The Mitochondria, what is it and how do we hack it?

What exactly is our Mitochondria? In basic biology we learned in school, the mitochondria is the power house of the cell, producing ATP an acronym for Adenosine Triphosphate.
What is ATP? An energy molecule that sustains life from an amoeba to a blade of grass to you.
What does the energy molecule that makes ATP consist of? Adenine: what is adenine? A type of protein that is used to make the building blocks of DNA and RNA.
Go to my blog on protein synthesis and protein bioavailability for the explanation of both DNA and RNA.
Adenine is part of many substances that give energy to the cells. The next is Ribose, a sugar molecule, the same one that makes DNA. Phosphate is the third and is a mineral phosphorus.
Now that we know the functionality of ATP and what it’s made of, I can  assure you that the mitochondria is much more than an organelle producing energy, and we can hack it. I’ll explain as this blog progresses.
The mitochondria is located in the cytoplasm - (liquid)- interstitial fluid which is part of our connective tissue our fascial matrix. Or as referred to as the “extra cellular matrix”. This fluid surrounds the nucleus of the eukaryotic cells - (organelles). What are organelles? They are sub cellular structures that have one or more jobs. Our mitochondria is an organelle.
First however, we need to know what are macrophages? Macrophages are a type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills micro-organisms, - (organisms that can be seen only through a microscope - they include bacteria - Protozoa (amoebas) - algae - fungi. Viruses, sometimes classified as a micro-organism, even though viruses are not considered living organisms remove dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells.
Macrophages can largely be categorized into two main types - M1 macrophage 1 and M2 macrophage 2. M1 type is activated by a pathogen invasion therefore playing a large role in our immune response to foreign pathogens like bacteria. M2 type is involved in anti inflammatory responses. Among the tasks of M2 are wound healing - tissue remodeling and metabolic performance as well as endocrine signaling of tissue - (endocrine signaling is the process by which endocrine cells release hormones into the bloodstream, which then travel to target cells within the body). M2 macrophages can promote cancer by secreting factors that suppress the immune response and stimulate angiogenesis ( the growth of blood vessels from the existing vascular) and tumor growth.
M1 macrophages are pro - inflammatory and abnormal activation of M1 promote a production cytokinin responses. Metabolic syndrome triggers an abnormal M1 response and pathogens also triggers an abnormal M1 response however once the pathogen, an example would be a bacterial infection is out of the body system, M1 response mechanism returns to a normal state. A person with metabolic syndrome would be in a chronic state of abnormal M1 response.
This chronic state of inflammation equals systemic inflammation which is a major factor in the three horsemen of death. Heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Peter Attia coined the phrase “The four horsemen of death”. The fourth being metabolic syndrome. Yes, the term three horsemen of death came from Dr. Attia, unfortunately, I cannot take credit, the credit is all Attia’s.
So, I ponder this question…If M1 is an inflammatory response within the body system and M2 is the anti inflammatory marker and inflammation is the cause of all illness chronic for example Rheumatoid arthritis or acute say a rhino virus then what is going on? I’m confused. Shouldn’t we want those anti - inflammatory markers M2 ? Well yes we do want M2 anti - inflammatory response and we also want M1 pro inflammatory response. You see inflammation is biological necessity or we would have not been able to evolve as a species.
When M1 has an abnormally high chronic response this creates an imbalance favoring M1 macrophages over the anti - inflammatory M2 macrophages and this disrupts immune homeostasis. Let’s use as an example, someone who smoked for sixty years and now has been diagnosed with lung cancer. For sixty years with every puff of every cigarette there is a pro inflammatory response by M1 macrophages within in the cells of the alveoli (the small air sacs) everyday for sixty years. This chronic inflammation is M1 macrophages response to the invader the carcinogenic properties of the cigarette. This chronic inflammation disrupted the natural homeostasis of the immune system where M1 and M2 became out of balance. Now M2 macrophages are not able to slow down the inflammatory response of M1 and now help the growth of the cancer cells because of the suppression of M2 macrophages due to years of chronic inflammation. M1 being in a chronic state of a hyper inflammatory response.
So, here is our first bio hack. Life style. You have heard of the saying you are what you eat haven’t you? Sorta, maybe or I would say to a large extent however everyone is different. Some do well on a more carnivorous diet and some do better on more  plant forward diet. It just depends. Some people can handle dairy while some people have a severe intolerance to dairy. That’s why I’m not a one size fits all kind of person, but here’s the rub.
