Would you describe yourself as tired? Worn out? Continually struggling to get out of bed every morning due to sore muscles and brain miasma?
I am sure you could come up with a number of similar adjectives to describe your situation. In my world, we call in metabolic burn out. As everything in life (nothing is easy), there are a number of reasons for metabolic burn out, but one very important one is the role of a tiny little organelle in the majority of cells in your body called the mitochondria.
Mitochondria are sometimes described as the power houses of the cell because they generate most of the cell’s supply of energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In addition to supplying cellular energy, mitochondria are involved in a range of other processes, such as signaling, cellular differentiation, and cell death. They also control cellular growth and the cell cycle. They may also be directly involved in the aging process itself!
Damaged, beat up and not properly cared for mitochondria account for a lot of the fatigue you may be suffering from. Taking care of these little energy sources should be at the top of your list in the quest for a solution. Continually elevated insulin levels as seen in insulin resistance and elevated insulin secretion have been shown to damage and prevent the creation of new mitochondria.
Keeping an adequate amount of protein in your diet at each meal, and following a lower glycemic eating plan is the place to start. Eating a large variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other whole foods also helps due to the abundance of antioxidants. Utilize interval training while working out as this increases the efficiency of the mitochondria and strength training as it increases the number of mitochondria.
Kick the fatigue in the shorts with the help of your cellular powerhouses!
