The Energy Paradox

I will get to Magnesium in my next article but I just read Dr. Gundry’s, The Energy Paradox and wanted to bring it to your attention. His earlier works including the Plant Paradox radically changed my approach to illness and wellness and since so many people suffer from a lack of energy I thought you should know about it. I also highly recommend Walking with Peetey the dog who saved my life but that’s another article entirely. That book too brings together many of the concepts I bring up in the office everyday but again…another day.

The Energy Paradox addresses the issue around fatigue. When your get up and go has gotten up and gone. Many people erroneously believe that you run out of energy as you age but Dr. Gundry points out that you are just running out of the right fuel…that you are not recharging your body’s power and battery pack…your mitochondria. Mitochondria are tiny organelles that are found in almost every cell in your body and produce the vast percentage of all the energy your body manufactures in a day. If your mitochondria are happy…you are healthy. If they are not…you are not. Furthermore the mitochondria are heavily influenced by the bugs in your gut…there’s that microbiome connection again!

The mitochondria need full spectrum light (which controls energy production via quantum mechanics…read the book for details), properly constructed cell membranes (which brings us back to the omega 3/6 ratio I preach about and which your doctor can easily test for) and interestingly enough melatonin. Yes, it turns out the sleep inducing chemical produced by your pineal gland is a major protector of mitochondrial function. You don’t have to depend on just your own production of melatonin…it’s found in abundance in certain foods like olives, olive oil, pistachios and mushrooms. Dr. Gundry posits that it’s not the resveratrol in red wine that makes it so healthy, it’s the melatonin!

The standard American diet overwhelms your mitochondria, damages your gut lining, changes the character of the microbiome in your gut and the processed foods damage energy production so it’s no wonder you lack the energy of youth. Furthermore, as Dr. Gundry points out, our eating habits overwhelm the gut and the mitochondria by presenting too many nutrients too often that the mitochondria shut down to protect themselves. When the mitochondria are damaged it TAKES energy to destroy them and activates the immune system. The restorative medicine field has long held that all disease is inflammation and all disease is mitochondrial dysfunction and all disease begins in the gut and now you begin to see the interconnectivity of these theories.

Dr. Gundry’s research takes a whole different approach to the benefits of the keto diet. I thought the keto diet produced ketones which are a clean fuel for your cells and mitochondria. He postulates that these ketones and butyrates are actually communicating to your cells that times are hard and the mitochondria have to be more efficient and more plentiful in response to this stress.

How to improve your mitochondrial function and thereby improve your energy production? Get exposed to light…get outdoors. Dramatically cut down on the linoleic acid in your diet (canola oil and the other seed oils) while adding Omega 3’s like fish, fish oil etc. He has long recommended olive oil but now adds sesame oil as an oil that is a powerful antioxidant, a blocker of inflammation at the gut wall level and even has a protective effect against electromagnetic fields! Do some strength training or resistance work which increases the number of mitochondria in your cells. Change the composition of the bugs in your gut and the signals they send your cells and mitochondria by eating more fiber (the term he uses to describe these substances that are made by the bacteria which then communicate with our bodies is post biotics).

Finally he again promotes the concept of time limited eating. Not grazing from sunup to sundown and beyond as most Americans do but limiting the time you consume food so the mitochondria are not overworked and have some downtime to rest and repair. I am not going to get into the details about his dietary recommendations, his suggested supplements and his list of medications and chemicals to avoid. That’s too much for one or two columns to give justice to.

This book is packed with details, loaded with references and pretty easy to read. If you want to change your energy level, lower your inflammation, and raise your overall health you want to read this book. Do yourself and your mitochondria a favor and read this book. You don’t have to get any special lab tests done to see results. You don’t have to read any testimonials. You will feel the results for yourself. This is called a N of 1 trial. You be the judge. Until next month…get well…stay well…

Dr. Barry