Carbon Dioxide

Aajonus described the citric acid cycle as producing energy from a mixture of roughly 80% fat, 15% pyruvate protein, and 5% carbohydrate or vitamin C. When the body uses fat as fuel through this cycle, there is no burning involved. What results is a chemical change. Carbon dioxide is among the residues of that process, and he called these residues biocarbons. He was explicit that these biocarbons look nothing like the carbons produced by cooking or industrial combustion, and they look exactly like the carbons produced by breathing. The body produces carbon dioxide simply by having normal bodily functions, and this is entirely distinct from carbon monoxide, which only forms when something is burned at high temperatures.

He also connected biocarbons to the avidin-biotin relationship. When avidin and biotin appear together in feces, he observed, they are always found in the company of biocarbons. These biocarbons are the carbon residues left over whenever the body uses any fuel, whether carbohydrate, fat, or protein in the form of pyruvate. This was for him evidence of the body's normal metabolic operation, not of dysfunction.

Aajonus described a very specific physiological job for white blood cells in relation to carbon dioxide. As carbon dioxide accumulates in the bloodstream from cellular energy production, white blood cells absorb it and carry it to the lungs, where it is discharged. Any carbon dioxide that cannot exit through the skin takes this route. Alternatively, white blood cells discard carbon dioxide out through the skin directly. In his formulation, this was the full and original job of the white blood cells before industrial pollution complicated matters: to remove carbon dioxide from the blood in areas where it could not escape through the skin, and to take it to the lungs or excrete it elsewhere.

He further stated that white blood cells do not die under normal circumstances from handling carbon dioxide, because carbon dioxide at physiological levels is not poisonous to them. The situation changes only when environmental airborne pollution is added. When white blood cells absorb carbon dioxide that is loaded with airborne industrial contaminants, the white blood cells die. Similarly, red blood cells die when they absorb oxygen that is full of poison. This was his framework for understanding why modern industrial environments are so damaging: they corrupt the body's basic gas exchange processes by loading those gases with toxic substances.

Aajonus identified one specific condition under which carbon dioxide inside the body becomes a problem: when red blood cells are overburdened with the task of detoxifying industrial chemicals that have entered the blood, they can no longer deliver adequate oxygen to the cells. When oxygen delivery is reduced, the body cannot efficiently clear carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide then stays in the body longer than it should, and this buildup leads to lactic acid accumulating in the muscles. That lactic acid then crystallizes with calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, which are present to neutralize it, and the result is collections of clots, plaque, and caking in the muscles and skin.

He described this as the underlying mechanism behind muscle stiffness and soreness, and connected it to the broader problem of modern toxicity overwhelming the bloodstream's oxygen delivery capacity. The red bloodstream was intended, in his view, only to deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. When it is burdened with detoxifying industrial chemicals, both jobs suffer.

The distinction Aajonus drew most emphatically about carbon dioxide concerned its origin. Naturally occurring carbon dioxide, as found in deep well water, is healthful. Synthetic carbon dioxide, manufactured in a laboratory and added to commercial beverages, is harmful.

He explained the process of natural carbonation in detail. In a naturally sparkling mineral water well, there are two distinct layers: the water table below and a layer of carbon dioxide gas above. The water and the gas coexist in the same well but are not mixed. When the water is bottled, two separate pipes are run down into the well, one for the water and one for the gas. Both are pumped together simultaneously into the bottle. The result is naturally sparkling water in which the carbon from the well, the same carbon that resided alongside that specific water, is combined with it. The carbon is not synthetically derived.

If the carbonation is done chemically instead, manufacturers create a reaction using sodium carbide or some other chemical compound to generate carbon dioxide artificially. This synthetic carbon dioxide, he said, causes headaches on its own and additionally pulls salts out of the body into the blood, which can lead to elevated blood pressure.

He labeled synthetic carbonation from the label: if a label reads "carbonation added" or simply "carbonated," the carbonation is synthetic. If it reads "naturally carbonated," "natural carbonation added," or "naturally sparkling," the carbonation is natural from the well and is what he recommended. He noted that San Pellegrino and Perrier had changed their labels in recent years to read "sparkling natural water," and he expressed concern that they may have shifted to synthetic carbon dioxide, as they had not answered his letters of inquiry. He was no longer confident in those brands.

He identified Gerolsteiner as having the highest carbon dioxide content of any natural sparkling water he knew, describing it as so high in carbon that when you look into the well there is a visible carbon layer. He also named Apollinaris, Ramlusa, San Faustino, Perrier (under the older formulation), and others as naturally carbonated options.

Aajonus described a specific sequence of transformations that natural carbon dioxide undergoes inside the body. When naturally carbonated water is consumed, the carbon dioxide it contains travels into the intestines. There, it converts into nitrogen. When that nitrogen enters the blood, it converts into oxygen. The net effect is an increase in the oxygen level of the blood. This was his explanation for why he recommended naturally carbonated water over plain water for increasing blood oxygenation.

He also said that naturally carbonated water increases nitrogen in the digestive tract, which helps digestibility and helps neutralize alkalinity and other toxins that would otherwise interfere with digestion. Additionally, the carbon dioxide from a natural well creates a compound in the body akin to hydrogen peroxide, which he described as cleansing. He said that naturally carbonated water with unheated honey relieves most headaches.

He used naturally carbonated Gerolsteiner water specifically for cleaning dental plaque, stating that its very high carbon content made it effective for this purpose.

Aajonus described a specific physiological reaction to synthetic carbon dioxide that he observed in roughly six out of ten sensitive individuals. He reported that artificially carbonated beverages shut the brain down. He described his own reaction: clouded thinking, inability to think straight, headache almost immediately upon exposure. He contrasted this with medically administered oxygen, which he described as synthesized oxygen that does not have the proper molecular bonds of natural oxygen even though the molecule is chemically identical. Medical grade oxygen gave him headaches, and he traced this to the same underlying problem of unnaturally produced or processed gases behaving differently in the body than their natural counterparts.

He noted that the person experiencing the brain shutdown from synthetic carbonation often does not notice it happening, which he treated as an additional danger. He also said that naturally carbonated water increases oxygen in the blood in a way that plain water or synthetically carbonated water does not, making it useful specifically in cases where someone suffers from oxygen deficiency, such as a person who needs to eat red meat and drink naturally carbonated waters to raise blood oxygen levels.

Aajonus briefly addressed the complementary relationship between human carbon dioxide production and plant oxygen production. Humans exhale carbon dioxide, which is what plants consume and transform into oxygen. He described this as a reciprocal arrangement: our toxin is their food, and their toxin, oxygen, is our food. He recommended oxygen-producing plants such as dracaenas for the bedroom, stating they produce oxygen at night and absorb carbon dioxide, making them more effective than ionizers for improving indoor air quality.

Aajonus gave a specific protocol using naturally sparkling mineral water for fungal-related conditions. The formula consisted of 3 tablespoons of lime juice, 3 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut cream (with 3 tablespoons for a larger person), and 1 tablespoon of dairy cream, all blended together and then poured into 2.5 to 3 ounces of naturally sparkling mineral water (4 ounces for a larger person). He was specific that the mixture must be poured into the sparkling water, not the other way around, because adding water to the mixture causes separation and uneven distribution, whereas pouring the mixture into the water causes it to blend evenly with only one or two light stirs. He said this should be sipped, not gulped.

He also mentioned a simpler headache formula: a little honey and a little lemon juice or lime juice added to naturally carbonated water, which he said will usually arrest the headache by neutralizing the salt imbalance causing it, typically within 10 to 20 minutes.