Caring for your mitochondria, and why it’s important

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Think way back to high school biology. You may remember learning about a little something called “mitochondria.” What may have been a seemingly inconsequential organelle is actually a very important part of your body, and a major contributor to your overall health. 47462646 - woman near window raising hands facing the sunrise at morning

What exactly are mitochondria?
Mitochondria exist in nearly every cell of the body (with the exception of those without a nucleus, in case you’re wondering) and function by helping to convert our food and oxygen intake into energy our body can use. Mitochondria play a heavy hand in energy support. When mitochondria are running at a less than optimal output, it can make you feel fatigued. The mighty mitochondria are important to the overall aging process, including preserving memory, as well.

What impacts mitochondria?
Turns out that mitochondria are sensitive and it’s actually relatively easy to stress them out, jumpstarting a reaction that leaves you feeling less like yourself. Mitochondria can be affected by sugar, smoking, too much sun exposure and poor diet, among other environmental factors and lifestyle choices known to damage cells and tissues. In turn, this may harm cells’ mitochondria.

How can you care for your mitochondria?

  • Make healthy dietary choices. Since mitochondria use your food intake to convert to energy, you can imagine the recourse of only providing them with processed food and empty calories. The mitochondria want to work for you, so eat the colors of the rainbow and give them the balanced meals they need to function at their best.
  • Exercise regularly. In particular, a combination of interval and strength training has shown to be the most effective exercise for mitochondrial health.
  • Incorporate omega-3 fats. Omega-3 fats help restore mitochondria and their membranes. You can get omega-3 fats from supplements and some foods, such as fish, chia seeds, walnuts and egg yolks.

The body is here to support us in our daily our lives. It’s time to focus on what we can do to keep it performing at its best and feeling more energized, youthful, ready to take on new projects and places.

 

What should I know about metabolic rejuvenation?

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????????????????????????????????????The weight loss market in the United States is now worth a whopping $72 billion. This is expected given that over two-thirds of American adults are overweight. Even about 32.5 percent of American adults are obese. As a result, dieting, rigorous exercise regiment, and medication are some of the ways people try to lose weight.

However, for many people, it seems that irrespective of what they do, their weight stays the same. Though they stay away from junk food, eat dinner early, religiously attend four cardio classes and one Pilates session every week, their weight never budges.

This can be particularly frustrating for people that are obese (planning to lose over 50 pounds) and their weight continually disrupts their daily life, yet it seems there’s nothing they can do about it. Luckily, there’s one lifeline that can get you to lose that much weight – Metabolic Rejuvenation.

The Problem With the Conventional Approach to Weight Loss

The traditional view of counting calories for weight loss, especially for women, has resulted in an epidemic of reduced metabolism and frustrated dieters. When you eat like a worm and spend hours exercising, two outcomes are guaranteed. In the short term, reduced food intake and increased cardiovascular activities lead to weight loss. However, in the medium term, the body adjusts to this new food and exercise routine and fat loss eventually stops. Even worse, any deviation from this new norm will pile on the pounds.

But what’s the solution to this? The key is to transform the body into a fat-burning machine. This way, you can live your life happily and in good health without having to worry about the repercussions of the pizza you ate last night. That brings us to metabolic rejuvenation.

What is Metabolic Rejuvenation?

Metabolic rejuvenation is the process of resetting your body’s metabolic rate through rapid and intelligent planning. Our bodies are highly adaptive. That’s why you gain weight when you feed too much. But by implementing new strategies, your body gets adapted in positive ways that will bring about remarkable transformations in your body.

Metabolic Rejuvenation Program

This program is particularly targeted for patients that want to lose over 50 pounds in less than three months. To accomplish this, a physician will review your food diary for one day and provide specific coaching. Thereafter, a body composition test will be used to closely monitor your progress. This also helps to make the necessary adjustments to best suit how your body is reacting to the process. It also involves certain medicines and an exercise plan. The ultimate goal is to take a holistic approach to modify your metabolic processes.

Here’s a proper breakdown of what metabolic rejuvenation involves:

  • Treatment Plan

This involves the development of a detailed initial functional medicine treatment plan. This plan will specifically address imbalances and other factors that contribute to weight loss like insulin resistance, depressed metabolism, food allergies, high cortisol levels, hypothyroidism, sleep deprivation, hormone imbalance, neurotransmitter imbalance, and more. By incorporating prescription medication (if needed), nutritional supplements, medical food, and hormone replacement, these imbalances can be fixed.

