I Lost My Energy!

Do you ever feel tired, run downed or stressed? If you are like me this happens on occasions. As a chiropractor I get asked how to naturally increase one’s energy. Let’s focus on exactly where our energy comes from first, so we can answer the question.

There are tiny little energy factories in each cell of your body called Mitochondria. These factories produce energy from the foods we eat called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). If the mitochondria are working correctly you have great energy and mental clarity. However, we get bombarded with life. Physical, Chemical, and Emotional stressors on the body cause the mitochondria to decrease their energy output. Think of it like this, there is a storm (life’s stressors), it causes the source from which the energy the factory produces to be disrupted. It is still making energy but not at the levels needed to work optimally and the storm causes parts of the factory to stop producing all together. This is mitochondrial dysfunction. As we age mitochondrial dysfunction increases because the body’s ability to replace the mitochondria decreases.This is called mitochondrial apoptosis. Basically, this means the mitochondria are dying off and are not being replaced with new ones. The decrease in mitochondria is a big problem in aging and chronic diseases. Issues like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, mold-toxin-caused chronic inflammatory response syndromes, Alzheimer’s, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disease and cancer are all related to mitochondria decrease and dysfunction. Some call this “NATURAL AGING PROCESS”.I say “NONSENSE”.

Now that we know where energy comes from and why the energy factories are not working properly we can learn to restore and or replace the mitochondria so they can produce the energy the body needs to work optimally

1. Reduce Toxic Exposure.

We live in a toxic world. Our food, every day household products, beauty and skin care products, the air we breathe and the water we drink are full of toxins that affect the mitochondria. Eating organic non-GMO foods and drinking filtered water is a great way to start detoxifying your body.

Processed foods, sugar and commercial dairy products cause the mitochondria to work harder because they cause inflammation in the body. Start cleaning your house with nontoxic products,use personal care products that are natural and contain organic ingredients like here https://www.thehealthhoney.com/shop/

2. Exercise

Any activity will help...even walking. Jogging and weight training are all great ways to increase the health of your mitochondria. However, research has shown that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is the best type of exercise to increase mitochondria health and reproduction. HIIT is simply doing an exercise "all out" for 30 to 40 seconds as hard as you can than resting for about a minute and then repeating. I used this method to increase my strength back in the 90’s as world class powerlifter. If you are just starting out it may look like something like this; walk briskly for 30-40 seconds than slow down for 60 seconds than repeat. Do this for 10-15 minutes.

You can do interval training with almost any type of exercise. Weight training, running, swimming, rowing all can be done with interval training.

If you are out of shape reduce the “all out” time to 15-20 seconds. I do need to say that if you have illness that causes fatigue, or you are not used to exercising, or have any cardiac risk you need to get medical clearance to start any exercise program.

3. Reducing Stress

One great way to reduce stress is meditation. There all kinds of mindfulness apps that teach you how to calm your brain and breathing. More on meditation in upcoming blogs.

The bottom line, if you are feeling tired and have low energy there is a good chance are your energy factories are not working right. By increasing exercise, getting better sleep, eating cleaner and managing stress you can improve your mitochondria energy production. By slightly modifying your life style you can change the way you feel. You can Rejuvenate your Health and Revitalize your Life. You can Live Life and Stay Young. www.livelifestayyoung.com