The Rimac Never boasts 1,914 horsepower. 00:00:01.36\00:00:06.00 It was born to outperform. 00:00:06.23\00:00:08.14 And no, I'm not driving one. 00:00:09.34\00:00:10.71 If that number doesn't mean anything to you, 00:00:10.74\00:00:12.67 consider that the Mitsubishi I, which is the wimpiest car 00:00:12.71\00:00:15.51 in America, only has 66 horsepower. 00:00:15.54\00:00:18.68 Today we're going to be talking about your horsepower. 00:00:19.25\00:00:22.12 And it has nothing to do with what kind of car you drive. 00:00:22.15\00:00:24.79 It has everything to do with the quadrillion mitochondria 00:00:24.82\00:00:27.72 that live inside of you. 00:00:27.76\00:00:29.46 So if you're feeling like you need a little more horsepower, 00:00:29.96\00:00:32.69 today is the program for you. 00:00:32.99\00:00:34.56 Honestly, it's not fair comparing a human with a Rimac 00:00:52.45\00:00:56.82 Nevera. We were born to outperform, but not like that. 00:00:57.12\00:01:00.26 If you've watched the previous programs, you know something 00:01:00.29\00:01:02.86 about mitochondria and the role they play 00:01:02.89\00:01:05.13 when it comes to our health and energy level. 00:01:05.16\00:01:07.56 We've learned that certain things can cause them 00:01:08.16\00:01:10.47 not to work so well. 00:01:10.50\00:01:11.90 Can you list some of them? 00:01:12.20\00:01:13.54 Not exercising, overeating, eating too much sugar, fat, 00:01:13.80\00:01:18.01 not exposing ourselves to sunlight, alcohol, tobacco, 00:01:18.57\00:01:21.91 environmental toxicants; they all hurt our mitochondria. 00:01:22.21\00:01:25.65 But today we're going to focus on what we can do 00:01:25.88\00:01:28.75 to get them pumped. 00:01:28.78\00:01:30.19 They are the most important organelle in the cell, 00:01:30.39\00:01:33.46 in terms of our energy, in terms of our metabolism. 00:01:33.49\00:01:37.53 If they're working well, we will have enough energy, 00:01:37.99\00:01:41.33 our metabolism will be working out well, 00:01:41.36\00:01:43.97 we will not be putting on weight. 00:01:44.00\00:01:46.00 But if they are not working well, the opposite will happen. 00:01:46.33\00:01:49.57 We will just gradually put on more and more weight, 00:01:49.60\00:01:52.57 we will feel sluggish, 00:01:52.91\00:01:54.98 we will feel like we don't have enough energy. 00:01:55.01\00:01:57.85 And the question is, can we do something about it 00:01:58.51\00:02:01.72 when that happens? 00:02:01.75\00:02:03.08 Or is it too late? 00:02:03.12\00:02:04.45 We did a study exactly on this. 00:02:05.15\00:02:08.89 We brought in people who were in their 50s and 60s. 00:02:08.92\00:02:12.16 And they were like, "My metabolism is so slow, 00:02:12.46\00:02:16.03 I just seem to be gaining weight from just breathing air." 00:02:16.06\00:02:20.84 And we were like, "Well, let's see what we can do 00:02:20.87\00:02:25.84 with a plant-based diet." 00:02:25.87\00:02:27.41 So we put them on a low fat vegan diet for 16 weeks, 00:02:27.44\00:02:31.68 and we measured their metabolism using the indirect calorimetry 00:02:31.71\00:02:36.72 which is a machine that looks like a spaceship. 00:02:36.95\00:02:40.42 We place like a clear hood over your head 00:02:40.46\00:02:43.79 when you come to the lab, 00:02:43.83\00:02:45.16 and you just breathe normally, for 15 minutes. 00:02:45.19\00:02:48.30 And we measure the carbon dioxide output. 00:02:48.60\00:02:51.57 Based on that, we're able to calculate how many 00:02:51.77\00:02:54.24 calories you're burning. 00:02:54.27\00:02:55.67 And so we measured the energy expenditure at baseline, 00:02:56.34\00:03:03.51 and then after 16 weeks on a low-fat vegan diet. 00:03:03.55\00:03:07.08 And we found out that A low-fat vegan increased 00:03:07.28\00:03:10.79 the energy expenditure by 14%. 00:03:10.82\00:03:13.82 It increased the thermic effect of food, which is the 00:03:14.62\00:03:18.99 increase of energy released in the form of heat 00:03:19.03\00:03:23.40 after we eat a meal. 00:03:23.43\00:03:24.77 When it's winter time, for example, we eat a meal 00:03:25.30\00:03:29.30 and we warm up because of the thermic effect of food. 00:03:29.34\00:03:33.01 Because there is some energy released in the form of heat. 00:03:33.04\00:03:36.64 And wouldn't that be wonderful if we could just 00:03:36.95\00:03:40.22 eat anything we wanted and just burn the extra energy 00:03:40.25\00:03:43.79 in the form of heat? 00:03:43.82\00:03:45.22 And that's exactly what a low fat vegan diet was doing. 00:03:45.25\00:03:48.66 It was actually helping to burn more calories. 00:03:48.69\00:03:53.03 So a plant-based diet is just amazing in terms of 00:03:53.50\00:03:57.33 being like a jump-starter of the metabolism. 00:03:57.90\00:04:02.24 Did you catch that? 00:04:03.04\00:04:04.54 I think I heard Dr. Kahleova just say that we could eat 00:04:04.57\00:04:07.68 whatever we want on a vegan diet. 00:04:07.71\00:04:10.08 Talk about an oxymoron. Too funny. 