Mighty Mitochondria
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In Today's Issue:
Quick Takes: Dr. Casey Means explains that metabolic health means harnessing the power of mitochondria.
Community Buzz: Members discussed mouth taping for better sleep, and how to build foot strength & stability.
Member Spotlights: Meet Lora Lee Robertson, and Paul Robbins!
QUICK TAKES
Kaitlin & Nancy's takeaways from recent content we've discovered
Mighty Mitochondria 🔍
From: Dr. Casey Means’ interview on Huberman Lab podcast.
I am grateful to Dr. Casey Means for explaining how metabolic health is grounded in the function of our mitochondria. Mitochondria is a word that flashes us back to high school biology but bear with me! Mitochondria are FASCINATING! They are tiny structures that live within our cells and are known as “the POWERhouse of the cell.” Mitochondria convert our food into energy, as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), producing on average 88 pounds of ATP daily!! ATP powers everything we do.
Means explains how so many aspects of today’s lifestyle and environment hurt mitochondrial function. For example, 60-75% of calories in the typical American diet come from ultra-processed foods that don’t give our mitochondria the nutrients they need to create energy. Our cells are smart – they will drive us to keep eating until their needs are met. A sedentary lifestyle also neglects our mitochondria. Exercise tells the cells we need more energy to fuel our muscles; it triggers the production of mitochondria, and improves the function of mitochondria. Another example is sleep. Sleep deprivation disrupts how our genes create mitochondria. Poor nutrition, a sedentary lifestyle, poor sleep all result in mitochondria creating less ATP, i.e., less energy for our bodies.
So how can we help the POWERhouses of our cells to give us MORE energy? Let's take exercise as an example. We can use three strategies:
1) Make MORE mitochondria. Resistance training creates new muscle cells, each containing its own brand new mitochondria.
2) Make our existing mitochondria more functional. Endurance or Zone 2 exercise makes the enzymes within the mitochondria more efficient, so they can make more ATP with the same inputs.
3) Employ our mitochondria more. We can do this with frequent movement throughout the day. Every time we ask our muscles to do work for us, the mitochondria are processing more of our food into energy (aka lifeforce!).
To learn much more about mitochondria and tactics to improve metabolic health, listen to Dr. Casey Means on Huberman Lab podcast. I also highly recommend Dr. Casey Mean’s book Good Energy for even more insights!
COMMUNITY BUZZ
Highlights from Benchmark's community forum
Our lips are sealed 😶
Scott shared a thread on mouth taping, and why he’s found it beneficial for his sleep and recovery. The practice, intended to force breath through the nose vs. mouth, is becoming popular (and perhaps less peculiar?). To dig into this topic, check out the previously member-recommended book Breath by James Nestor. Scott also shared his budget-friendly tape of choice (Amazon.ca / Amazon.com)
Sole focus 👣
We have foot health on the mind, as some of us grapple with injuries. Tim shared a great collection of toe strength and stability exercises, and Kaitlin shared the toe separator socks she likes. To learn more about foot health and how to prevent injury, we enjoyed these two deep-dive podcast episodes: The Drive - a discussion with Courtney Conley and Inside Exercise - a discussion with Irene Davis. According to Conley, “toe weakness is the single biggest predictor of falls when we age.”
MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS
Featured members and their health journeys
Lora Lee Robertson
Lora Lee is a proud grandmother, F45 instructor and yoga teacher. Her take on her Benchmark: "It’s really about being more informed. You're going to gain so much information, that you can then carry with you through everything day to day."...more
Paul Robbins
Paul is 45 years old, married, a father of two, and very active. What he got from his Benchmark: "WAY MORE THAN I EXPECTED.... I am sleeping better than I ever have, my sugar levels are more controlled than they ever have been, and because of the VO2 Max I have confidence that my workouts are making a difference and worth the effort."...more
