Healthy Mitochondria Stop Aging and Disease? What can you do?

Do I have to say this again? Yea I guess I better. Okay, so I am not a scientist, I am just a lady (some would call me a lady on a good day) who suffered a severe "episode" from ingesting too much aspartame and has a dad who got a chronic, neurological disease from a Hep-B shot; but I wanted to let everyone in on a big scientific secret that could keep you feeling healthy and young.

There are many scientists today who think that the root cause to aging and many diseases today could be a malfunctioning, bean shaped structure in our brains called mitochondria. These "beans" are the energy production plants, so to speak, of our bodies. Some scientists believe that when they go haywire, diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and even other consequences of aging can be explained. This mitochondrial dysfunction could be lurking in millions of us.


Douglas Wallace of the University of California, Irvine, a self-described “mitochondriac believes “All these diseases that no one has been able to solve might be solved by understanding the mitochondria. Up until very recently, mitochondria were considered very arcane and certainly not part of mainstream medicine,” he says. The National Institutes of Health has put aside grant money to encourage more mitochondria research and already scientists have found clues that link defects in mitochondria to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, heart failure and other breakdowns in the body that come with age. But what could be causing our mitochondria to flip out?

Some of the problem might be from normal replication problems but mitochondria might be vulnerable to environmental assaults as well. One paper, published last year in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, suggested that medications — including some of the most common pills in the medicine cabinet, such as aspirin and cholesterol drugs — might harm mitochondria. If scientists can figure out the cause of the mitochondrial problems, hopefully they will be able to find a way to stop or fix the damage. Right now there is no cure for congenital mitochondrial disease.

Until the scientists figure it all out, do yourself a favor and (always check with your doctor first) pick up some of these supplements to help fight free radical cell damage which may contribute to mitochondrial decay. Clinical trials are underway for some age -related diseases and one is looking into coenzyme Q-10 possibly slowing Parkinson's disease so let's start with CoQ-10.

Coenzyme Q-10 tops out when we are on our early 20's and then starts to decline. This is a super, heavy hitter when it comes to fighting free radical damage. Then add Alpha-lipoic acid (helps prevent cell damage throughout the body), Omega-3 (great for your heart ,brain and cholesterol levels) and Folic acid in addition to your daily multi-vite multi-mineral. There are some scientists whose research points to a Folic Acid deficiency as the catalyst for my aspartame illness and many more diseases; check out Dr. John E. Garst on the web.

Finally, do yourself one, final favor. Please pay attention when you see or hear something in the media about the possible benefits gained from taking a certain supplements. Wake up and get informed! Science is showing us that supplementation might be invaluable to keeping you feeling great and living a healthy life.