00:04:10.11\00:04:13.11 But weren't the results from that study encouraging? 00:04:13.15\00:04:15.75 I mean, four months on a plant-based diet 00:04:15.78\00:04:18.29 tuned up and revved up the engine. 00:04:18.32\00:04:21.09 What else revs up the mitochondria? 00:04:21.12\00:04:22.99 Yeah, so the mitochondria are very dependent on nutrients 00:04:23.69\00:04:27.76 for support and functioning properly. 00:04:27.80\00:04:29.70 And so those are things like zinc, B vitamins, 00:04:29.73\00:04:34.47 and also coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, 00:04:34.67\00:04:41.41 and acetyl-L-carnitine actually really helps 00:04:41.44\00:04:44.45 boost mitochondrial function as well. 00:04:44.48\00:04:47.22 And I'm always careful with this because there's no 00:04:47.25\00:04:50.09 one size fits all, just take this nutrient and you're 00:04:50.12\00:04:52.55 mitochondria is going to work well. 00:04:52.59\00:04:54.39 But the point being we can get these nutrients from food, 00:04:54.42\00:04:58.49 but we just need to know what we're looking for. 00:04:58.53\00:05:01.13 Again, going back to that whole food, a variety, 00:05:01.16\00:05:04.77 plant-based diet, really making sure that they're rich 00:05:04.80\00:05:07.84 in antioxidants and some of these mitochondrial supporters. 00:05:07.87\00:05:11.47 Yeah, there are definitely things that we can do 00:05:11.51\00:05:13.81 to help our mitochondria to function better 00:05:13.84\00:05:17.08 and to protect them. 00:05:17.11\00:05:18.45 Really, we're talking about antioxidants 00:05:18.48\00:05:20.52 when we talk about that. 00:05:20.55\00:05:22.02 And okay, so a couple of levels, right. 00:05:22.32\00:05:26.05 So first of all, we want to try to manage our stress correctly 00:05:26.09\00:05:29.36 so that we're not causing our mitochondria to over work. 00:05:29.39\00:05:33.23 But we all deal with stress. 00:05:33.26\00:05:34.76 And so especially for those of us that have a lot of 00:05:35.16\00:05:37.87 stress in our lives antioxidants are very important. 00:05:37.90\00:05:41.64 And so how do we get those? 00:05:41.67\00:05:43.00 Well, a healthy diet is the best way to actually get those. 00:05:43.04\00:05:46.91 So I really advocate for a whole food plant-based diet 00:05:46.94\00:05:50.18 because that's going to be very rich in antioxidants. 00:05:50.21\00:05:52.91 And what's interesting is that they've actually sometimes 00:05:52.95\00:05:57.09 try to supplement with antioxidants, and sometimes 00:05:57.12\00:05:59.95 it can have some affect, but oftentimes it doesn't have 00:05:59.99\00:06:03.63 the effect that they always expect. 00:06:03.66\00:06:05.63 And I think that is because, you know, God makes fruits, 00:06:05.66\00:06:09.60 vegetables, all of these things, in a perfect way so there are 00:06:09.80\00:06:13.54 so many different nutrients in there, 00:06:13.57\00:06:15.70 and so many different things that complement each other. 00:06:15.74\00:06:18.17 When you just try to isolate one, you don't know 00:06:18.57\00:06:21.04 what that's going to do in isolation. 00:06:21.08\00:06:22.58 But if you eat the whole food, the whole fruit, 00:06:22.61\00:06:25.15 the whole vegetable, then it really becomes 00:06:25.18\00:06:27.98 the way God meant it to help our bodies. 00:06:28.28\00:06:30.82 And that can be one of the best ways to actually protect 00:06:30.85\00:06:33.69 our mitochondrial function. 00:06:33.72\00:06:35.22 I like that. 00:06:35.82\00:06:37.16 He's just provided us with specific nutrients that can 00:06:37.19\00:06:39.86 support healthy mitochondria. 00:06:39.89\00:06:41.53 Alpha lipoic acid, better known as ALA, 00:06:41.56\00:06:44.53 coenzyme Q10, d-ribose, and AC, 00:06:44.57\00:06:48.07 as well as several others that have been found to be 00:06:48.10\00:06:50.04 supportive when strategically used. 00:06:50.07\00:06:52.34 But nutrients and food aren't the only things we can do 00:06:52.57\00:06:55.14 to support our mitochondria. 00:06:55.18\00:06:56.58 Yeah, because exercise is so dramatic, actually building up 00:06:56.78\00:07:01.75 the ability of the body to produce more mitochondria 00:07:01.78\00:07:05.95 and for the mitochondria to be able to 00:07:05.99\00:07:08.36 be more functional over time. 00:07:08.39\00:07:11.23 It's the synergy between all those things together. 00:07:11.43\00:07:14.36 And you know, the really good news is, there are actually 00:07:14.83\00:07:17.90 some really cool strategies that you can use to actually boost 00:07:17.93\00:07:21.94 mitochondrial number as well as mitochondrial function. 00:07:21.97\00:07:26.14 And so they've done a fair amount of studies, 00:07:26.37\00:07:28.24 especially looking at athletes because of course 00:07:28.54\00:07:30.95 athletes are always interested in "How can I get more energy? 