Your Mitochondria Are Starving (Here’s How to Fix Your Energy)

You have more mitochondria in your body than there are stars in the Milky Way, and they determine how energized, focused, and resilient you feel every day. When they’re damaged, your “battery” drains fast, no matter how healthy you try to be. In this episode, I’m breaking down the modern energy thieves—and the simple, powerful steps to turn your cellular power back on. Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe?sub_confirmation=1 🎧 Early Access! Our podcast listeners get every episode early, and you can tune in and be a part of our exclusive listeners below → Spotify Apple Podcast Order my NEW BOOK, The Biblio Diet → https://bit.ly/4oPEP3t Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms → DrAxeDiabetesClass.com Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → DrAxeThyroidClass.com If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → DrAxeHormoneClass.com Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → MyBloodWork.com CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE Instagram Facebook TikTok X LinkedIn Website Sign up for my newsletter Ask me a question Links https://www.acs.org/education/chemmatters/articles/synthetic-food-dyes-are-getting-banned.html https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/hhs-fda-phase-out-petroleum-based-synthetic-dyes-nations-food-supply https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556523000864?via%3Dihub https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36091835/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10779395/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9512238/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2927933/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5964020/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12344680/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/782383 https://www.fcs.uga.edu/news/story/researchers-low-to-moderate-stress-is-good-for-you https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788244 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12324026/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/ultra-processed-foods-may-increase-risk-of-depression/ DISCLAIMER This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Speaker 00

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• 0:28Josh Axe?

  If you're dealing with low energy and fatigue, there's something critically important you need to know. It's starting in your cells, specifically your mitochondria. Now, you have more mitochondria in your body than there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and every single one of them is producing tiny electrical charges right now to keep you alive. Your mitochondria are running your thyroid, your liver, your pancreas, your reproductive organs. They're sending energy to your entire body. But right now, if your body feels like your battery's stuck on low power, the coffee barely touches your fatigue, if sleep doesn't restore you, or if your brain feels foggy and your body feels heavy, it's probably not a willpower problem.

• 1:12Josh Axe?

  It's your mitochondria. Because mitochondria don't just make energy, they regulate hormones, control inflammation, influence brain function, and even decide when your cells live or die. So today, I'm going to be giving you a mitochondrial blueprint, a step-by-step plan to rebuild your cellular power plants, recharge your internal batteries, and this is going to help you reverse chronic illness and take your energy to a whole new level. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Ak Show.

• 1:56Josh Axe?

  So let's start with the basics. What are mitochondria? In simple terms, mitochondria are the tiny power plants inside your cells that turn food and oxygen into energy, what we call AT. TP and that your body can actually use to actually uses as fuel. And each cell contains hundreds or thousands of mitochondria, especially in high energy tissues like your brain, your heart and your muscles. Now think of your mitochondria like rechargeable batteries inside every cell. Now your body is made of trillions of tiny devices, cells, and each one needs power to run on.

• 2:38Josh Axe?

  Just like your phone or your laptop computer, or even your car, mitochondria are the power packs inside those devices. Now, when mitochondria are healthy, your battery charges fast. It holds power longer, your system runs smoothly. And what you tend to have is again, great energy, balanced hormones. You're able to focus, you're resilient, you've got a stable mood. You've got a strong metabolism and overall you feel and look younger. Now, when mitochondria are damaged, the battery drains quickly. It overheats, you get inflammation, you get oxidative stress. Your body doesn't produce enough stem cells, so you don't heal as quickly.

• 3:20Josh Axe?

  And it can't hold a charge, even if you are sleeping and eating right. The reason is mitochondrial dysfunction. And here's the thing I want to mention, here's what happens with most people. You're tired. What do you do? You drink more coffee. Okay, you get more caffeine. This is sort of the solution that everybody runs into is I am going to drink more coffee. But you don't fix a cellular energy system by taking caffeine and getting adenosine and these things that basically tell your body, hey, you're not tired, so just keep going. So you keep going and going, going after you have caffeine. But what happens is your mitochondrial batteries in your cells now actually keep getting lower and lower and lower. So it takes more caffeine and you finally get to the point where

• 4:02Josh Axe?

  you can't even function without coffee at all. This is what most people are doing today. Now, I'm not saying you can't ever drink your coffee. Okay. But what I am saying is that coffee is masking the issues and a lot of times stimulating your body to where you're doing even more. And it is draining your Mitochondrial battery even more, especially if you have coffee after lunch. And I'm going to get into some things later in the show, some natural alternatives to where, hey, maybe you still have your coffee in the morning, but there's some other things you could do throughout the day that really start to recharge and heal your mitochondrial batteries. Now, I want to mention, I had mitochondrial dysfunction myself. I, when I had my spinal infection and couldn't walk for a year,

• 4:46Josh Axe?

