The Power of Mitochondria

In today’s episode, we have Dr. Matthew Flory, the founder of Functional Health Team, which proudly provides, as he states, “the leading programs in CAUSE-based health care and healing lifestyle support,” currently for clients in 17 states and provinces across the USA and Canada growing rapidly. Functional Health Team provides a cutting-edge combination of convenient and private home-based consultation and Functional Medicine Health Coaching Team services and support.

What is mitochondria, is it literally just a concept? (05:15)

– The mitochondria is important it to overall function, health, wellness, peak performance.

– When they evolve, that ourselves kind of incorporated them and they are this huge energy producer, this powerhouse like a power plant for ourselves.

– Mitochondria serve a purpose. Various organs have different numbers. When you look at different tissues at different organs, organ systems, there are certain organs that are notorious for having larger energy requirements, like the brain, right. And then that nervous, that nervous system, central nervous system, brain, muscle. Any variations in mitochondrial number are going to, follow that pattern of, of energy requirements within the body.

– Various organs that require more work. We’ll have more mitochondria in them

– Cellular components have different jobs in the body and the mitochondria job is to convert. glucose and, and through some processes, turn it into energy for the body and then give us, give it back to the body so it can use it.

What do people often misunderstand about energy production? (19:36)

– ATP, our body literally could make energy out of any of those macro nutrient sources.

– Our diets are getting heavier and heavier on carbohydrates. And not only that, but processed carbohydrates really, you might say it’s not like the fiber type of things. And because we’ve had this shift in availability and not just availability, but consumption of heavily processed in and weak sort of carbohydrates

– Let’s say a wagon wheel rolling down and rolling down the old dirt path. And, and on as the, as the Western movement went way back in the days of America, the more and more wagons that rolled down the same path. You’d get these ruts so all the wheels were going down the same, same rut, and you know, you, weren’t using all of the path and whatnot.

– This metabolic shift that people notice we started identifying and hearing about within the last two or three decades as providers, which is a shift in glucose utilization.

Relationship between stress and diseases? (30:23)

– It’s necessary to have free radicals not only is just a normal part of the process, but they have a functional purpose in the body. If there’s too much of a good thing there, we’ve had this huge discussion based around antioxidants.

– Understand that something like free radicals in and of themselves aren’t bad. Cholesterol in and of itself. Isn’t bad. You know, these doctors that say, Oh, well, I’d be happy if your cholesterol was zero. That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s a building block for those things.

– Especially delicate structures like neurons, is literally where Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s some of the dementias come from, there can be infections that are related to them that again, the mitochondria are vulnerable to those presence of infections that are through the body.

– The mitochondria are really the key point at which somebody will go from a little insulin resistant and their glucose levels are creeping up a little higher than optimal. They may not be diabetic level yet, but they’re a little higher than optimal for so long that the mitochondria finally, they get unhealthy enough that now their influence on the secretion and even the strength of reception,

– That cellular reproduction, uh, that’s where an auto-immune condition will start in type two diabetes and type one, but type two diabetes in and of itself is a loss of control of metabolism.

– There’s good stress and distress. So some stress is good for you. You can’t live a life without a little bit of challenge. That’s how we grow. However, too much stress it’s going to break you down eventually.