  • Body Composition Testing

Monitoring progress is very important in metabolic rejuvenation. Body composition analysis makes it possible to specifically monitor fat loss and increase in lean muscle since that’s the target. The sophisticated InBody 520 from BIOSPACE is used to carry out the test.

  • Treatment Plan Adjustments

As new insights are obtained from the analysis and test result, the treatment plans will be adjusted to have the maximum impact. This may involve adjusting nutritional supplements, hormones, medical foods, and/or prescription medication.

  • Eating Plan Guidance

Dieting is crucial when it comes to weight loss, as taking too much or even the wrong calories can hurt your weight. An eating plan guidance takes into account your body composition to determine what kind of food is best suited for you. As the program progresses, your daily food diary will be adjusted to make changes well-suited for your body.

  • Effective Exercise

Exercising is also an important piece of metabolic rejuvenation. However, many people, especially women do not get it right. They tend to overfocus on the cardio machines, paying less attention to the weight areas. And as a result, after six months of cardio workouts, no change is noticeable. Aerobic exercise is more effective to burn fat and is good for the heart and the entire cardiovascular system. However, aerobic exercise has little impact on the muscles, and may even lead to muscle loss, which is undesirable as muscles are important to stay in shape.

An effective exercise regimen incorporates muscle building with fat loss. To determine the appropriate exercise, your specific physiology and body composition will be used. As you progress, your body composition will be monitored and the exercise plan adjusted as needed.

Contact us today for more information regarding metabolic rejuvenation. We’re here to help and happy to discuss your well being with you!

Five easy steps to start living a green life

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Green living — what many thought was a trend has officially found its place. It’s a lifestyle change that’s picking up steam, settling into the lives of many who are looking for a more natural, non-toxic and healthier lifestyle.19562151 - beautiful young woman outdoors enjoy nature

It’s true that what you put in and on your body makes a difference. Skin care, beauty products, food and home cleansers are all areas of concern for many. There’s a desire to use products that we can all feel good about, for ourselves, and for our children and pets.

But, getting started can be overwhelming and you may wonder, do I need to throw away everything I own? In short, the answer is no. Here’s how you can make the switch in a transitional way.

1. Take inventory and do your research.
Break all of your possessions into categories, depending on what it’s used for and then take a look at the Think Dirty app. Scan your products’ barcodes and learn how safe and non-toxic they are…or aren’t. You’ll quickly pick up on the ingredients that are red-flagged as being less than ideal. Spend some time researching these ingredients so you know what to look out for.

2. Adjust your budget.
Whether or not you already have a budget in place for household expenses, redo it. The truth is that organic and sustainable foods typically cost more than their counterparts and if you aren’t financially prepared, it can be discouraging.

3. Buy in bulk.
Many warehouse clubs offer more cost-effective natural and organic options because you’re buying in bulk. Your total bill may be higher than what you’re used to at your corner grocery store, but your cost per ounce should be lower and the product will last longer.

4. Replace as you go.
Sure, once you’re educated about your ingredients, the idea of continuing to consume them is a little scary. Unless you’re willing to spend the money on a complete overhaul, just replace as you go. Once a cleaning product runs out, replace it with it’s non-toxic counterpart.

5. Sign up for curated boxes.
You probably have products that work for you. When it comes to replacing them, you want to make sure you aren’t on a wild, and expensive, goose chase to find something else that’s equally good. Invest a little bit of money in trying out curated boxes, like The Detox Box.

Join the number of people who have found success in living a green lifestyle. Adopting non-toxic products into your routine will give you peace of mind knowing that you’re surrounding yourself with healthier alternatives.

What is personalized precision medicine?

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?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Over the course of thousands of years, health practitioners have sought after more effective treatment for patients through observation and experimentation, carefully building on the efforts of the previous generations.

But for the most part, medicine has always been created and prescribed based on taking a statistical average of its effect on human population samples. While medicine used in this manner helped a lot of people, it failed to ameliorate the medical conditions of many. That’s why the ultimate goal of clinicians has been to create more accurate, proactive, precise, and impactful care for each individual.

Modern physicians and scientists are at the forefront of making this a reality, a destination far beyond what our ancestors envisioned. With the help of electronic medical records, genetic testing, big data analytics, and super-computing, all crucial ingredients for creating truly personalized medicine are in view.

Definition of Personalized Precision Medicine

Precision medicine is the concept of tailoring disease treatment and prevention to account for differences in genetic, environmental, and lifestyle habits of specific people groups. It analyses the genetic and biomedical information unique to a group of patients and uses it to streamline a medication that will be much more effective.