  I had to get on IV antibiotics and had a number of things, and that actually really damages mitochondria. So I went and did some blood work. And I found that my mitochondria were very low, they were very depleted. And so I went through a whole protocol and did pre-implosed blood work. Now my mitochondria are doing amazing, but I was able to go and follow the protocol I'm going to share with you. And here's what happened, I went from just being very tired to having high energy all day long. And I've done this with thousands of patients as well, helping them restore mitochondrial function. So we're going to get into that later on, but I do want to spend a little bit more time talking about what typically causes mitochondrial dysfunction. By the way, if you're a person with, I want to talk about some common conditions. If you're dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome,

• 5:30Josh Axe?

  that is the biggest warning sign of major mitochondrial dysfunction. But also anything that causes low energy, hypothyroidism, that tends to be a big tie into mitochondrial dysfunction. Even cancer is a big one, but any condition where you get fatigued more easily, that's tied to mitochondrial dysfunction. And some of the biggest causes today include, number one, excess consumption of ultra-processed foods as fuel. Okay, you can't build cellular energy on junk food. Now, modern food is stripped of minerals and it's loaded with additives. And Americans now consume nearly 60% of daily calories from highly processed foods. And these compounds increase oxidative stress inside mitochondria.

• 6:12Josh Axe?

  And also, you're not, and so oxidative stress is a sort of stress that is sort of like breaking apart and damages mitochondria. So imagine you've got a battery or an engine, and you're constantly just beating it there with a sledgehammer. Okay, eventually it's going to break, and that's what's happening to our mitochondria today with all of this oxidative stress. Today from environmental chemicals and just inflammatory diet. That's, that's what's happening. And the other thing that happens when you eat ultra processed foods is well, now you're not getting the good stuff. Now you're not getting as many antioxidants or allergic acid or CoQ10 or, uh, or B vitamins that actually fuel the mitochondria. Now here's some good news. The FDA recently announced an updated food pyramid.

• 6:55Josh Axe?

  That reflects much better nutrition and what people should be aiming for when it comes to their macronutrients and eating, getting more vitamins and minerals in their diet. They recommend more protein, more healthy fats, more fruits and vegetables. This is what we should be aiming for. Now I actually think this food pyramid is absolutely fantastic and I applaud RFK Junior for putting this together. My only slight change would be, you know, I, I would be a little bit more dominant and really lean protein, uh, when it comes to animal products. And I would, the biggest thing is I would add a little bit of honey and sea salt and herbs and spices. Like cinnamon and ginger and turmeric at the bottom of the food period, because I think a lot of these culinary foods in ways they are herbs, especially when you think about.

• 7:39Josh Axe?

  Parsley and cilantro and garlic and onions and those types of foods. So I would kind of slot those in there as well, but generally speaking. I am a huge fan of this new food pyramid and this truly is food based medicine. If you're following the new food pyramid. So if you want to boost mitochondrial function, following some of the recommendations by the current food pyramid. Following a biblio diet, which is a diet based on the Bible or a Mediterranean diet. These are all diets that are more ideal. For boosting mitochondrial dysfunction, but I'll get into the exact foods here as well. Now the number two mitochondrial killer today is sleep debt and circadian rhythm chaos.

• 8:19Josh Axe?

  Mitochondria are rhythm driven. Your ATP output, especially as it's tied to cortisol and melatonin. There's a really deep interconnected relationship there. And when your mitochondria are stressed, they can't produce energy. They can't repair the body. Your mitochondria need clear day and night instructions to know when to produce power. And when to rebuild and regenerate. And studies show that even one week of sleep restriction can reduce insulin sensitivity by over 20% and significantly impair mitochondrial function in muscle cells. Now, we see this in studies on shift workers. They have significantly higher rates of metabolic disease,

• 9:01Josh Axe?

  largely tied to mitochondrial circadian disruption. So, late nights, artificial light exposure, inconsistent sleep schedules, really scramble your signals and harm mitochondria. And melatonin and cortisol are the clocks that tell mitochondria, now we generate and now we repair and rest, right? It's just like you want to drive a car sometimes and you actually should. It's good for the engine and sometimes you want to let it rest. Now, when these clocks are confused, it's like forcing a power plant to run full output 24/7 with no maintenance window and no rest for the workers. Okay, these poor destructive rhythms equal poor repair and poor mitochondrial health.

• 9:46Josh Axe?

  So, it's really important to optimize your sleep schedule. Getting to bed earlier, sleeping a full eight hours makes a huge difference. And looking at things like, like I'm wearing this Oura ring here. Like, I'm always looking at what are my HRV scores? What's my resting heart rate? And working to get those better because it's tied to longevity. It's tied to mitochondrial health. Number three, chronic stress physiology. Stress doesn't just drain your mind, it starves yourselves. Now, the reason is, is stress, what it actually does is it starts to deplete your body of certain vitamins and minerals. So, the more stressed you are, the more your body has to use B vitamins and magnesium in order to deal with the excess stress. So, so your mitochondria use up a lot of these B vitamins and magnesium

• 10:30Josh Axe?

  and then they don't have enough, especially if you don't have enough in your diet or supplementation routine. And so then it's out. So, now it can't make as much ATP. So, you start to get things like cortisol imbalance or low testosterone or poor thyroid function and your thyroid hormones get off because you no longer have the nutrients that you need in order to be healthy. But stress causes your body to burn through a lot more fuel. It's like, you know, Remember my dad telling me this growing up? Uh, he told me, hey, if you want to save gas, you know, drive around 50 miles per hour, something like that, you know, don't go real fast. You know, the faster you go, if you're going up and you're driving 100, you're actually not as fuel efficient, you're burning up more fuel.