00:07:30.98\00:07:33.88 How can I perform better?" 00:07:33.92\00:07:35.58 And so one of the things they found is if you do 00:07:35.68\00:07:39.25 endurance aerobic exercise, that's actually a wonderful way 00:07:39.29\00:07:42.56 to boost the number of mitochondria 00:07:42.76\00:07:45.13 in your muscle cells. 00:07:45.16\00:07:46.49 But it also boosts the number of mitochondria 00:07:46.53\00:07:49.56 throughout your body as well. 00:07:49.60\00:07:51.53 Even up to 40% depending on what kind of endurance 00:07:51.73\00:07:55.87 training that you're doing. 00:07:55.90\00:07:57.41 And another way that it relates to exercise, 00:07:57.71\00:08:01.98 they see this especially with sprinters or cyclists, 00:08:02.01\00:08:06.72 where they do high intensity interval training, 00:08:06.75\00:08:10.42 HIIT training they call it, where you hit it really hard 00:08:10.72\00:08:14.39 and you might sprint on a bike or sprint when you're running, 00:08:14.59\00:08:18.63 and do that for 30 seconds or so. 00:08:18.66\00:08:21.86 And then you bring it down, you're still exercising, 00:08:21.90\00:08:25.03 but at a much lower pace. 00:08:25.07\00:08:27.00 And so that kind of pushes your body, 00:08:27.04\00:08:29.10 it adds to the stress. 00:08:29.14\00:08:30.97 And you might think, "Oh, that's bad, right? 00:08:31.27\00:08:32.81 We don't want to over stress our mitochondria." 00:08:32.84\00:08:34.58 But what's interesting, if you just stress it for a short time, 00:08:34.61\00:08:38.25 that actually makes your body more resilient 00:08:38.45\00:08:41.65 and will help your mitochondria in the long run 00:08:41.68\00:08:44.49 to function better. 00:08:44.52\00:08:45.92 It will increase the number of mitochondria that you have. 00:08:45.95\00:08:49.19 Now you might be thinking, "Sprinting? Really? 00:08:50.43\00:08:53.53 I'm barely getting up out of my La-Z-Boy." 00:08:53.56\00:08:56.40 Not to worry. 00:08:56.83\00:08:58.17 HIIT can be adapted to your physical condition. 00:08:58.20\00:09:01.04 HIIT stands for high intensity interval training; HIIT. 00:09:01.34\00:09:07.38 So, for example, let's say you walk. 00:09:07.64\00:09:10.15 Applying HIIT, you would walk your normal pace 00:09:10.35\00:09:13.08 for a few minutes, and then increase your speed 00:09:13.11\00:09:15.62 and intensity for a minute, and then go back to walking 00:09:15.65\00:09:18.62 your normal speed for a few minutes, followed by 00:09:18.65\00:09:20.99 that short burst of walking faster. 00:09:21.02\00:09:23.43 And you can adapt that to any kind of activity you're doing. 00:09:23.46\00:09:26.39 That is just so interesting, though, that if we want 00:09:26.66\00:09:28.83 a strong, healthy mind, we need to physically exercise. 00:09:28.86\00:09:33.07 Exercise relieves our brain, it reduces stress. 00:09:33.34\00:09:36.20 Bring it on. 00:09:36.24\00:09:37.57 What I am thinking about, though, is specifically when it 00:09:37.97\00:09:40.54 comes to exercise, you know, mitochondria actually grow. 00:09:40.58\00:09:45.38 You have increase in mitochondria when you exercise. 00:09:45.41\00:09:48.62 And so that's really one of the ways in which 00:09:48.92\00:09:51.72 we can reduce the degeneration of mitochondria, 00:09:51.75\00:09:54.96 is by staying active. 00:09:54.99\00:09:56.32 And so that's pretty powerful to realize that 00:09:56.52\00:09:59.06 that's actually happening. 00:09:59.09\00:10:00.56 So you have certain muscle cells that have 00:10:00.96\00:10:03.13 more or less mitochondria in them. 00:10:03.47\00:10:05.90 And with exercise, we can actually increase the number 00:10:06.43\00:10:09.74 of mitochondria per muscle cell. 00:10:09.77\00:10:12.31 It's really hard to convince someone that, when you're tired, 00:10:12.34\00:10:15.78 the best thing to do is go out and do some activity, right? 00:10:15.81\00:10:19.38 And so a lot of times I think it's helping someone 00:10:19.48\00:10:23.28 shift their perspective on what that actually means. 00:10:23.32\00:10:26.49 So it might mean just going for a short little walk. 00:10:26.52\00:10:29.62 You know, starting where you feel like you can, 00:10:29.66\00:10:31.93 and then monitoring your symptoms and your fatigue 00:10:31.96\00:10:35.36 to see if, you know, there is that possibility for people 00:10:35.40\00:10:38.37 who really struggle with fatigue to overdo it 00:10:38.40\00:10:40.07 and make themselves worse. 00:10:40.10\00:10:41.44 And so you really have to help them learn how to 00:10:41.47\00:10:44.87 understand their own body and how they feel 00:10:45.41\00:10:48.94 so that they know where that limit is 00:10:48.98\00:10:50.78 And it may be that you just start with 3 minutes, 5 minutes 00:10:50.81\00:10:53.58 just gently walking. 