Your Fresh Choices for a Better New Year
There’s something in this post you may like a lot. What if you could get the energy, force, and velocity before you walk out the front door? It is possible, and I’ll share how I do that daily. This month we explore how to be more energetic and joyful over the holidays… and throughout the year. Keep reading.
The Research
First, what is it that actually generates your energy? Your body has about 100 trillion cells (Sender, Fuchs & Milo, 2016). You’ve got over 200 types of cells, including blood cells (white and red), hard cells (bone, flesh, organs, etc.), bacteria, and “extras” (intracellular fluids, mitochondria, etc.).
Your body consumes and produces a LOT of energy to keep you alive and functioning. The energy you need is created and delivered by tiny structures inside your cells called mitochondria. Why should you care about how these inner cells function? For one thing, it influences your health. Let’s dig a bit deeper.
When you mistreat your body, your mitochondria underproduce. For instance, when sedentary, your brain gets less blood, glucose, and oxygen to your mitochondria. Plus, as we age our blood flow drops – unless we stay active. With less blood flow, the brain’s mitochondria can’t meet its normal energy demand. Neurons degenerate, leading to dementia—whose prevalence rises more than ten-fold, between the ages of 55 and 90 (Prince, et al., 2015).
In fact, mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to every mental or neurological affliction on earth, including chronic psychological stress and fatigue, cognitive deficits, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, and multiple sclerosis. It’s also linked to good things: thinking, feeling, and movement. It’s time to learn how to support and supercharge this energy for the rest of your life.
Starting today, make your energy mantra “Muster my mitochondria.” Why? This energy powerhouse plays a crucial role in both energy-producing for health and illness prevention (Kramer & Bressan, 2018). In short, it’s your daily lifeline. So, how do you support it? Let’s switch over to the real world.
Practical Solutions
Dr. Terry Wahls is a physician. As with other autoimmune diseases, her troubles began decades before her own diagnosis. She experienced a loss of stamina and strength, problems with balance, bouts of horrific facial pain, dips in visual acuity, and foot drop.
Finally, the diagnosis was made; she had multiple sclerosis (MS). As it kept getting worse, more accommodations were made. As a physician who was suddenly working in a wheelchair, life became more difficult every week. Most people would resign themselves to the horrible disease. But not Dr. Wahls.
What may be surprising to you is that 70-90% of the risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases (like MS) is due to environmental factors (Willett, 2002). The environment (not genes) drives most chronic diseases. Avoid blaming your genes and focus on what’s in your control. Dr. Wahls’ background in biology and medicine (plus a fierce curiosity) gave her the insights to get started.
She began a committed adoption of a multi-faceted lifestyle designed to help her mitochondrial function. This included dietary changes, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and supplements. Soon, she was out of her wheelchair and feeling good. In fact, soon, she could walk to her own clinic and bicycle around the block. Not bad for having multiple sclerosis. A year after starting treatments, she could bicycle 18 miles; the following year, she rode a trail horse through the Canadian Rockies. (Wahls, 2011). Impressive!
What can you do to keep your mitochondria in tip-top shape?
Remember, energy happens on a cellular, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional level. On the macro level, you can generate quick ‘spring into action energy’ from the outside in or the inside out. Here are a few choices for you to consider using; just start with one.
5 Steps You Can Choose From
Feed your body oxygen. Oxygenate your body through movement every single day. Walk, take a yoga class, ride a bike, follow an exercise routine, or play a sport (maybe… pickleball). Swimming daily for 10-30 minutes increased the number of mitochondrial DNA copies (Cao et al., 2012). Power walks at a healthy low-intensity movement for 20 – 40 minutes are a strong mitochondrial activator (Liepinsh, et al., 2020). What you do doesn’t matter as much as getting up and doing something daily.
Charge up your body. Choose unprocessed, nutrient-rich foods. That includes avocadoes, extra virgin olive oil, spinach, brown rice, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and whole grains (such as barley, whole wheat, or rolled oats). Consider legumes (multiple types of beans) and nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, and macadamia nuts). Ensure the meat is farm fresh, with no hormones or additives. Same with fish; avoid bottom crawlers and farm-raised fish (stick with real fish from the big ocean). Diet has a significant impact on your mitochondria (Kyriazis, 2022).
The cheapest proteins are typically eggs, dry beans, other legumes, meat, and milk products. Milk, potatoes, hot and whole grain cereals, and beans have more favorable overall nutrient-to-price ratios than chips, crackers, and some fruits (Ridoutt, 2021). Customize your nutrition choices using affordability, your age, taste, accessibility, and storage capacity.
Feed your brain oxygen. Use intentional nasal breathing. Real-world science suggests that nasal breathing supports cognitive tasks, stress reduction, and cellular functioning (Zelano, C, 2016). Give nasal breathing a brief tryout. Inhale through your nose and take 3 short breaths. Hold it… then exhale with 3 short breaths. Lengthen your breaths as you gain more skillful breathing. By deliberate focus on breathing, you are naturally slowing down your breathing rate to a rhythm that will activate your parasympathetic (relaxation) system. Typically, it also lowers your heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels, promoting calmness and clarity.
Self-Talk to Take Charge. Sometimes I catch myself saying “I am so tired. Don’t want to do this.” Instead of slowing down, I often just give myself a boost of energy with a pep talk. “Hey, Eric… it’s time for a quick stretch. Get up. Take three slow breaths. Count down from three to one and start walking.” The funny thing is, once I say that, I’m already in motion, ready to do the next thing that I had been putting off. Self-talk is used worldwide by athletes, performers, artists, and others who want to overcome doubts (Bellomo et al., 2020).
Skip breakfast (now and then). The slogan of eating breakfast (“… it’s the most important meal of the day.”) began in a 1944 marketing campaign. It was funded and launched by Grape Nuts cereal manufacturer Post to sell more breakfast cereal. Other cereal manufacturers, such as Kellogg’s and General Mills, jumped in. They reiterated the message: “Eat your breakfast to have a good day.”
Soon, it became an accepted “fact” within the American culture. Nutrition author Adele Davis famously said one should “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” But there was never any science behind that claim. Every meal is important, but every person is also unique in their needs.
In some studies, breakfast eaters were healthier. In other studies, no breakfast was better. Let’s get the best of both worlds: eat a healthy breakfast often and skip it now and then. For starters, choose one day a week to skip breakfast. Do a 16-18 hour (time starts from the last food eaten the night before) clear liquids only fast. Among the optimal triggers, caloric restriction is one of the strongest non-genetic triggers for revitalizing and building your body’s healthy mitochondria. (Mehrabani, et al., 2020).
Have a healthy dinner and be done eating by 6-7pm. No evening snacks. Then eat the next day starting at 11:30 or 12 noon. That gives your body enough time to do a “lite reboot” for your system. The first time I started fasting, I felt starved by 7 am. Over time, my body adapted. I now feel furiously sharp and productive in the morning on fasting days. You can do this, too. Start small, then slowly increase the number of days per month as soon as you’re ready. Your mitochondria will get revitalized (Castro-Sepúlveda, et al. 2021).
Finally, You have the capacity to change. Eating poorly is optional. Getting sick is usually optional. Yes, you can improve our mental and physical health, but only if you are willing to pay the price. Today, your price is a bit of extra time (the cost is mostly zero). But if you choose to postpone your critical physical and mental health habits, the price gets very, very expensive (in both more money and more time) later in life. Make a promise to yourself. Focus on eating better, getting enough sleep (free), exercising regularly (free), practicing mindfulness (free), and maybe you do intermittent fasting once a week (free). I have faith in you. Have a healthy and joyful holiday season.
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