• 11:14Josh Axe?

  And that's what happens today. If you're constantly going, going too fast, you're too busy and you're living in a high stress environment, your body's burning through more fuel. And then it starts burning through and you don't have enough B vitamins and magnesium. And when those get depleted, now the body can't function properly. And so now you've got low energy, now you're mitochondria are sick. So it's really B vitamins, magnesium, zinc is a really another big one that's really critical for ATP function that your body gets depleted in. Now, this is interesting. When your hair is turning gray, that's actually largely a sign of mitochondrial stress or depletion. There was actually a study done on gray hair that showed that hair can act like a biological

• 11:57Josh Axe?

  timeline, where periods of intense psychological stress lined up with loss of pigment and stress reduction can, in numerous cases, even coincide with pigment return. So here's what, here's what happens. If you go from being really stressed out, your hair turns more gray. And then you go into a state of very little to no stress. Your hair will start turning back black or brown. Um, in fact, there's an ancient Chinese story around an herb, and I believe this is a true story, where a man discovered an herb and the herb is called fo tea and the Chinese name is he shu wu, but fo tea and the man's hair was turning gray.

• 12:38Josh Axe?

  He started drinking this daily tea every day, this fo tea and, um, and his hair turned back black. And so, and it's actually this herb in Chinese medicine is one of the most used herbs for mitochondria, they don't call it that, they call it a qi deficiency. But this herb is for restoring your adrenal function and cortisol and it's for, yeah, actually it's one of the top 10 longevity herbs in all of Chinese medicine. Some would consider it maybe top three. Uh, so, so it's pretty incredible. Um, and so anyways, that's just a story, but you, but you. Your hair turning more gray, if it does it especially quickly, that stress, part of it is due to the mitochondrial dysfunction process. Now, I want to tie this into something that's really important. We were created to rest.

• 13:21Josh Axe?

  Listen, we were created to work hard and go hard, but we're also created to rest. And we want to have a balance of those things. I mean, think about this principle in the Bible. You know, Sabbath is an optional rest. I mean, first, it's a gift from God. It's a biological command and gift of restoration. Regular periods of true rest, lower stress hormones, restore your parasympathetic tone of your vagus nerve, and allow cellular repair systems to come back online. And studies prove this. Studies show that people who are less stressed generally experience better daily moods, fewer chronic health conditions, and of course, they're much happier. And I would just share this, I think that this is something, as I read the Bible today

• 14:06Josh Axe?

  and I look at my life, I really see Sabbath as a gift from God. Me taking one day a week and saying, I'm going to give them this to God. I'm also spending more time with my family. I'm putting my phone away, not looking at it. It is so restorative and healing. And you don't have to be really lawful about it, but you can say, you know what? Today's the day my phone goes in the box. Today's the day I only focus on family. I'm going to try and do absolutely no work today, whether it be Saturday or Sunday. I think God looks at that and says, you know what? I want you to think about it like this, from a relational standpoint. If you give someone a gift, or I'll think about this, I've given people gifts and they've used them constantly and they're really grateful for them. And it made me want to give them more gifts in the future.

• 14:52Josh Axe?

  And there are other people, maybe I gave them a gift and they just kind of flung it aside and they didn't realize how precious and what a thoughtful gift it was and how much it would benefit their life. Maybe it's me giving health advice, maybe that's an example. You know, when I give people health advice, I've given them over the years and I've seen they've really gone through and done the work to change their diet and optimize their lifestyle. I want to continue to do everything I can for that patient or that family member to help them heal and get healthy. But if somebody continually, I give them advice and they just never apply it or use it. It doesn't make me want to continue to gift or give to that person. So all that being said, think about it like that. We've been given a gift in the Sabbath, this rest.

• 15:33Josh Axe?

  And for me now, I really see it as this just absolutely incredible gift of, listen, I have this gift just to rest one day a week and I'm actually blessed because of it. This is an instant where if I don't work, I actually get ahead. If I take one day a week and give it to God and family. And that's a great principle to abide by for mitochondrial health and restoring your body. Now, the number four energy thief today that's harming our mitochondria is post-viral fatigue and long COVID. Now, some researchers have estimated that up to 35% of people who had COVID-19 go on to have long COVID. Even sometimes, we're talking about five, six years later.

• 16:16Josh Axe?

  And this can happen after not only that, but other viral infections like EBV, Swabstein-Barr, CMV, and other types of infections. Many of these pathogens, especially viruses, sometimes other ones that like parasites, they directly damage your mitochondria. And viruses more than others because they can sneak through the cell wall, some of them, and get in and harm the mitochondria directly. And researchers have discovered that it's important to reprogram your mitochondria after infections. Because what happens is your cells will shift into low-energy survival mode. And this can happen with other types of infections, mono, influenza, and as I mentioned, other viral illnesses.