00:10:53.62\00:10:54.95 Maybe just walking in place, maybe just standing up 00:10:54.98\00:10:57.55 during the commercial of whatever you're watching 00:10:57.85\00:11:00.32 and just step in place. 00:11:00.36\00:11:02.09 You know, certain things like that. 00:11:02.12\00:11:03.46 Start really, really slow, start really low. 00:11:03.49\00:11:07.10 And have people realize it's activity that matters. 00:11:07.13\00:11:09.80 It's not necessarily like exercise. 00:11:09.83\00:11:13.03 You know, like you're going to go out and run a marathon 00:11:13.23\00:11:15.30 or something like that, it's just something to be active. 00:11:15.34\00:11:18.31 And the 2018 guidelines that came out for physical activity, 00:11:18.84\00:11:22.31 one of the things that they added was sit less, move more. 00:11:22.34\00:11:26.55 And it used to be that we recommended for you to do 00:11:26.58\00:11:28.62 your aerobic exercise no less than 10 minutes at a time 00:11:28.65\00:11:32.09 in order to get the benefit. 00:11:32.39\00:11:33.72 And we started to realize when we looked at the data 00:11:33.76\00:11:35.52 and the 2018 guidelines came out, they basically said 00:11:35.56\00:11:38.23 anything you can do helps. 00:11:38.26\00:11:40.06 Just do something. 00:11:40.10\00:11:41.83 Randomly, intermittently throughout your day. 00:11:41.93\00:11:44.43 Find something you can do that will help you. 00:11:44.47\00:11:46.63 And so for people who have that fatigue, 00:11:46.67\00:11:48.77 it's just what can you do? 00:11:48.80\00:11:50.54 Can you play with your dog? Can you play with your cat? 00:11:50.57\00:11:52.51 Can you play with your kids? 00:11:52.54\00:11:53.88 Can you go for a short little walk? 00:11:53.91\00:11:55.24 Like, what in their life can they add that would help them? 00:11:55.28\00:11:58.48 Because a lot of times people will have, not just physical 00:11:59.11\00:12:02.18 fatigue, but emotional or mental fatigue. 00:12:02.22\00:12:04.85 And so when we think about them experiencing fatigue, 00:12:05.15\00:12:08.32 I also want to explore what that fatigue, where its cause is. 00:12:08.36\00:12:12.53 And then even if it's emotional and mental fatigue, 00:12:12.83\00:12:15.63 we can still use physical activity to help moderate that, 00:12:15.83\00:12:19.43 Because physical activity really helps calm the nervous system 00:12:19.63\00:12:23.17 and really helps bring the emotions under control. 00:12:23.20\00:12:26.81 And so it's a huge stress reliever. 00:12:27.08\00:12:29.38 So we use even low intensity physical activity, 00:12:29.41\00:12:32.95 it can be a huge autonomic nervous system modulator 00:12:32.98\00:12:35.98 and can help reduce the stress and the emotions. 00:12:36.02\00:12:38.45 And so if the fatigue is from that, I can often 00:12:38.49\00:12:41.06 go at it from that angle so they understand, 00:12:41.09\00:12:43.19 "Hey, this physical activity is not even necessarily 00:12:43.22\00:12:46.56 for the physical. 00:12:46.59\00:12:47.93 It's actually to relieve your 00:12:47.96\00:12:49.80 brain fatigue that you're feeling. 00:12:49.83\00:12:51.57 And so they can start to understand, "Oh, okay, okay," 00:12:51.80\00:12:54.40 those connections and how those pieces fit together. 00:12:54.44\00:12:56.94 That is just so interesting, that if we want a strong 00:12:57.71\00:13:00.84 healthy mind, we need to physically exercise. 00:13:00.88\00:13:04.18 Exercise relieves our brain and reduces stress. 00:13:04.21\00:13:07.32 Bring it on. 00:13:07.52\00:13:08.85 So in support of mitochondria function, we have 00:13:08.88\00:13:12.39 exercise, and sleep, and then good nutrition. 00:13:13.12\00:13:15.69 There's no way around the need for our systems, 00:13:15.72\00:13:18.83 all of our cells, to require adequate nutrition. 00:13:18.86\00:13:22.43 Clean living, as defined by science, is a particular 00:13:22.73\00:13:26.30 type of eating, a particular kind of movement, 00:13:26.33\00:13:30.67 a particular kind of stress on the brain, yes. 00:13:30.87\00:13:33.68 There's good stress and bad stress. 00:13:33.88\00:13:35.64 Good stress is important. 00:13:36.14\00:13:37.68 There's a reason that we have all those neurons. 00:13:37.78\00:13:39.88 Because it wants to be challenged. 00:13:39.91\00:13:41.85 It wants to be creative. It doesn't want to be dormant. 00:13:41.88\00:13:44.95 Yeah, sitting on the beach for a couple of days is great. 00:13:44.99\00:13:47.26 Sitting on a beach for a year, that brain is mush. 00:13:47.56\00:13:50.29 So move that brain. 00:13:50.56\00:13:52.26 We say, don't retire. Rewire. 00:13:52.29\00:13:54.26 Push the cells, push them so they can make connections. 00:13:54.30\00:13:57.00 How many connections? 00:13:57.10\00:13:58.43 Each neuron can make a couple of connections 00:13:58.47\00:14:00.60 or as many as 30,000 connections. 