I spent the weekend at an IFM (Institute of Functional Medicine) conference, where we focused on Energy. I studied the implications and nutritional therapies that drastically reboot your health and increase your energy.
My current Alkaline Nutrition Therapy patients commonly complain of decreased energy and fatigue. In fact, this is the most common complaint that I hear across all the patients that I have seen in the last 10 years. Typical medical intervention would be to provide a patient with chronic fatigue with antidepressants and hope for the best.
At the conference, we traced the possible biochemical cause down to the cellular level. Going back to biochemistry, we traced all the biochemical reactions that take place in order to produce ATP, a compound the body uses to create energy.
To put this in perspective,
- The body produces and makes approximately 70-80 kg of ATP daily (average adult male).
- Whole body content of ATP at any one time is ~250 grams.
- The brain uses approximately 70% of all ATP produced.
So we need this energy to function. This energy generation occurs in the mitochondria of our cells where multiple biochemical pathways occur. We need the following for energy production in the cells.
- 11 Minerals
- 13 Vitamins
- 8 Amino Acids
- 2 Fatty Acids
Considering the current standard American Diet, research indicates that most Americans are not getting the essential vitamins and minerals. Over time this deficiency can cause numerous physiological issues that can really cause disease in the body. Oxidative stress, toxins in foods and the environment, medications, and vitamin/mineral deficiency can cause free radicals and these free radicals can react and damage the structural function of the cells. This process makes the body very acidic, ripe of disease processes.
Unless you are consuming a diet rich in anti-oxidants, your will continue to have damage at the cellular level and over time, it can cause various sorts of diseases such as autoimmune disorder, Parkinson’s, Alzheimers, MS, ALS, Neurological dysfunction, Gut dysfunction, and so much more…
So how does our body protect us from oxidative stress?
- Enzymes: Catalase, Superoxide dismutase, Glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase
- Dietary Anti-Oxidants: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Carotenoids, flavonoids
- Endogenous Anti-oxidant molecules: Glutathione, cysteine, CoQ10, Lipoic acid, uric acid, cholesterol
Through various biochemical pathways, we can recover with the above substrates, however, if our body is not nutritionally supported, and are subject to medications to further cause secondary side effects, then we will never be fully healed.
So what is the answer? Eat a diet that is colorful. Foods that are colorful have lots of antioxidants for your body to absorb. This comprehensive guid to be continued on my next blog.