Importance of Mitochondrial Health- Interview with Dr. Lee Know

When it comes to health and disease prevention, your mitochondrial health and function simply cannot be overstated. If your mitochondria are not functioning well, nothing else will either. Optimization of mitochondria is also a central key for life extension. Dr. Lee Know, who is a naturopathic physician, has written a must-read book on this topic called “Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine: The Key to Understanding Disease, Chronic Illness, Aging, and Life Itself.” In simple terms, mitochondria are the powerhouse of your cells, producing about 90 percent of the energy being generated in your body.
Everything that happens in your body, each and every muscle contraction and relaxation, biochemical cascade, cellular regeneration, detoxification and so on requires energy.
Free radicals formed at the level of the mitochondria are typically extremely harmful, which is why you need to minimize them. Two of the most effective ways to do this are exercise and calorie restriction (fasting).
Mitochondria also act as the coordinator for apoptosis, or programmed cell death — an important process that ensures the death of malfunctioning cells that might otherwise turn into cancer.
If your genetic heritage stems from equatorial regions, you will tend to have less brown (heat-generating) fat, and hence less mitochondrial uncoupling, which raises your risk of chronic disease. To counteract this, you will need to exercise regularly and regularly engage in cold thermogenesis training. Les artikkelen direkte fra kilden