There are vitamins in the air: Aeronutrients

Did you know that just as we can absorb toxic chemicals from the air, our bodies can also absorb vitamins and minerals from the air?  According to this study, there are trace nutrients in the air (termed “aeronutrients") which are taken in by our respiratory system for the benefit of the body.   For example, Irish schoolchildren who lived on an area of the coast with abundant seaweed actually absorbed the iodine from the seaweed, via the air.  The iodine levels in their urine were 2.7-fold higher in the children living in seaweed-rich areas when compared with two other locations, and the proportion of children with probable iodine deficiency was 8.7% in the seaweed-rich areas, 14.5% in the seaweed-poor areas, and 37.6% in the rural groups.  Obviously, this is a case of living in the right location, where “air quality” can be improved even over “lack of contaminants”, and possibly adds some credence to those British doctors in the 1800’s who prescribed convalescent retreats to the seaside.  Here are some further benefits of “salty air”: 

• In 1843, Polish doctor Feliks Boczowski discovered that patients who labored in salt mines had fewer respiratory problems compared to those who worked elsewhere. 

• A recent study from the Massachusetts General Hospital revealed that breathing humid, salty air could promote upper airway cleansing and play a role in reducing COVID-19. 

Aeronutrients must be in the right concentration, however, to benefit us.  Unfortunately, industry can cause toxic levels of otherwise healthy nutrients, such as in a 2016 study of 2836  children in Barcelona, Spain, exposed to high levels of airborne copper, which in turn was significantly associated with poorer motor performance and detectable brain damage in these developing children.  The copper came from industrial activity, brake pads on motor vehicles and overhead wires on electric railway lines. (Airborne copper exposure in school environments associated with poorer motor performance and altered basal ganglia)

Going back to the natural environments which had healthy effects on the individuals who lived in or visited them, how then, do we purposefully use this information to elicit the same effects indoors?   

Salt therapy rooms like The Salt Suite cite studies from the early 2000’s showing improvements in conditions such as COPD, asthma, viral and bacterial respiratory infections, including bronchitis and sinusitis.  The environment at these Salt Suite locations recreates salt caves by dispersing a dry salt aerosol into a room that has layered salt on the walls and floor.  Customers recline in comfortable chairs and read, nap, meditate, listen to music or just relax for 45 minutes, breathing in the salty air.  Many customers comment that it had immediate effects on their respiratory illnesses, easing their sinuses and reducing medication requirements. 

Inhalation of Vitamin B12 is a recent area of focus for aeronutrients, even though the first study on intranasal administration of this vitamin was performed in the 1950’s.  It’s known that a lack of vitamin B12 can cause anemia, a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells (erythrocytes) or hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells, to carry oxygen throughout the body.  Pernicious anemia is a condition where the body attacks the cells needed to produce the protein essential to absorbing it, causing whole-body malaise.  B12 has been used as a spray or even in a nebulizer to raise blood serum levels of this vitamin:

• A clinical study of 24 patients showed that aerosolized vitamin B12 is 54-fold more efficient than oral supplementation and almost as efficient as intramuscular injections. 

• A study of 10 children with vitamin B12 deficiency used a nasal B12 spray that rapidly normalized their serum (blood) B12 levels without side effects, showing that it was a safe alternative to intramuscular injections, which are painful and undesirable to children.

• A trial of 103 vitamin B12-deficient adults treated with nebulized vitamin B12 (NasoB12®) all attained normal serum levels within 2 weeks and remained stable thereafter.  

• A study of 60 vitamin B12 deficient elderly ( over 65 years old) reported a rapid improvement in serum levels following regular treatment with an intranasal spray of vitamin B12.  

So, why is inhalation of vitamins so effective?  For one, The lungs can absorb far larger molecules than the gut – 260 times larger, to be exact. These molecules are absorbed intact into the bloodstream and brain.  The respiratory system also does not contain the harsh acidic environment of the stomach, which breaks substances down into their smallest parts with enzymes and acids.  In addition, as we see in drugs that can be inhaled (such as cocaine, nicotine and anaesthetics, to name a few), inhaled particles enter the body within seconds. They are also effective at far lower concentrations than would be needed if they were being consumed by mouth. (Air is an overlooked source of nutrients – evidence shows we can inhale some vitamins)

Source: A Breath of Fresh Air: Perspectives on Inhaled Nutrients and Bacteria to Improve Human Health

Illustrated in the diagram above, aeronutrients have 3 primary routes of entry into the body: 

1) Inhaled micronutrients are absorbed through the microvessels lining the nasal cavity that drain into several veins that take blood directly to the heart. 