00:14:00.64\00:14:04.01 When they compare the brain to muscle, 00:14:04.51\00:14:07.24 it's a disservice to the brain. 00:14:07.28\00:14:09.88 The biggest human being you know is three times bigger 00:14:10.08\00:14:12.55 than they could have been. 00:14:12.58\00:14:13.92 Maybe three times. 00:14:13.95\00:14:15.28 But we're talking about each neuron making as many as 00:14:15.72\00:14:20.49 30,000 connections. 00:14:20.52\00:14:22.29 That's 15,000 times bigger. 00:14:22.32\00:14:24.66 That puts the incredible Hulk to shame. 00:14:24.99\00:14:27.50 That tells you what power we have in our control. 00:14:28.63\00:14:32.03 With simple things. 00:14:32.07\00:14:33.40 Keeping the brain moving and challenged. 00:14:33.44\00:14:35.60 And we'll talk about that. 00:14:35.64\00:14:36.97 Giving it the kind of food that gives it energy, 00:14:37.07\00:14:40.34 but without making it weak and tired, 00:14:40.44\00:14:43.45 and puts you into food coma. 00:14:43.48\00:14:44.81 There's a reason it's called, food coma. 00:14:44.85\00:14:46.65 And giving it the kind of rest that actually 00:14:47.18\00:14:50.25 completely cleanses the brain. 00:14:50.29\00:14:51.92 Those are powerful things. 00:14:51.95\00:14:53.29 The numbers are just bewildering. 00:14:53.32\00:14:56.02 A single neuron can have 30,000 connections? 00:14:56.66\00:15:00.26 That's amazing. 00:15:00.30\00:15:01.63 I love Dr. Sherzai's advice earlier. 00:15:01.66\00:15:04.23 Don't retire. Rewire. 00:15:04.27\00:15:06.37 Health energy flows to the brain cells is what makes this happen. 00:15:06.77\00:15:10.74 That's what maintains a healthy brain. 00:15:10.77\00:15:12.41 It's mitochondrial dysfunction that contributes to 00:15:12.44\00:15:14.84 brain and mental health disorders. 00:15:14.88\00:15:16.48 One of the ways mitochondria stay healthy 00:15:16.98\00:15:19.45 is by producing their own antioxidant. 00:15:19.48\00:15:22.62 It turns out that mitochondria themselves can produce 00:15:22.65\00:15:25.75 melatonin for their own use. 00:15:25.79\00:15:27.26 And that happens during the day. 00:15:27.36\00:15:28.79 And do you know what the stimulus is? 00:15:29.19\00:15:31.43 - No. - It's in sunlight. 00:15:31.46\00:15:33.16 It's not ultraviolet. 00:15:33.26\00:15:34.60 It turns out its infrared light from sunlight. 00:15:35.00\00:15:37.73 It gets through our clothing, penetrates our clothing 00:15:37.83\00:15:39.93 and our skin, and gets into our system 00:15:39.97\00:15:41.84 in a way that ultraviolet doesn't. 00:15:42.44\00:15:44.24 And apparently it's infrared light that stimulates 00:15:44.44\00:15:47.14 mitochondria to make melatonin within them 00:15:47.18\00:15:49.74 that helps them to clear out the dangerous 00:15:49.94\00:15:52.71 reactive oxygen species. 00:15:52.75\00:15:54.68 Did you catch that? 00:15:55.38\00:15:56.72 I find it so incredible that we are that intimately 00:15:56.75\00:16:00.26 connected with nature. 00:16:00.29\00:16:01.82 Rays of sunlight penetrate through our clothing 00:16:01.86\00:16:04.56 and our skin to the mitochondria, 00:16:04.59\00:16:07.16 and help them protect themselves by producing melatonin. 00:16:07.20\00:16:10.33 Who is melatonin? 00:16:10.77\00:16:12.10 She's one of our antioxidants that neutralizes ROS 00:16:12.13\00:16:15.10 and the stress he causes. 00:16:15.14\00:16:16.50 Remember ROS? 00:16:16.60\00:16:17.94 Our body also makes vitamin D 00:16:18.47\00:16:20.04 when our skin is exposed to sunlight. 00:16:20.08\00:16:21.81 And there's a direct relation between vitamin D levels 00:16:21.84\00:16:24.58 and mitochondrial performance. 00:16:24.61\00:16:26.41 Vitamin D deficiency reduces energy production. 00:16:26.88\00:16:30.29 Restoring optimal vitamin D though 00:16:30.52\00:16:32.65 through supplementation was found to improve mitochondrial 00:16:32.85\00:16:36.09 function in the skeletal muscle in a group of elderly 00:16:36.12\00:16:38.83 individuals, resulting in increased energy and strength. 00:16:38.86\00:16:43.37 What else can we do to support our mitochondria? 00:16:43.77\00:16:46.07 One of the ways that you can actually do that as well 00:16:47.30\00:16:50.94 is through intermittent fasting. 00:16:50.97\00:16:53.98 So that's a way, even though it's kind of like 00:16:54.01\00:16:56.34 you feel like you're starving your body, and it's stressful. 00:16:56.78\00:16:59.98 But again it's that mild shorter term stress. 00:17:00.08\00:17:04.65 And one of the reasons they think that fasting 00:17:04.69\00:17:08.32 can be so beneficial for brain health, as far as like 00:17:08.36\00:17:14.00 decreasing aging, and improving memory, 00:17:14.03\00:17:16.73 and improving overall cognitive function 00:17:16.77\00:17:19.53 is because it has that short-term stress, 00:17:19.57\00:17:23.91 but then it actually up-regulates the number of 00:17:23.94\00:17:26.61 mitochondria in the nerve cells. 