If you are eating a standard American two thousand and twenty four diet, you aren’t eating real food. Every bite of that Mc Donald’s hamburger is causing an inflammatory response. The unreal, non food is filled with nothing but processed garbage full of salt and sugar. First hack. No more fast foods PERIOD! Read the labels on packages.
Lori, Dylan and I eat a lot of Italian food and you guessed it pasta. You eat pasta one may ask? Yes, we do. We all love a hearty spaghetti and meatball dinner. Lori makes the best meatballs you’ll ever have. Our pasta is organic which means two or three ingredients and no folic acid and sometimes I make the pasta from scratch. Our beef is grass fed and our marinara sauce, if I don’t make it, is organic. Fresh onions, garlic, herbs of basil, oregano and arugula for a touch of spice. The salt is pink Himalayan, the pepper and red pepper are organic as well. All these ingredients are real food. Protein, carbs and the anti oxidants from the spices, onions, garlic and tomatoes in the marinara sauce.
Do you get my point?  Real food is key. Eat what you like and make it well balanced and preferably organic. Next hack. Make protein your best friend. Protein is the building block of life and is essential for cellular repair. Protein doesn’t mean animal only. Animal protein is ninety to ninety five percent bio available and plant based protein has some eighty to eighty five percent bioavailability. An example of a well balanced meal would be a piece of meat some potato and cooked asparagus which would give a well balanced plethora of proteins. Food is not the enemy as long as it’s real food. In my opinion there are far too many dogmatic diets that are to restrictive and once again in my opinion, not balanced.
Next hack. Restrictive eating or what some refer to as intermittent fasting. We as a species are not designed to eat all the hours we are awake. Breakfast literally means break - fast. When we have metabolic flexibility, we are at the level of the mitochondria.
Start off with a ten hour break between your last meal and then build up to twelve followed by fourteen hours between your last meal and first meal of the day. Of course flexibility is key and a rigid approach is just that, rigid. If you’re on holiday and want to enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner, knock yourself out and when you return home you will easily slide back into your routine.
Next hack. Routine. It takes up to three months to develop a routine and around two weeks to break it.
Next hack. Sleep. One needs to get a good seven to nine hours of restful deep sleep so our mitochondria can bath in melatonin which is-the greatest anti oxidant known for the mitochondria .
Next hack. Meditation and breathing practices. This helps to meditate stress which can cause the release of our flight and fight mechanism which in turn causes our mitochondria to go into cellular defense. We want our mitochondria on offense not defense.
Next hack. Hydration. Hydration is essential for cellular health. Drink water like a fish, not alcohol or sodas. It’s fine to enjoy alcohol in moderation knowing that alcohol can have certain benefits such as the tannins in red wine but alcohol whether wine or not has sugar and is still an inflammation driver as well as dehydrating. As far as soda goes; I say never. Sodas are the kiss of death period.
Next hack. Supplements. There are supplements that are a must such as a high quality omega 3 fish oil with sufficient amounts of DHA and EPA. Vitamin D is another must. You can-supplement with melatonin around 3 milligrams prior to sleep and studies show that a baby aspirin helps reduce systemic inflammation.
Next hack. Get out in the sun. Sunlight helps the body with melatonin facilitation and an increase in vitamin D. Both are essential for immune health.
Next hack. Breath holding practices which induce mytophagy.
Next hack. Cold showers. Try it and I promise you that you will love how you feel after. Again, this is a transient stress producing methodology, as well as producing anti inflammatory M2 response and cold shock proteins and the calming affect on our nervous system is brilliant.
Next hack. Manage your weight. Fat cells produce inflammatory cytokines among these cytokines is M1 macrophages.
Next hack. EXERCISE. Our body is designed for movement and studies show that exercise on a regular basis has the most profound affects on life (HEALTH SPAN) than any other modality including diet.
Here are some more hacks. If you have access to a sauna, sauna therapy produces heat shock proteins and is also a transient stress once again inducing methodology. Red light therapy is another mitochondrion hack as it activates Mitochondria cells. You can pick up a high quality red light therapy machine for around five hundred dollars and you can purchase an infrared sauna kit for around two thousand dollars.
Stay tuned for my next blog.