Low energy, fatigue, or poor health: it could all be down to how well you are minding your mitochondria!
(by Claire Sambolino MSc, rCNHC, BANT Communications Manager)
From feeding your gut microbes to fuelling your mitochondria…
Energy is the fundamental source by which we live our lives. In nutrition, it is one of the most frequently mentioned areas of health that individuals state they would like to improve. Let’s face it, energy levels, or lack of, heavily influence how effectively we each navigate our daily lives. Given how important energy is, are you aware of what your mitochondria are and the role they play in generating energy?
Energy is defined as the strength and vitality required for everyday and sustained physical or mental activity. Most of us take it for granted thanks to our bodies seemingly limitless supply however, the stress and strains of everyday life can have a major impact on energy levels and fatigue over time. So where does our energy come from? Mostly from the foods and drinks we consume. However, this is just the start of the process as the body must extract the nutrients from these foods and convert them into energy molecules to be used by the body’s organs and biological systems, and this is where your mitochondria come into play.
Mitochondria are organelles inside our cells that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. In simple terms, they are the battery or powerhouse of our cells. And that’s not all… as well as generating energy from the food we eat, mitochondria are involved in many other key metabolic and immune functions, such as regulating body temperature, gene expression and cell turnover, hence their vital role in health and disease.
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