00:17:26.64\00:17:28.54 And it also allows the brain to kind of go into a 00:17:28.58\00:17:31.85 little more of a resting state so you have 00:17:31.88\00:17:33.85 more of the opportunity to rejuvenate and to repair, 00:17:33.88\00:17:37.99 and that sort of thing. 00:17:38.02\00:17:39.45 From a lifestyle perspective, there's all kinds of things 00:17:40.22\00:17:43.49 that contribute to energy. 00:17:43.53\00:17:44.86 A person sits in a chair all day is going to become fatigued. 00:17:45.99\00:17:50.70 That doesn't make sense to a lot of people, 00:17:50.73\00:17:53.94 but you have to get out and you have to walk. 00:17:53.97\00:17:55.34 You have to exercise. 00:17:55.37\00:17:56.71 That's part of energy. 00:17:56.94\00:17:58.27 You have to make sure that you're eating proper foods. 00:18:00.48\00:18:02.91 The more prepared foods you eat, 00:18:03.68\00:18:05.88 the less energy you're going to have from it. 00:18:06.61\00:18:08.65 Now you can get away with some of this stuff if you're young, 00:18:09.02\00:18:12.12 but the older you get, the more problems you're going to have. 00:18:12.15\00:18:14.46 So food makes a difference. 00:18:15.12\00:18:17.83 You will have people come in that say they're very fatigued, 00:18:18.39\00:18:21.70 and yet when I do an examination, 00:18:22.53\00:18:24.40 put a tongue blade in their mouth, 00:18:24.43\00:18:25.83 the tongue blade literally sticks to the tongue. 00:18:25.87\00:18:28.30 What does that tell you? 00:18:28.77\00:18:30.11 They're dehydrated. 00:18:30.31\00:18:31.64 Dehydration can cause fatigue. 00:18:31.84\00:18:34.08 So you know, people will say, if they're over weight 00:18:34.64\00:18:38.78 they'll say things, they'll say, "Well, I'm constantly eating. 00:18:38.81\00:18:42.02 I'm hungry. I'm hungry." 00:18:42.05\00:18:43.39 Well, what we need to know again, is that frequently 00:18:43.42\00:18:46.22 hunger is a symptom of dehydration. 00:18:46.25\00:18:48.76 Energy can be all these different things mixed up. 00:18:50.73\00:18:55.30 Eating too much sugar can cause a similar problem. 00:18:57.53\00:19:00.37 And a lot of people, that's how they get their energy. 00:19:00.84\00:19:03.10 They like it when they eat that sugar drink or whatever. 00:19:03.14\00:19:06.57 They have more energy. 00:19:06.61\00:19:08.18 They don't realize that's destroying their energy 00:19:08.51\00:19:10.48 at a cell level. 00:19:10.51\00:19:11.85 They get a temporary lift with it just like with caffeine 00:19:12.05\00:19:15.08 and some of these other things. 00:19:15.12\00:19:16.45 But long term it's destroying their energy. 00:19:16.48\00:19:19.42 Highly processed foods can cause problems. 00:19:19.45\00:19:24.39 And we see this not so much at a cell level, per se. 00:19:24.93\00:19:31.50 If you think of a tree. 00:19:31.83\00:19:34.24 A tree has roots in the ground. 00:19:35.90\00:19:38.44 Then it has this big, long trunk. 00:19:39.07\00:19:41.01 And finally, it has branches and leaves. 00:19:41.34\00:19:44.01 And we look at the whole tree and we see the tree. 00:19:44.38\00:19:47.08 But we don't think of the fact that if the leaves start getting 00:19:47.75\00:19:51.65 problems, frequently it's due to the fact that the roots 00:19:51.69\00:19:54.82 aren't bringing in proper nutrition or water, or whatever. 00:19:54.92\00:19:58.46 It's the same thing with health. 00:19:58.66\00:20:00.36 Health is a very wholistic kind of thing. 00:20:00.63\00:20:03.40 We can point out certain conditions, 00:20:03.73\00:20:07.07 but unless we're looking at the entirety, 00:20:07.60\00:20:09.94 we're missing the underlying problem. 00:20:09.97\00:20:12.51 And that's were we aren't taught this in medical school. 00:20:12.91\00:20:19.01 And I'll be frank with you. 00:20:19.51\00:20:20.92 In medical school we really are taught that the reason you're 00:20:20.95\00:20:25.05 doing an examination, doing labs, asking questions, 00:20:25.09\00:20:28.32 is so you can get the proper diagnosis. 00:20:28.36\00:20:30.33 That's the whole key. 00:20:30.36\00:20:31.69 But I remember distinctly when I was in residency 00:20:34.83\00:20:37.97 at L.A. County Hospital in Ear, Nose, and Throat, 00:20:38.63\00:20:41.07 otolaryngologist, I remember I was on grand rounds 00:20:41.10\00:20:44.34 and I was presenting a patient. 00:20:44.37\00:20:45.97 And I presented this patient, I did a brilliant job, 00:20:46.64\00:20:48.98 if I do say so myself. 00:20:49.01\00:20:50.81 But at the end, one of the old guys came up to me, 00:20:50.85\00:20:54.88 looked me straight in the eyes and said, 00:20:55.08\00:20:57.55 "Doctor, are you treating the labs or the patient?" 00:20:57.59\00:21:02.36 That was old medicine, okay. 00:21:04.63\00:21:07.10 Nowadays, you don't even think of that. 00:21:07.13\00:21:08.46 We think of ourselves as scientists. 