• 16:58Josh Axe?

  And again, sometimes certain infections, like certain types of parasites. And here's the crazy part, and I can tell you, functional medicine practitioners have seen this and many researchers, that there are a lot of people that have had it, an issue like some sort of virus. And it no longer shows up on blood work. And maybe the labs are completely normal. But these people are still feeling the effects today. I had a friend recently, about three years ago, he came down with a strain of COVID and just wrecked his health. I mean, this guy was very fit, very strong and healthy. By the way, I know a lot of people like this, so this isn't just one person. And he went from having 10 out of 10 energy, feeling great all day, down to a three or four every day. And he did a lot of work.

• 17:40Josh Axe?

  But here's the thing you need to know if you want to fully heal and reverse long COVID like he did and many other people have done. We have to heal your blood. Okay? That's what that virus is affecting. It's affecting your red blood cells and the mitochondria in your heart and red blood cells. That's why it's been connected to things like myocarditis. Why myocarditis? Why is the heart? Well, your heart and your nervous tissue are the organs that have the largest amount of mitochondria in them. So think about this, when somebody got COVID, what are some of the biggest symptoms? Lost of taste and smell? That's weird. What's that tied to? The brain and the nervous system? Okay, people are majorly fatigued.

• 18:25Josh Axe?

  What's that tied to? Your muscles and your heart? Oh, they're having myocarditis and pericarditis and this inflammation of the heart and cardiovascular system. What's that? Again, it's tied, think about this. Viral infections, especially long COVID, was tied to your mitochondria. Now, one of the other things you want to do, because there's a lot of spike proteins happening and something called the cell danger response, is we want to move your blood and break up the blood. So in Chinese medicine, we call this, it's called blood stasis. That's what somebody's diagnosed with when they have these major mitochondrial issues from viral infections. So what you want to do is you want to take, here's the blend that just works wonders.

• 19:06Josh Axe?

  Natokinase, turmeric and ginger and beet juice powder. Okay, natokinase, turmeric ginger, beetroot juice powder. Taking those supplements daily are miraculous when it comes to seeing results with long COVID. Now, in addition, you want to consume a diet very high in steamed vegetables, lean organic meats, especially omega-3 fatty acids like lots of salmon. But you don't, you want to be very careful of over consuming fat, especially saturated fat. You don't want to slow things down. You want to move things quickly. So ginger and turmeric tea all day, horseradish, natokinase, lumberkinase, beetroot juice, pomegranate, garlic, rosemary, these type of foods. They're very healing for long COVID symptoms.

• 19:49Josh Axe?

  But anything you can do to move the blood and break up blood clotting generally is going to be very helpful, building the blood and also doing some things that are antiviral, like, you know, things like shisandra are some of my favorites.

• 20:04Josh Axe?

  As we've talked about in this episode, mitochondrial health is the foundation for all-day energy, resilience, and long-term wellness. When your mitochondria are supported, everything works better, from metabolism and recovery to how you handle stress. Now, we've covered numerous strategies today, but one powerful tool that supports mitochondrial function and simply feels great is infrared sauna. Targeted infrared light and heat are absorbed at the cellular level, helping support circulation, detox pathways, and mitochondrial efficiency, which is why sauna use shows up so consistently in longevity research. That's why I trust Sunlighten. They've been the leaders in infrared

• 20:49Josh Axe?

  technology for over 25 years with patented systems designed to deliver high-quality infrared. Their Impulse Sauna, which is the one I have, lets you customize your wavelengths to match your health goals. If supporting mitochondrial health and sustainable energy is a priority for you, learn more at sunlighten.com/axe. Use code AXE to save up to $1,400 off your purchase with additional savings throughout the year.

• 21:20Josh Axe?

  Now, the number five energy killer that's damaging your mitochondria is a sedentary lifestyle. Movement is the instruction manual for mitochondria. Remember what I said earlier? What three organs have the highest mitochondrial concentration? Your brain, your heart, your muscles. Think about for your heart and your muscles in particular, how important exercise and movement is. Physical activity is one of the strongest signals for mitochondrial biogenesis, which means your body is creating more mitochondria, and in many cases, recycling and regenerating and repairing the ones that are damaged. Now, on the other hand, sitting tells your cells there's no need for energy production or adaptation. So without demand, it's like this.

• 22:05Josh Axe?

  If you want your muscle to grow, which is actually creating more mitochondria, you have to lift weights. That's telling your body, create more, create more, grow. If you're not moving and putting the right type of healthy stress, certain types of hormesis on your body, your mitochondria will actually shrink and deplete. Okay, so very, very important here. No demand, no adaptation. Now, I do want to say this. I do know some people that are dealing with things like Lyme disease. And chronic fatigue and long COVID and they're so depleted, they, they, they can hardly get out of bed. Okay. Or they go for a 20 minute walk and it's too much. Here's the thing. You want to challenge your body to a certain point and then back off. You want

• 22:48Josh Axe?

