Mitochondria

Mitochondria are tiny organelles that generate power within your cells. The most important thing that your mitochondria do is extract energy from the food you eat, combine it with oxygen, and make ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP stores the energy required to power up physically and mentally. Nearly all of your cells need ATP to function. The energy stored in ATP is released when it is used as fuel by the body. You could live for at least three weeks without food and about three days without water, but if your mitochondria stopped making energy (ATP) for even a few seconds, you would die. The average human cell contains between one- to two-thousand mitochondria. The cells in the parts of your body that require the most energy—the brain, heart, and blood—contain about ten thousand mitochondria each. Because these cells are literally stuffed with mitochondria, they are the first at risk when you have less energy available than you need or when they waste energy they were meant to use. When neurons have energy problems, you experience mental fatigue and brain fog. When heart cells have mitochondrial defects, you get heart dysfunction and feel tired. When muscle cells cannot make energy, you see symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. When your intestinal cells have energy problems, you see leaky gut and autoimmune disease. And the list goes on. These critical systems in your body rely on mitochondria to work, and your mitochondria control them. When your mitochondria become more efficient, your performance increases. Proper nutrition is one of the easiest and fastest ways you can boost your mitochondria function. Changing your diet by burning fat as your primary fuel, rather than sugar, is a good start. Your liver creates water-soluble fats called ketones that burn fat far more efficiently than carbs. Once you are able to burn fat for fuel, you will want to cycle in and out of ketosis (the state of burning ketones as your primary fuel). The Bulletproof Diet suggests increasing carbs and minimizing protein once a week to avoid the pitfalls some people run into when they are in constant ketosis. Exercise is also a great way to encourage mitochondrial growth. It helps to stimulate the release of a an important protein called PGC-1 alpha, which helps to regulate metabolism and mitogenesis (growing new mitochondria). The quality of the exercise matters more than the quantity, and simply putting in a few minutes on the treadmill won't cut it. It takes high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to release this protein. Exercise not only helps you become more fit, but it also encourages the survival of your fittest mitochondria. That is because exercise lowers the mTOR protein and helps your body weed out the weak, dysfunctional, or mutated cells by either killing them off or making them stronger. mTOR plays a major part in increasing protein development in your muscles. Light is a nutrient that plays a significant role in signaling your mitochondria to do things, and more specifically, when to do them. Different light frequencies activate different signals in your cells. Newer artificial light bulbs lack many of the sun’s frequencies that our bodies and brains need. With artificial lights, most of the infrared, red, and violet light found in natural sunlight has been eliminated, and the blue light has been greatly increased. To help filter out blue light, I use blue-light-blocking glasses when on electronics devices, watching tv, or at a mall and sometimes supermarket. When your eyes have to function in unnatural spectrums of light, it stresses (even damages) your mitochondria and slows down your ATP production. This hurts your mental performance big time. Mitochondria communicate with each other, so any stress to the mitochondria in your skin or your eyes can affect the mitochondria in your brain, your heart, and everywhere else in your body. Exposing yourself to natural sunlight is a great way to strengthen your mitochondria. Environmental toxins are a leading cause of mitochondrial dysfunction. We are now exposed to thousands of toxic chemicals and pollutants that simply didn't exist a mere hundred years ago. These chemicals have made their ways into our bodies, and our mitochondria cannot thrive among them. Heavy metals such as lead and mercury are some of the top offenders. Heavy metals are stored in fat and there are ways to mobilize fat to get rid of them. This has to be done carefully, though, so that the toxins are not released inside the body rather than expelled from it. The environment isn't the only place toxins exist. Our bodies actually create toxins that are just as damaging to our mitochondria, but our mitochondria can produce antioxidants and other detoxifying enzymes to counteract them. Glutathione is a protective antioxidant that serves as mitochondria’s main line of defense against damage from oxidative stress, but sometimes your body doesn't produce enough of it. Vitamin C can help you manufacture glutathione. Your body also has a process to recycle damaged cellular components. This process is called autophagy. Over time, dead organelles, damaged proteins, and oxidized particles build up, getting in the way of cell function and accelerating aging. Autophagy is a process your body uses to clear out clutter, helping to keep you young. You want your cells to do this well in order to look, feel, and operate at your best. The mitochondria in every part of your body are constantly being damaged, destroyed, improved, or renewed. Through diet, exercise, limiting toxic exposure, and increasing better-quality light, your mitochondria can be hacked to become more efficient and consequently increase your mental performance. The better your mitochondria are at creating energy, the better your body and mind will perform, the more you can do, and the better you will feel doing it.