00:21:08.50\00:21:10.50 Labs are very accurate. 00:21:10.53\00:21:12.90 But as we have been talking before, 00:21:13.54\00:21:16.34 depending on the lab, we may have the wrong understanding 00:21:16.37\00:21:20.68 of what that lab is really telling us. 00:21:20.71\00:21:22.44 Or totally miss the boat. 00:21:22.98\00:21:24.68 I appreciate how candid Dr. Shearer is being. 00:21:25.18\00:21:28.02 So often, even with ourselves, we're treating the labs 00:21:28.05\00:21:30.32 and not the whole person. 00:21:30.35\00:21:31.69 His analogy of the tree was great; 00:21:31.72\00:21:33.09 the leaves, the branches, and where we see the manifestation 00:21:33.29\00:21:35.99 of symptoms in our health problems. 00:21:36.02\00:21:38.03 And that's typically where we apply treatment. 00:21:38.06\00:21:40.60 Directly to the leaves and branches. 00:21:40.63\00:21:42.56 But we also need to address what is going on at the root level. 00:21:42.93\00:21:46.33 When we start looking down there, we start realizing 00:21:46.77\00:21:49.20 how interrelated everything is and why things like nutrition, 00:21:49.24\00:21:53.24 exercise, sleep, stress, toxicants, and antioxidants 00:21:53.27\00:21:57.15 have such a profound influence on the quality of our life. 00:21:57.35\00:22:00.25 The mitochondria are highly affected by how we treat 00:22:00.62\00:22:03.28 ourselves, what we're exposed to how we live. 00:22:03.32\00:22:06.22 The engine of a car would be worthless 00:22:07.19\00:22:09.79 if it's just sitting out there by itself. 00:22:09.89\00:22:12.29 And even if it's in the car, it's worthless unless it's 00:22:12.33\00:22:16.06 connected to the rest of the parts of the car. 00:22:16.10\00:22:19.70 So, for instance, one of the key components of the cell: 00:22:19.97\00:22:25.74 so you have mitochondria that are in the cytoplasm, 00:22:25.77\00:22:28.31 which is in the fluid portion around the nucleus in the cell. 00:22:28.34\00:22:32.48 And there's hundreds, if not thousands 00:22:32.51\00:22:34.68 of these little organelles called mitochondria 00:22:34.72\00:22:37.22 in every cell of the body that are taking the fat 00:22:37.25\00:22:40.82 and the glucose from carbohydrates and converting 00:22:40.86\00:22:44.13 them into that usable energy. 00:22:44.16\00:22:46.06 Now there's other organelles, for instance, like the ribosome, 00:22:46.70\00:22:50.60 which are these macro molecular factories. 00:22:50.80\00:22:54.60 These are little miniature factories that produce 00:22:54.64\00:22:59.31 every protein in your body. 00:22:59.34\00:23:01.38 And without these very complex proteins, 00:23:01.84\00:23:07.05 there is no life. 00:23:07.25\00:23:08.58 That's one of the strongest arguments against 00:23:09.28\00:23:12.25 Darwinian evolution ever. 00:23:12.29\00:23:14.16 Because in order to produce even the simplest protein, 00:23:14.36\00:23:18.66 you have to have a very complex protein to do so. 00:23:18.86\00:23:23.47 And that's in the ribosome, right. 00:23:23.50\00:23:25.50 And so in order to produce protein, 00:23:25.53\00:23:29.64 you have to have ATP. 00:23:29.84\00:23:31.87 And where do you get your ATP? 00:23:31.91\00:23:34.11 Only the mitochondria. 00:23:34.14\00:23:36.08 So you have to have functioning mitochondria. 00:23:36.11\00:23:38.65 And that is why it's so critical that we have the right 00:23:38.85\00:23:42.02 lifestyle strategies, the right diet, 00:23:42.05\00:23:44.82 the right emphasis on exercise. 00:23:44.85\00:23:46.96 Balance in everything, because without that 00:23:46.99\00:23:49.59 we don't have healthy mitochondria. 00:23:49.62\00:23:51.63 We get so busy we can't rest. 00:23:51.66\00:23:53.56 We get so busy, we can't relax at the end of the day. 00:23:53.60\00:23:56.43 We get so busy, there's no time to exercise. 00:23:56.67\00:23:59.87 And what is the rush? 00:24:00.24\00:24:04.34 What is so important about this world 00:24:04.37\00:24:07.38 that we can't take care of even ourselves? 00:24:07.41\00:24:11.21 If we can't take care of ourselves, 00:24:11.25\00:24:13.42 how can we serve God by taking care of others? 00:24:13.72\00:24:17.02 You can't have health and you can't address disease 00:24:17.49\00:24:20.59 unless you have energy to do that. 00:24:20.62\00:24:22.32 And the only place in the body that creates energy 00:24:22.36\00:24:26.46 that other tissue, organelles, or cells of the body can use 00:24:26.49\00:24:31.57 is mitochondria. 00:24:31.60\00:24:33.54 So mitochondria are the generators of the cell. 00:24:33.57\00:24:36.30 Just like countries will pipe in gasoline 00:24:36.60\00:24:41.11 in order to generate electricity. 00:24:41.68\00:24:43.58 You have no electricity without gasoline. 