  to get fatigued, but not go to the place of absolute exertion. Okay. So if a 20 minute walk is too much for you, then do a 10 minute walk. Okay. Listen to your body. And if you can't move as much as you want to. Now, listen, the other thing I just want to say, I don't want people making excuses though, saying, you know what, I get tired when I work out. You should get tired. You just shouldn't be absolutely wiped out on the floor. Okay. That's too much if you've got mitochondrial dysfunction. But, but if you can't move as much as you know you really should be, or you want to, because your mitochondrial dysfunction is so great, then one of the great tools for this is infrared sauna, doing things to where you're moving your blood and you're, and you're sweating and you're putting a

• 23:33Josh Axe?

  little bit of stress on your cardiovascular system and heart, but not too much. That's a great thing. That's a good option. Or, you know, some other things. Get on a spin bike a little bit. That can be great for your mitochondria. Of course, lifting weights is one of the greatest things you could ever do to build more mitochondrial density. And by the way, there are studies that show that strength training in particular, lifting weights, has been shown to restore mitochondrial function in older adults in all stages of life. So it's important to know that movement is key in everything from walking to weight training to cardiovascular fitness. These are all important for mitochondria. Now, I do want to, this is an important thing to note. Research shows that just two weeks

• 24:12Josh Axe?

  of reduced movement can significantly lower mitochondrial enzyme activity and insulin sensitivity and increase chronic disease. Now additionally, muscle loss is associated with aging and it's closely tied to declines in mitochondrial density. So what I would encourage you to do is one walk more, as much as you can, at least 7,000 steps a day, ideally 10 or 12,000 or more. And I, round your meals is even better. And then schedule a couple of days a week of weight training, a day a week. Of testing your cardiovascular system and that will help promote longevity and restore your mitochondria and your energy. Now, we're going to get into supplements and other things

• 24:53Josh Axe?

  here in a minute, but before you reach for more mitochondrial supplements and bio hacks and extreme protocols, it's important to understand that mitochondrial health follows a simple order, repair, replace and rebuild. And if you skip the order, your energy doesn't necessarily always fully come back or you don't address all three of those things. And this is the proven framework that I teach and my cellular health regenerator program at the Health Institute that helps people restore cellular energy. And this happens all the time. People miss out on one area of health and so they never fully heal. I mean, example of this is people struggling with hypothyroidism

• 25:34Josh Axe?

  or menopausal symptoms or diabetes or mold toxicity, right? For instance, with mold, you want to kill the mold. You want to also, number one, reduce your exposure. You also need binders to bind to it and get out of your body. And then you need to optimize your gut health and bowel movements to release everything, right? So, so oftentimes people go and they just take one supplement or do the one thing, but they don't do the right full-on protocol or program to fully heal their body. So this is important as well as we're talking about cellular health and mitochondrial health. And I've trained health practitioners at the Health Institute for doing this, but I want to walk you through the process here. If you want to fully restore mitochondria,

• 26:15Josh Axe?

  some things you can do. One thing you want to do is really repair the damage done and stop the inflammation. You know, if your body is continually under oxidative stress and you've got a lot of inflammation in your body, we have to stop the damage. And there's some great ways to do that, right? You want to eat a more anti-inflammatory diet, more omega-3, stop the damage. That's critically important. The second thing you really want to do is you want to replace your mitochondria that you lose. If enough damage is done, your body's waste management system will come through and get rid of those mitochondria. So you want to replace those. This is called mitophagy. This is removing the broken mitochondria. Mitochondria and here the body clears out the damaged inefficient mitochondria.

• 26:59Josh Axe?

  So they don't continue to drain your energy or create excess cellular stress. So this happens, right? If you've got something that's damaged and not working properly, sometimes it actually creates more work for the body and creates more problems. And so to activate mitophagy, there's some really, really powerful plant extracts. For instance, alicic acid and pomegranates. I mean, this is amazing for mitophagy there as well. So, so we got, we have to replace the damaged mitochondria and then we need to rebuild. This is called mitochondrial biogenesis. This is making new mitochondria. Once cleanup is complete, the body can now build new healthier mitochondria

• 27:40Josh Axe?

  that produce more ATP and restore long-term energy capacity. And here are a few things that are going to help you make new mitochondria. One, morning sunlight and a consistent sleep window, getting good sleep. Wake up in the morning, get outside, have, you know, start getting that cortisol level up. Morning, a morning walk outside is perfect. At night, no light, okay? Especially no blue light, listen to an audio book, read a book, but, but really go and get good sleep. And so this is going to help your body know when your mitochondria should be working, when they should be resting and repairing. This is really, really important. Sunlight cues your mitochondria. Number two, a breakfast that is rich in protein and fiber.

• 28:24Josh Axe?

  Okay, protein in the morning is an energy signal. Okay, not just a macronutrient. You want to aim for around 30 to 40 grams of protein in the morning. Protein stabilizes blood sugar, lower stress hormones and protects your muscles. Remember your muscles are really mitochondrial rich. They need protein as well. So skipping protein early often leads to cortisol driven fatigue later in the day and less mitochondria. Number three, daily movement. Okay, your body only builds energy systems that it's asked to use. So whether it be walking or lifting or doing some sort of cardiovascular And you need to move on a daily basis. It's incredibly good for your mitochondria.