Precision medicine is also referred to as personalized medicine, but the ‘personalized medicine’ term has been falling out of favor. Personalized medicine is commonly misinterpreted to imply that treatments and preventions are being developed uniquely for each individual. That is not the case. In precision medicine, the focus is on creating treatments that apply to groups of individuals who meet certain characteristics.

Understanding the Role of Genes in Precision Medicine

When it comes to chronic diseases, genetics play a crucial role in the way food, medication, and other supplements are metabolized and used by a person’s body. A therapy that’s right for a person may be ineffective for a person with the same medical condition but a different genetic makeup.

Examples of Genetic Weakness

Consider a patient that has genetic weakness in the immune system “off switch” like SNP CTLA4. That patient won’t be able to effectively turn off inflammatory cytokines and this will lead to runaway inflammation. If the patient is exposed to inflammation-inducing events like stress, infections, vaccines, etc., their body produces inflammatory cytokines, but because of the weakness of CTLA4, the body cannot turn off the inflammation.

For better insight, let’s consider another patient with the dreaded C677T. This condition decreases a person’s methylation capability by about 40%/70% (hetero/homo). In the methylation process, methylfolate is produced, which is central to generating energy and ATP that makes many important neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA. With this decreased capability, the patient suffers from fatigue, low energy, and other symptoms associated with reduced production of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

Finally, imagine a patient with these two conditions; significant inflammation and methylation deficiency. The right medication to use should be methylfolate. However, without first addressing the inflammation before using methylfolate, the patient gets sicker. It’s like knowing the recipe for making spaghetti but having no idea on the procedure – it’ll end up a complete disaster. Precision medicine, in this instance, helps medical practitioners understand not only the right medication but the right order to obtain the intended result.

The Promise of Precision Medicine

Throughout human history, medicine has been largely reactive. Even today, we mostly have to wait for the onset of diseases before trying to treat or cure them. However, because precision medicine is based on each patient’s genetic medicine, it holds the promise of breaking from the limitations of traditional medicine.

Here are some of the applications healthcare providers are increasingly harnessing precision medicine for:

  • Shifting the emphasis of medicine from reactive to preventive
  • Predicting susceptibility to disease
  • Improving disease detection
  • Preempting disease progression
  • Customizing strategies for disease-prevention
  • Avoiding prescribing drugs with predictable side effects.
  • Saving treatment time and boosting the success rate
  • Eliminating a trial-and-error approach to treatment.

Case Study: Precision Medicine in Cancer Treatment

Approximately 1.7 million cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States, and it claims about 600,000 people. It was one of the leading causes of death in America, second only to heart disease. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that the economic cost associated with cancer is about $80 billion per year in terms of lost productivity, wages, care costs.

Do you know that all cancer is caused by a genetic change or mutation of some kind? In simple terms, cancer cells are just mutated versions of normal cells. While our knowledge is still limited with regards to the genes and mutation involved in the development of cancer, there has been significant progress. For instance, depending on the certain gene mutation, it is possible to tell if that person is more likely to have a specific type of cancer. Furthermore, if a person has a certain cancer type, it is possible to tell based on certain mutated genes if they will respond well to a specific treatment.

With precision medicine, doctors may be able to:

Prevent Certain Types of Cancer

Imagine a person from a family where cancer runs. If their doctor notices this pattern, the person might undergo genetic testing from a certified genetic counselor. Thereafter, the results can be analyzed to see if the gene change or mutation increases their risk for certain cancer types. If recognized early in life, it is possible to prescribe medicine and suggest healthy lifestyle habits that may help significantly reduce the risk.

Precision medicine can also be used to prevent certain cancer types from developing.

Better Diagnose Cancer

Late diagnosis is one of the major challenges that complicate cancer development. Precision makes cancer diagnosis easier. Biomarker tests can be done using blood saliva, blood sample, biopsy tissue, or body fluids.

Develop Effective Cancer Treatment

Genetic testing can help doctors determine the best course of treatment because certain gene changes can affect how a tumor responds to certain treatments. As a concrete example, melanoma skin cancer can be caused by a variety of gene mutations. This means that a treatment that works for a certain variant may not work for another. Since the goal is to give a treatment that can specifically target the gene mutation with minimal side effects, knowing what genes to target can be helpful. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are two types of treatment often used in precision medicines for this purpose.

Conclusion

We are just beginning to scratch the surface of how personalized precision medicine can help transform the field of medicine. Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, rare genetic conditions, and cancer take an enormous toll on individuals, families, and society as a whole. With the promise of precision medicine, the future is, indeed, bright.

Contact us today. We would be happy to give you more information!