen demand by displacing nitric oxide, creating a powerful combination for cellular energy.
"That's exactly how to do it. By the way, anyone who had one of your systems during the pandemic had oxygen, right? So when it looked like there was a lung issue, I'm like, well, I have two oxygen concentrators at home and I just bought all the welding oxygen that was around me. So I'm like, I have enough oxygen to treat my whole neighborhood if they need it because going to the hospital probably is a good way to die at the time. Yeah. And these machines, they just last. I mean, if you get an oxygen concentrator for the purpose of EWAT, because we're only using it a small number of hours a day, for it to last a decade is nothing to bat an eyelash at. If you're like me, you probably spend a lot of time working on your laptop. Problem is that EMFs coming from your computer, they're not really good for you. In fact, if the laptop is actually on your lap, it's right next to parts of your body that you really don't want to cook with EMFs. That's why if I'm going to hold my computer on your lap, I'm not going to do it unless I have something underneath it to keep the EMFs away from my most precious bits, if you know what I'm saying. That's why I use the Bond Charge EMF radiation blocking laptop mat. And if you have kids, make them use the Bond Charge laptop mat. If they're going to put a laptop on their lap, it's that big of a deal. There's tons of Wi-Fi and other EMF coming off, and it's just too close to your organs. It's lightweight, it's portable, and you can even take it with you when you travel. So if you're going to work from home or work wherever you want to be, protect yourself from EMFs. Check out the Bond Charge mat at bondcharge.com slash Dave and they'll give you a 15% discount using code Dave. That's B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E.com slash Dave. Alcohol is not good for you, but most people still have some on occasion. And what if there's a way to have a few responsible drinks and still feel like yourself the next day and not take the same hit? Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. PhD scientists invented it to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, your gut converts alcohol into a toxic byproduct. This toxic buildup, not dehydration, causes rough days after drinking. And pre-alcohol produces an enzyme that breaks that byproduct down. Make pre-alcohol your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and wake up feeling your best. I really don't drink very often, and when I do, I always take Z-Biotics pre-alcohol beforehand. Because I want to live to at least 180, and I like it when my brain works for the rest of the time. And I really mean it. If I'm going to go on vacation and I'm planning to drink, I'll bring some Z-Biotics. And if I'm going to a wedding, I'm going to bring Z-Biotics pre-alcohol. And I think you might want to do the same thing and bring some for your friends too. It's a big deal, right? Why does it work? That's an awesome question. So as you mentioned, there was a gentleman named Van Arden in the 1960s and 70s who did some research. And he's the same guy who invented the scanning electron microscope. He's about 600 patents to his name, just prolific inventor, super smart. He was in part of the commercialization of the first CRT TV sets in the 1930s. So really smart guy. And he got very interested in oxygen and particularly oxygen for anti-cancer purposes. And he started doing this research. And so here's the thing that happens. Every year past the age of 25, you lose 1% of your ability to utilize oxygen. And most of us don't notice this right off the bat. So 26 and 30, you don't necessarily notice it, but that's the reason why you're at a lower energy state when you're in your 60s than you were in your 20s. And so what he found is one of the major reasons for this is inflammation within the capillaries. And so as we get older, we hear this term inflammation. And so this inflammation builds up inside of our capillaries and it actually pinches the capillary shut so the red blood cells can't get through. And all of your cells downstream go from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration where they're using glucose in the absence of oxygen to produce energy. Now, there's a problem with that. If you compare aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration, aerobic respiration produces about 16 times as much energy. So now you've got this cell that's kind of on life support. It has to cut out non-essential functions, things like taking out the trash. It just lets all this metabolic waste build up inside the cell walls. It's at a low energy state. What he found was that by doing EWI, a couple things happened. First, we start saturating our blood plasma with oxygen. And now, the way our blood works is we got these red and white blood cells that float in this clearish brown liquid called blood plasma. The red blood cells normally carry like 98% of our oxygen, and blood plasma has very little. But when you're doing EWOTAP because of the massive amount of oxygen you're bringing in, you actually start to saturate this blood plasma. And while the red blood cells can't get through, the blood plasma is much thinner and it can get through there and start oxygenating the cells downstream. Things that have been choked off from oxygen for perhaps a long time. And then the second thing it does is it creates an anti-inflammatory effect. And it actually causes the linings of those capillaries to reestablish normal blood flow. And so he had some elderly folks do a few sessions of EWOT, and then he had them come back like three months later. And he measured them and he saw that there was a durable change. It wasn't just opening these capillaries while they were doing EWOT. It continued to remain open and it reestablished more youthful blood flow. And so that's more youthful oxygenation of your cells. It reignites mitochondrial biogenesis and ramps it up."