• 29:10Josh Axe?

  And remember this muscle is your single largest mitochondrial bank. So just like many of you have money saved and whether it's in, you know, fiat currency, you know, US dollars or Bitcoin or gold. You've got some currency here. Okay. You've, you've got it in the bank. Your muscles are the bank of your mitochondria. So if you need a certain type of energy in the future, the mitochondria in your muscles have a big impact on your body. And here's an example of this, you know, the more you strength train, the more muscle you have, the more it improves your insulin sensitivity. That's really tied closely to mitochondrial health. It preserves your metabolism. It increases your mitochondria demand. So the more mitochondria you have, the more engines,

• 29:56Josh Axe?

  the more your metabolism is going, the more fat you're burning and the leaner you are.

• 30:02Josh Axe?

  Hey, so if you've ever thought something is wrong with me, but I just can't prove it, then this is for you. Now you might be eating clean, even what you feel like is perfect, working out, taking all of the right supplements, but you're still exhausted, still foggy, gaining weight, and you're not sleeping. And every time you ask for help, you hear the same thing, but your labs are normal. Here's what that actually means. Standard blood work only shows what's in your blood, not whether your cells can actually access it or not. You can give your body all the right inputs, but if your cells are in danger mode, chronically stressed or inflamed, they can't absorb or use those nutrients properly.

• 30:43Josh Axe?

  If you're finally ready to heal, go to mybloodwork.com. You'll get an at home cellular blood work panel shipped straight to your home and reviewed on a private call with one of my senior health advisors at the Health Institute. And this will help you finally connect the dots between your symptoms at the cellular level. We'll also determine if you're a good candidate for one of our cellular healing protocols. So you can finally experience lasting healing. Once again, go to mybloodwork.com to check it out.

• 31:15Josh Axe?

  Now I want to walk you through the ideal diet to boost mitochondrial health. You want to focus on foods rich in protein, fiber, and a high level of nutrient density in terms of their micronutrients. So here are some mito-friendly foods. First is bone broth and organic protein sources. Chicken broth especially, beef broth is also good and fish broth. And then you also want to do eggs, wild-caught fish, chicken, and grass-fed beef. Wild game too, like venison is wonderful, but you want to do high-quality sources of protein. And probably the most nutrient-dense are wild salmon and wild fish, eggs and red meat, and bone broth. And then after that, lots of cooked vegetables, okay?

• 32:00Josh Axe?

  Green leafies and cruciferus are probably the best. And then you want to focus on polyphenol-rich foods, especially fruits, like berries and pomegranates. And then after that, walnuts and organic extra-virgin olive oil is also fantastic. So berries, pomegranates, walnuts, extra-virgin olive oil, okay? And in particular, pomegranates, raspberries, and walnuts are high in a-licic acid, which contain urolithin A, or convert into urolithin A, which your mitochondria use to recharge themselves. So really powerful. So your daily eating plan might look like this. In the morning, you do some protein that has bone broth and plant protein, and then

• 32:43Josh Axe?

  you're also doing some berries there and pomegranates. And for lunch, you're doing a grass-fed burger with sauteed greens and a sweet potato. And dinner, you're doing avocado, you're doing wild-caught salmon, and then you're doing maybe some dark chocolate and some extra-virgin olive oil, something like that. That is a diet that's going to recharge and boost your mitochondrial health, and it's going to help with hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, and numerous conditions as well. And I do want to say this, remember, these are tools, they're not shortcuts, they're not magic bullets. So you really want to primarily focus on your diet and then supplement with nutrition. Don't continue to eat excess carbs and processed foods.

• 33:24Josh Axe?

  And and then just take a couple of supplements. Okay, that is not going to get you the full effects. Now, the first compound found in some supplements is choline alligate in your lithin A. Now, I like choline alligate even better than your lithin A. Okay, you've probably heard of your lithin A. If you are into the longevity space, it's good. It's what's converted in the gut. But I actually like choline alligate even more because it's going to support your body and not only making your lithin A. But did you know there's a your lithin A, B, C, D, and E. There's multiple your lithins. You want all of them. They have different health benefits. And choline alligate is more like a multi your lithin supplement and what it's going to help your body do.

• 34:06Josh Axe?

  And these are derived from allergic acid in foods like pomegranates. And many people don't convert them very efficiently versus getting them in this form allows them to. I think it's something like about forty to sixty percent of people don't convert allergic acid. So you're eating pomegranates. And you want that to convert into your lithin A. So your mitochondria can use it. Well, a lot of people, like nearly half of people, their gut microbiome isn't healthy enough to convert it and then utilize it by the body. Now, other studies have shown if you increase your probiotic intake and you continue to eat more pomegranates over time, it will improve your absorption.

• 34:45Josh Axe?

  So if you want to just prove your absorption as well, eat more pomegranates, eat more berries, eat more walnuts, eat more extra virgin olive oil. And in addition, take probiotic supplements and get probiotic foods. That's going to help you with your conversion of allergic acid into your lithin A. And by the way, there are numerous benefits of allergic acid. It is incredible for fatty liver disease. So what happens is you go from pomegranate in the allergic acid to your gut bacteria, turns it into your lithin A that then fuels your mitochondria, which can then help heal and regenerate liver disease. Can help also reverse hypothyroidism and numerous other medical conditions, even diabetes.

