Stress and fatigue are possibly our best buddies nowadays. We are kind of trying to eat healthily and have eight hours of sleep per day, yet nothing seems to be working. We wake up in the morning feeling as if we had not slept at all, lacking the energy to get out of bed, let alone get any work done. Are you looking for a way to summon the strength to live? I have just the solution for you. The source of this energy lies with certain little organelles found in almost every cell in our body and called mitochondria.
What exactly are mitochondria?
It is within the mitochondria that the source of our vital energy lies. They produce ATP, which is the energy currency that our body can use to buy anything it needs: regeneration, longevity, a healthy immune system, and an efficient nervous system; in a nutshell, our tissues can swap this currency for health. Mitochondria, our energy-producing factories, are also responsible for managing the cellular life and death process, and consequently they are also indirectly in charge of our life and death. Therefore, we should become friends with them, especially when we consider that they make up 10% of the weight of our body.
How do we improve the mitochondria factory work processes?
There are several ways to do this. A lifestyle in which we find the time for physical activity, while at the same observing certain calorie intake restrictions, can improve the quality of our mitochondria. I recommend a low-sugar diet and periodic fasting. Intermittent fasting could be a particularly attractive solution here. The idea is that we set a number of hours during the day, i.e. a window, during which we eat, while fasting outside of that time. I try to eat between 10 am and 6 pm only. And I feel great. As far as our lifestyle is concerned, physical activity is also crucial. It exercises not only our muscles, but also the mitochondria. Implementing these simple rules can protect us against diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, cancer, and dementia throughout our lifecycle. And mitochondrial disorders are exactly what lies at the root of all the chronic diseases! It is also important to eliminate hazards such as heavy metals and other toxins capable of finding refuge in our bodies. I fell a victim to them a while ago myself. I struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome, where something as basic as just climbing the stairs to the first floor was an enormous challenge for me. I decided to check what was happening to me and found that some heavy metals, such as mercury and arsenic, settled in my body. It took a long treatment with intravenous chelation and removing the uninvited guests from my cells for my energy to finally return. This is just one of the threats to mitochondria, and there are quite a few of them; however, there are just as many ways to support them.
For mitochondria to work properly, you need a number of substances such as minerals (Mg, Se, Fe), vitamins (B group), cofactors (particularly the Q10 coenzyme), as well as phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine. Polyphenols and curcumin are great for our mitochondria too. Sometimes, when our diet lacks these substances, informed supplementation is recommended.
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Krzysztof Majdyło is a medical doctor specializing primarily in the treatment of chronic diseases (e.g. Lyme disease), modern diagnostics, and personalized therapies supporting oncological treatment. He trained at the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center in New York with Dr. Richard I. Horowitz, one of the most experienced ILADS physicians in the world. He is the owner and head of the medical team at St. Luke’s Clinic in Gdańsk, where the personalised approach to the patient developed at the Clinic complements other modern supplementation solutions.
