It's all about the mitochondria
 

The hottest new discoveries in nutritional science come from the mitochondria, tiny, free-floating organelles inside cells. Disease is what happens when they falter and become dysfunctional.

I've got your overarching disease process right here!

There are two main sources I have used to understand this :

Tuit Nutrition's Amy Berger did an entire series on Metabolic Theory of Cancer: Mitochondrial Dysfunction 1. It's long, but fascinating. She does her usual stellar job of explaining very complicated things in simpler, but still accurate, ways.

The other is a shorter, denser, treatment of the subject, on a new discovery I also wanted to share: Dr. Myhill of the UK has a wiki.

Sarah Myhill left the National Health Society to treat her Chronic Fatigue patients in way that will actually help them, and she's written three groundbreaking papers on Mitochondrial Dysfunction. I was thrilled to find all this fascinating and useful information on her site.



What is amazing is that it seems this is the path to helping with so many different kinds of chronic disease.

A little over one month since starting and my sleep and symptoms have improved. I still have some unique challenges, but if ketosis if what my body needs, I will eat all the chuck roast I can manage.

And... loving it.

Ketogenic diets, mitochondria, and neurological diseases 5-20-2014 [The Journal of Lipid Research]

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a broad-spectrum therapy for medically intractable epilepsy and is receiving growing attention as a potential treatment for neurological disorders arising in part from bioenergetic dysregulation. The high-fat/low-carbohydrate “classic KD”, as well as dietary variations such as the medium-chain triglyceride diet, the modified Atkins diet, the low-glycemic index treatment, and caloric restriction, enhance cellular metabolic and mitochondrial function. Hence, the broad neuroprotective properties of such therapies may stem from improved cellular metabolism. Data from clinical and preclinical studies indicate that these diets restrict glycolysis and increase fatty acid oxidation, actions which result in ketosis, replenishment of the TCA cycle (i.e., anaplerosis), restoration of neurotransmitter and ion channel function, and enhanced mitochondrial respiration. Further, there is mounting evidence that the KD and its variants can impact key signaling pathways that evolved to sense the energetic state of the cell, and that help maintain cellular homeostasis. These pathways, which include PPARs, AMP-activated kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin, and the sirtuins, have all been recently implicated in the neuroprotective effects of the KD. Further research in this area may lead to future therapeutic strategies aimed at mimicking the pleiotropic neuroprotective effects of the KD.

Uh huh. That will go as well as Propecia and Accutane. Drugs used for treating baldness and acne which will cause, in a substantial number of users, life-threatening side effects.

Like how horrible would it be to tell a patient, “Go eat a bunch of steak.”

How many diseases would that cure and what would the drug companies do?

Thanks for these links, WereBear. I particularly like the observation that ketones are a cleaner, more stable fuel for humans:

Healthy mitochondria are essential for us to feel good and to have a long, healthy life. Learning how we can improve mitochondrial health with diet and exercise gives us a huge advantage over the alternative of attempting to attack disease symptoms with pharmaceuticals. Lifestyle protocols are far less expensive and more effective in most cases. Our healthy metabolism will resolve many of these annoyingly dangerous lifestyle-induced symptoms when its fed and fueled properly.

You are welcome.

I am frankly amazed at how many illnesses are caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. It refocuses the Metabolic Syndrome trifecta of heart disease, stroke and diabetes into only the beginning of how this affects us.

Dr. Wahls' book urges people through three diet stages until they reach ketosis: however that shakes down for them. Considering my carb sensitivity, my lack of a meter, and the serious nature of my recent downturn, I think shooting for an average of ten carbs a day is the simplest way for me to go.

I've read many many accounts here of how people still battle hunger and cravings. I'm convinced it's because they think they can "cheat," and that their daily carb allotment is just not low enough.

Because this is delicious and easy. I'm still a bit amazed :)

There use to be a lot more talk on here about how long it takes to undo a cheat and how it throws things off and may take 2-3-4 days to get back in gear.
I think a lot of this has to do with not having a true plan or a book or directions on how to do this which is really easy as you said if they just stick to the plan and count carbs, not calories.
Also reading about a lot of people trying to do low fat with low carb thinking they'll loose faster, I guess. But it doesn't work that way.
I think this fasting thing is confusing them too, because they haven't learned how to low-carb properly yet. When the cravings go away, you are doing it right!


Speaking of how good this food is, I just finished eating 2 perfectly smoked pork ribs with some dill pickles and a couple of tsp of sugar free BBQ sauce for a little bit of dipping. :yum:

wow many many ....
but look at food phyramid doctors said . Eat packaged diet crap food 6 times a day and exercise 5 hours to stay healthy so you have no time left to enjoy life and still stay hungry.
no thanks i prefer stay full all the time and eat 1 time a day ,exercise if i want to .

Here is a long, quiet, affirming lecture that while this talk isnt specifically focused on keto as a diet choice, instead notes how many diseases are just tied together based on the health of the individual cells. ANd his recommendations that leads most people to a keto diet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XExB45GRrfc

Watching it now, and I just borrowed his book: The Great American Health Hoax.

:thup:

:)

Thanks, MsA. Not sure, but does he discuss mitochondrial health or is this a bit off topic? I read the description of Francis' book. For those on this forum who have read it or are becoming familiar with his recommendations, please post (or start another thread) about his lifestyle recommendations. I'm fully aware of his observations that our "system" is broken. I learned he has a chapter that instructs readers which toxins to avoid. I'd like to learn what he's recommending. I won't be buying his book unless I learn otherwise, as it appears to be very similar to "Undoctored" by William Davis.

I got to him saying that vaccinations and antibiotics are the two biggest blunders in the history of the world. I cannot get behind that.

Thanks, I hadn't delved into him yet. I agree: that's a dealbreaker for me, no matter how right he might be about other things.

There's this pervasive myth that people can "natural and organic" their way out of illness and dodge disease. Certainly, this incredible recent research on mitochondria tends to emphasis that here is an incredibly powerful body process we should tap into to help our health. That works much better than modern drugs for a wide array of conditions.

But many people only understand a super-simplified version of the science, and then apply it wrong. That's only a corner of the story, not the whole thing. I see this all the time in:

• avoiding the white sugar for brown sugar
• brown rice instead of white rice
• hearthealthywholegrains
• pointing out meat has hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides in it, and pivoting to plants, which have anti-nutrients, outright natural toxins, and much more of a pesticide load, especially wheat
• believing that getting the full blown disease is "more natural" and thus better than getting the weakened version from a vaccination

I counter these people by pointing out that most of the history of civilization was marked by completely organic food, non-polluted air, and plenty of exercise in the sunshine; and yet, epidemics were a serious problem.

Ditto . . .

Mitochondria often called: "The powerhouse of the Cell." Allow the cell to use oxygen for aerobic respiration as opposed to anaerobic respiration.

Without the prokaryotic type of mitochondria eukaryotes would die from energy starvation. Plants have them also called chloroplasts which allow them to utilize sunlight and create energy.

mtDNA, unlike nuclear DNA, can go almost unchanged for thousands of years. While men receive mitochondrial DNA from their mother, they do not pass it on to their children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wL7r7fVa5M