What is your mitochondria?

I’m sure you’ve heard your mitochondria described as the power house of the cell… Well, I’m here to give you a bit more information on what it actually is!!

Mitochondria are in every single one of your cells! They are responsible for making the energy that sustains you out of all the different things you consume on a daily basis! They do this through a process called the Krebs cycle!!

 

Why are Your Mitochondria Important?

Your mitochondria are so important because they create the energy that your body uses for everything – I mean literally everything! From walking to running to cellular reactions, the energy made by your mitochondria is used at all times in different forms by your body!

By boosting the function of your mitochondria, will start to feel more energetic overall, and more capable of maintaining your energy levels throughout the day.

How to Keep it Healthy?

So you ask… how can I boost my mitochondria and keep it healthy?!? Well, there are quite a few different factors that have been found to increase the production of energy by your mitochondria, which increases your energy.

 

1. Increase your Protein Consumption

By increasing your protein consumption, and eating food like meat, fish, nuts, and eggs can help your body maintain essential amino acids that help in the mitochondrial process.

 

 

2. More Magnesium!

Few of us actually realise that most of us are magnesium deficient. Magnesium is very important for the functioning of mitochondria and the production of energy so make sure you’re getting enough by eating dark green veggies, meat, pumpkin seeds, and almonds.

 

3. Exercise

By doing any type of exercise – but specifically high intensity interval training, you can easily give your mitochondria a boost! Push yourself and your mitochondria will push itself too!

 

4. Good Sleep and Relaxation

Relaxing and doing things like meditation reduces the body’s amount of stress, and over time this means less damage to the mitochondria. A good amount of sleep also has been shown to protect your mitochondria, so as well as exercising make sure you give yourself some time to relax too!

 

5. Cold Exposure

It has been found that by exposing animals to the cold, that their mitochondrial production increases. Though these results haven’t been confirmed in humans, it is thought that by exposing ourselves to the cold, we can boost mitochondrial production and performance!