00:24:43.61\00:24:46.01 Likewise, in our body, you have no electrical energy, 00:24:46.05\00:24:50.15 no nervous energy, no energy at all 00:24:50.19\00:24:53.32 without functioning mitochondria. 00:24:53.36\00:24:55.96 And so in order to have even minimal health, 00:24:55.99\00:24:58.86 you have to have adequate mitochondrial function 00:24:58.89\00:25:02.36 and production of that currency of energy 00:25:02.40\00:25:05.00 in the body called ATP. 00:25:05.03\00:25:06.70 But in order to have optimal health, you have to have 00:25:06.90\00:25:09.90 abundant amounts of ATP, but used in the right way. 00:25:09.94\00:25:15.58 When it comes to the health of the mitochondria, 00:25:15.78\00:25:18.41 or any particular compartment or element of the cell, 00:25:18.45\00:25:22.65 we have to realize that each part of the cell, 00:25:23.02\00:25:27.09 and the cells together, and the entire brain 00:25:27.12\00:25:30.23 architecture works in harmony. 00:25:30.33\00:25:32.83 You can't really start protecting one part specifically 00:25:32.86\00:25:37.07 and assume that everything else will fall in place. 00:25:37.10\00:25:39.97 You have to make sure that everything that you do 00:25:40.17\00:25:43.71 should be in synergy. 00:25:43.74\00:25:45.11 So when you're eating a healthy diet, 00:25:45.14\00:25:47.61 not only are you providing the right kind of environment 00:25:47.64\00:25:50.71 for the brain to heal itself, and to grow, and for the 00:25:50.81\00:25:53.95 mitochondria to thrive, you're actually providing 00:25:53.98\00:25:57.69 so much more for the support of structures. 00:25:57.72\00:26:00.32 And that's why there is a lot of great research 00:26:00.56\00:26:04.06 on the kind of things you can do to protect your mitochondria. 00:26:04.09\00:26:07.66 Which essentially comes from the idea of healthy lifestyle. 00:26:07.70\00:26:11.17 Eating the right kinds of foods, movement, 00:26:11.20\00:26:14.10 staying away from sedentary lifestyle, 00:26:14.14\00:26:16.24 making sure that we sleep well because that's the most 00:26:16.44\00:26:18.77 incredibly important time for the brain to cleanse itself. 00:26:18.81\00:26:22.21 And keeping those connections going with a purposeful, 00:26:22.41\00:26:26.01 meaningful life. 00:26:26.05\00:26:27.38 So when all of these done are in harmony, 00:26:27.42\00:26:29.22 the mitochondria thrive, the cellular structure thrives, 00:26:29.25\00:26:32.82 and everything works in a beautiful synergistic way. 00:26:32.92\00:26:35.69 And so some of the things we know that are beneficial 00:26:36.09\00:26:38.96 to mitochondria are kind of the usual things 00:26:38.99\00:26:44.07 that support good health. 00:26:44.10\00:26:45.43 So we know quite a lot now about how exercise 00:26:45.47\00:26:48.44 directly stimulates mitochondrial function. 00:26:48.94\00:26:51.01 It stresses them, actually, causes them to increase 00:26:51.04\00:26:54.64 their own stress level by the production of what are 00:26:54.68\00:26:56.78 called reactive oxygen species. 00:26:56.81\00:26:59.48 It forces the cells to sharpen up their mitochondria 00:27:00.98\00:27:04.95 and produce more mitochondria 00:27:04.99\00:27:06.32 for the production of more energy. 00:27:06.35\00:27:07.99 And that's a direct effect of exercise 00:27:08.29\00:27:09.92 of our muscles, evidently. 00:27:09.96\00:27:11.39 Good sleep apparently supports mitochondria 00:27:13.46\00:27:16.73 in some really interesting ways, 00:27:16.77\00:27:18.10 that I've just recently learned about. 00:27:18.13\00:27:19.63 We've all heard of melatonin and how melatonin comes from 00:27:21.60\00:27:24.27 our pineal gland when the sun goes down, 00:27:24.31\00:27:26.64 and the sky darkens, and we're designed to go to sleep 00:27:26.68\00:27:29.38 after the darkening of our environment. 00:27:29.41\00:27:32.41 The pineal gland secretes melatonin which has this 00:27:32.45\00:27:35.98 sort of go to sleep effect on all of our systems, 00:27:36.02\00:27:38.69 all of our cells. 00:27:38.72\00:27:40.06 One thing that melatonin also does evidently is 00:27:40.69\00:27:44.19 affects the mitochondria in such a way that helps 00:27:44.86\00:27:47.36 them to clean up the waste and the reactive oxygen species 00:27:47.40\00:27:51.23 that they have built up during that day's activity. 00:27:51.27\00:27:55.37 So this is one way in which good sleep at night is 00:27:55.74\00:27:59.64 vitally important for your daytime function. 00:27:59.67\00:28:02.11 We know that our glands, our mitochondria in our glands 00:28:02.14\00:28:04.55 will function better if we slept well at night. 00:28:04.58\00:28:06.58 And evidently, melatonin has an important function in that. 00:28:06.78\00:28:10.15 I am so motivated to take care of my mitochondria. 00:28:11.45\00:28:15.16 And I hope that you are too. 00:28:15.46\00:28:17.09 I look forward to seeing you next time on Made For Health. 00:28:17.29\00:28:20.10