• 35:25Josh Axe?

  And pomegranates were prized in texts like the Bible as being a food of kings. And so really an incredible superfood. And probably my top supplement and that's a food, but you can also get that. In some form. Now, in addition, I really like coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinol to support mitochondrial health. This is one of the most reliable supplements for noticeable energy improvements when a deficiency exists. And listen, this is critically important to take if you've ever taken a statin drug or you're on a statin drug, because statin drugs wipe out your CoQ10 levels. CoQ10 is literally named for what it does. Coenzyme Q10, which means it's a coworker

• 36:04Josh Axe?

  in energy production. It doesn't just help your mitochondria. No, it's required for the final step where electrons are turned into ATP. So if you don't have CoQ10, you don't get ATP. CoQ10 is very closely tied to heart health. And remember, your heart, one of the three organs that has the largest concentration of mitochondria. And that's why CoQ10, for anyone looking to improve their heart health, is going to be typically in the top three supplements up there with things like omega-3 fats and magnesium. And when coenzyme Q10 is low, the heart is often the first organ to feel it as fatigue. Could be shortness of breath or reduced exercise tolerance,

• 36:48Josh Axe?

  but CoQ10 is essential for creating cellular energy. And I typically recommend about 200 milligrams a day for most people of CoQ10, looking to boost their mitochondrial health. And there was a randomized control medical trial that found that CoQ10 supplementation reduces fatigue and can also help with pain and fatigue due to long COVID, due to its positive effects on mitochondrial function. So it is really, really powerful and more people should be using. I think most people think about it for harder cholesterol. No, I mean, really, this is a great thing for anybody looking to boost their mitochondrial health. And then, of course, this is probably the most popular mitochondrial supplement today, and it's NAD plus precursors

• 37:33Josh Axe?

  like NR and NMN. Okay, now, NAD plus is critical for mitochondrial energy metabolism and DNA repair like CoQ10. It's essential and our levels.

• 37:45Josh Axe?

  Naturally decline with age and new clinical research shows NAD plus therapy can restore mitochondrial function and slow age related decline, which is a key in all of regenerative medicine. Like all of us want to reverse our condition and live longer. Now I want you also to consider a few others here. Vitamin B2, which is riboflavin, magnesium and PQQ. Okay. These also support mitochondrial repair. Vitamin B2 is really critical for mitochondrial health and methylation. It's oftentimes overlooked in that. And so that vitamin B2 is very important for that. I know I did a blood test and actually about the only thing I was depleted in, I think the one thing was recently I did this a few months ago was vitamin B2. And so I started

• 38:28Josh Axe?

  taking more of it. And I noticed, okay, my energy now is 10 out of 10. It was eight out of 10. Now it's 10 out of 10 again. Magnesium, by the way, as well, is really important for cellular energy. And then PQQ is another one. Listen, you don't have to take a million supplements. There's oftentimes some that have a combination of these, but these are the biggest needle movers for most people when it comes to boosting mitochondrial function. Now, one question I get about NAD plus, I want to mention this as well. I get a question of, is it better to do as a pill or as a drip, right? Sometimes people buy them with their peptides or go to an IV place and take it as niagen or, or, or standard NAD plus. And well, one, I'm a bigger fan of niagen. I also think that it's good to take on a daily

• 39:11Josh Axe?

  basis. And if you want to boost, you can get an IV, you can get a push. And I think that's, I think that's great as well. Now I want to walk you through some of the more advanced therapies that are really exciting when it comes to boosting mitochondrial function. And the first is red light therapy, often called photobiomodulation. Now this supports mitochondrial energy production by stimulating key enzymes in the electron transport chain, helping cells generate ATP more efficiently. And I will tell you, this is something that kind of surprised me. Chelsea and I had an opportunity to get red light panels a few years ago, and we started using them regularly, 20 minutes a day. And I was really surprised

• 39:52Josh Axe?

  at the changes in my energy. The biggest change we noticed though is we slept better when we were doing red light therapy. The best time to do red light therapy is typically right, right around the, you know, just after sunset or first thing in the morning. Anytime of day though is great, but red light therapy or doing a photobiomodulation bed especially is incredibly powerful. You know, I just recently opened a cellular medicine clinic and functional medicine clinic in the Nashville area of Tennessee, specifically in Franklin, and we have these really powerful red light, these photobiomodulation beds, and they're the most powerful in the entire world. And then we also have what we call

• 40:33Josh Axe?

  a laser pod, so it goes even deeper into your body. So these are pretty incredible there. We've partnered with a company called Somis Laser. And so Somis Laser, these red light beds, the red light goes very deep into your tissues, and so it supports mitochondrial function. So when you get out of these red light beds, you feel such a sense of energy, you sleep better. Men will notice better testosterone, women will notice better thyroid function. It's really powerful. And you can get some red panels at home and that's helpful. If you want something more powerful, you can go in and find a longevity clinic and get in there and do some of the red light therapy. And if anybody wants to check it out, we have people coming in from all over the world. It's the longevity clinic.com.