15 minutes of EWOT equals 12-14 hours of normal oxygen intake
Brad quantifies the oxygen delivery of a single EWOT session, explaining that 15 minutes of exercise with oxygen delivers as much oxygen as you would naturally breathe in 12-14 hours.
"That's exactly how to do it. By the way, anyone who had one of your systems during the pandemic had oxygen, right? So when it looked like there was a lung issue, I'm like, well, I have two oxygen concentrators at home and I just bought all the welding oxygen that was around me. So I'm like, I have enough oxygen to treat my whole neighborhood if they need it because going to the hospital probably is a good way to die at the time. Yeah. And these machines, they just last. I mean, if you get an oxygen concentrator for the purpose of EWAT, because we're only using it a small number of hours a day, for it to last a decade is nothing to bat an eyelash at. If you're like me, you probably spend a lot of time working on your laptop. Problem is that EMFs coming from your computer, they're not really good for you. In fact, if the laptop is actually on your lap, it's right next to parts of your body that you really don't want to cook with EMFs. That's why if I'm going to hold my computer on your lap, I'm not going to do it unless I have something underneath it to keep the EMFs away from my most precious bits, if you know what I'm saying. That's why I use the Bond Charge EMF radiation blocking laptop mat. And if you have kids, make them use the Bond Charge laptop mat. If they're going to put a laptop on their lap, it's that big of a deal. There's tons of Wi-Fi and other EMF coming off, and it's just too close to your organs. It's lightweight, it's portable, and you can even take it with you when you travel. So if you're going to work from home or work wherever you want to be, protect yourself from EMFs. Check out the Bond Charge mat at bondcharge.com slash Dave and they'll give you a 15% discount using code Dave. That's B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E.com slash Dave. Alcohol is not good for you, but most people still have some on occasion. And what if there's a way to have a few responsible drinks and still feel like yourself the next day and not take the same hit? Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. PhD scientists invented it to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, your gut converts alcohol into a toxic byproduct. This toxic buildup, not dehydration, causes rough days after drinking. And pre-alcohol produces an enzyme that breaks that byproduct down. Make pre-alcohol your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and wake up feeling your best. I really don't drink very often, and when I do, I always take Z-Biotics pre-alcohol beforehand. Because I want to live to at least 180, and I like it when my brain works for the rest of the time. And I really mean it. If I'm going to go on vacation and I'm planning to drink, I'll bring some Z-Biotics. And if I'm going to a wedding, I'm going to bring Z-Biotics pre-alcohol. And I think you might want to do the same thing and bring some for your friends too. It's a big deal, right? Why does it work? That's an awesome question. So as you mentioned, there was a gentleman named Van Arden in the 1960s and 70s who did some research. And he's the same guy who invented the scanning electron microscope. He's about 600 patents to his name, just prolific inventor, super smart. He was in part of the commercialization of the first CRT TV sets in the 1930s. So really smart guy. And he got very interested in oxygen and particularly oxygen for anti-cancer purposes. And he started doing this research. And so here's the thing that happens. Every year past the age of 25, you lose 1% of your ability to utilize oxygen. And most of us don't notice this right off the bat. So 26 and 30, you don't necessarily notice it, but that's the reason why you're at a lower energy state when you're in your 60s than you were in your 20s. And so what he found is one of the major reasons for this is inflammation within the capillaries. And so as we get older, we hear this term inflammation. And so this inflammation builds up inside of our capillaries and it actually pinches the capillary shut so the red blood cells can't get through. And all of your cells downstream go from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration where they're using glucose in the absence of oxygen to produce energy. Now, there's a problem with that. If you compare aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration, aerobic respiration produces about 16 times as much energy. So now you've got this cell that's kind of on life support. It has to cut out non-essential functions, things like taking out the trash. It just lets all this metabolic waste build up inside the cell walls. It's at a low energy state. What he found was that by doing EWI, a couple things happened. First, we start saturating our blood plasma with oxygen. And now, the way our blood works is we got these red and white blood cells that float in this clearish brown liquid called blood plasma. The red blood cells normally carry like 98% of our oxygen, and blood plasma has very little. But when you're doing EWOTAP because of the massive amount of oxygen you're bringing in, you actually start to saturate this blood plasma. And while the red blood cells can't get through, the blood plasma is much thinner and it can get through there and start oxygenating the cells downstream. Things that have been choked off from oxygen for perhaps a long time. And then the second thing it does is it creates an anti-inflammatory effect. And it actually causes the linings of those capillaries to reestablish normal blood flow. And so he had some elderly folks do a few sessions of EWOT, and then he had them come back like three months later. And he measured them and he saw that there was a durable change. It wasn't just opening these capillaries while they were doing EWOT. It continued to remain open and it reestablished more youthful blood flow. And so that's more youthful oxygenation of your cells. It reignites mitochondrial biogenesis and ramps it up."