2) The olfactory skin layer inside the top of the nasal cavity enables aeronutrients to be transported along olfactory nerves into the olfactory bulb and then to limbic regions of the brain, bypassing the blood–brain barrier. Additionally, aeronutrients can diffuse through the fluid-filled spaces surrounding the nerves that lead into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the brain. 

3) The tiny air sacs of the lung, the alveoli, are also a site of entry for aeronutrients. Capillaries lining the alveoli have a massive absorptive surface that transports aeronutrients directly to the heart.

These pathways go to the brain and the heart.  (The fourth route in the diagram shows how bacteria and microbes in the air can be inhaled, yet end up in the digestive tract to affect the gut microbiome).  It’s also been discovered that the airway surface liquid (ASL) layer, the mucous layer that lines your respiratory system, is the first line of defense against inhaled particulate matter and microbes, and ASL contains biochemical defenses.  These defenses include cytokines, antimicrobial peptides, antiviral interferons, leukocytes, and several types of antioxidants, including antioxidant enzymes (dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, oxygenase) and small-molecule compounds (vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione, uric acid, β-carotene) which act as free radical scavengers. (Protective effects of inhaled antioxidants against air pollution-induced pathological responses)  This paper explored the antioxidants that are currently being used intranasally or being tested, and their effects. Several of them, such as glutathione and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) are being used for treatment of cystic fibrosis.  Hopefully, other vitamins like vitamin D can be incorporated into nasal sprays or nebulizers in order to supplement a great number of the population lacking them.  About 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency, while 50% of the population has vitamin D insufficiency. Approximately 35% of adults in the United States have vitamin D deficiency. (Vitamin D Deficiency)

Of course, mainstream companies will capitalize on this vitamin delivery trend, even in unhealthy ways.  For example, vaping companies have developed vitamin vapes.  Some vapes combine vitamins with other drugs such as caffeine and nicotine; others simply offer “vitamins”, but the delivery device (vaping) is still troubling.  There are several lung diseases that can be caused by vaping.  One is a specific disease identified in 2019 called e-cigarette or vaping-induced lung injury (EVALI), which hospitalized 2,807 and killed 68 people between March 2019 and February 2020, many of whom were still in high school.  (Differentiating EVALI from COVID-19 on Imaging Proves Challenging)  Vitamin E acetate, a synthetic form of vitamin E used to make the liquid in the vape more viscous, was identified in bronchoalveolar-Iavage (BAL) fluid obtained from 48 of 51 case patients (94%) in a 16 state study, which was not present in the healthy cohort group.  Researchers thus determined that Vitamin E acetate is the main cause of EVALI.  Another disease which may be caused by vaping is bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), which is also called “Popcorn Lung” because it was diagnosed among workers of a popcorn factory who were exposed to diacetyl, a chemical used to enhance the flavor of microwave popcorn.  Some vapes also use diacetyl to enhance flavor.  Besides the chemicals added into vapes, heating the liquid can produce other dangerous VOCs like formaldehyde, and vaping indoors exposes others to the same chemicals.  (E-cigarettes and Vaping)

The takeaway is that there are safe ways of “breathing in” your vitamins.  Natural environments like the seashore provide a moderate dose of aeronutrients (iodine, salt, even good bacteria for your gut), and medical nebulizers have been tested to deliver the right dose of vitamins as well.   Vaping is a largely unregulated industry full of claims of health benefits, but also of cases of lung damage and even death.   So take your vacation at the beach, the mountains, or the salt cave, or if you have problems absorbing vitamins through your digestive tract, investigate the medical studies of those who have been helped by inhaled or nebulized vitamins under the supervision of a doctor.    It’s good to know that there’s more than one way to get your vitamins!

Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash