The Cost of Being Human

The Cost of Being Human

The mitochondria are the main sources of power for your cells. Without them, you and I would be slow-moving, geographically localized (like, within a 10-foot radius) creatures. So we should all be thankful for our mitochondria.

But there is a price to pay for all this power and being at the top of the food chain. Mitochondria can get sick. They can get old. And oxygen is a dangerous friend by nature, because it always generates free radicals. Your mitochondria can fail to provide adequate energy, and they are subject to the slings and arrows of everyday life.

What are the slings and arrows? The usual suspects.

1. Poor diet
2. Lack of sleep and inadequate recovery
3. Stress
4. Sedentary behavior, or its opposite, excessive exercise
5. Hormone imbalances
6. Xenohormones (things that mimic the behavior of hormones and block or amplify the normal responses)
7. Chemical exposure in food, cookware, or the environment, primarily plastic and petroleum byproducts
8. Radiation (solar, microwave) and EMF

Unless you walk around with a Geiger counter or an EMF sensor, some of this is going to reach you whether you notice or not. By making better choices in the things you can control, you can reduce the load on your mitochondria, your DNA, and your telomeres. That stacks the odds in your favor for a longer, healthier life.

If you do not take action, then all the critical cell, tissue, organ-system levels of you are going to be affected.

Understand this: I did not put aging itself on the list. Unless you specifically address the aging process, you are eventually going to see declines in your mitochondria and all the other systems regardless. Realistically, this is going to remain the case for another 5 to 10 years, until we find more potent ways to slow and reverse the aging process directly. You can do a ton more than most people do, and you will be far healthier when those new tools arrive.

A practical step is to supply your power houses with the substrates they actually use to make ATP. These are the same things that get hit by the list of 8 stressors above, and these are the things that decline with age.

The two best supplements I make to help you in your quest for healthier mitochondria are Toco Q and high-dose fish oil. Fish oil, because it is part of all membranes, including the mitochondrial membrane, is needed in quantity to keep those membranes fluid. Fluid membranes mean fluid energy transfer.

There is so much more to tell you, but for now you have the golden nuggets. Go do something with them.

Yours in health and longevity,

Dr. Dave