• 41:18Josh Axe?

  And that's a great place where you can get red light. If you're, you know, within a couple hours, people come in, do the red light therapy, or again, there's some great brands out there where you can go and buy red light and do red light therapy at home. But again, red light has been shown consistently to boost mitochondrial function. Now, another thing here, and this is tied some to red light, is infrared sauna. And this is heat therapy combined with some red light, even though the red light is minor compared to a red light panel, you're still getting some, and you are getting a lot of heat. And these heat shock proteins have tremendous benefits. They improve your cellular resistance, your circulation, and your mitochondrial function over time. So really, two of the top ways

• 42:00Josh Axe?

  to boost your mitochondrial health is red light panels and therapy and infrared sauna. Number three, one of my absolute favorites is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This is something now I'm offering in my clinic in Nashville. We have these hard chambers that people come in. And it's amazing. So when I had my spinal infection, I'd mentioned that my mitochondria were very depleted. I started getting in a hard hyperbaric chamber regularly above 2.0 ATA. And it was amazing coming out what it did for my lungs, my energy. I work now with patients with cancer. They get in, they notice great improvements. We work with a lot of people who have a lot of kids with autism. Getting more oxygen to the brain is incredibly helpful. People that have

• 42:44Josh Axe?

  had strokes, people with MS, chronic infections, burns, but also even things like mold and long COVID. I mean, amazing results. So hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a cutting edge treatment that is also very, very powerful for mitochondrial performance, longevity, and reversing numerous diseases. Ozone therapy is something also we're doing. And ozone, which is O3, creates a controlled oxidative signal that regulates antioxidant defenses and improves mitochondrial efficiency through something called hormesis. Now, the other thing, though, it does outside of mitochondrial

• 43:23Josh Axe?

  health is ozone kills pathogens. It kills bad bacteria. It kills parasites, has antibacterial effects. So if you have any pathogens in your blood, ozone helps with that. Again, it's great for things like long COVID. It's great for energy. If you've ever done ozone therapy, like the most powerful one today is called EBU. That's the number one type of ozone. After that, there's 10 pass, and then there's standard ozone. But ozone also supports oxygen in the body, because that's what it is. Oxygen, oxygen, oxygen, O3, has tremendous benefits for supporting oxygenation of your body as well. So again, ozone therapy, a really powerful therapy used for mitochondrial health. Now, here's another one a lot of people can have access to is IVs. This is something else that we're doing in the longevity clinic. And you can go to different places all across the

• 44:08Josh Axe?

  country and get IVs. And B vitamins and magnesium and zinc are the most important for mitochondrial function. So if you're feeling, especially, let's say you had a cold or flu, you're just overcoming something, or you're in the middle of it. One of the single best things you could ever do is go in to an IV place. And get an IV and you specifically want to make sure you're getting magnesium, B vitamins and zinc are some of the most important and potentially niagen, you know, supporting those NAD levels and glutathione is also great, but all of those are going to support that mitochondrial function. So doing nutrient IVs, cryotherapy has some benefits, doing brief cold strikes in the body in that way. Now, listen, if your entire, if you have

• 44:51Josh Axe?

  chronic fatigue or hypothyroidism, I don't actually recommend it. If you're already fit, if you're a young male and an athlete, cryotherapy is great. It's a good option for you. But if you're already have really cold extremities all the time, you're much better off doing the sauna, okay, than the cryo. But for some people, cryotherapy is great. Now, there's also supplements that are out there today. You can also do these as IVs, but it's methylene blue. Methylene blue supports mitochondrial electron flow and ATP production by acting as an alternate electron carrier when used carefully at low doses. So you can do this orally. By the way, here's a, here's a, here's a advanced tip. Methylene blue is often activated at a higher level with red light therapy. So you can take your methylene blue, get in a red light bed,

• 45:32Josh Axe?

  or if you have any type of red light panels at home, use them then, or use it when you're getting in an infrared sauna. But taking methylene blue around that time, so it can sometimes amplify the effects. And last one here, now this is could be part of IVs or injections, but it's NAD plus or niagen, many, many benefits for energy, for cellular health, and of course, for mitochondrial health. And you know, there are actually quite a few really well-known athletes and celebrities who, who have really focused on supporting their mitochondrial health. Tom Brady is one of those people. In recent years, right now, Cristiano Ronaldo, he's the world famous Portuguese soccer player, and he's known for living the mito lifestyle. Ronaldo is just a great example

• 46:16Josh Axe?

  of this. Consistent training, sleep discipline, recovery tools, and really focusing on a diet that's rich in boosting mitochondria. In fact, he's known to do red light therapy, sauna therapy, stem cell therapy, all of these things that boost mitochondria. Gwyneth Paltrow, she's of course, the actress and entrepreneur of Goop. She's been really Consistent with doing these mitochondrial habits like sauna, cold plunges, meditation, even discussing NAD plus injections and other things like that. So she's a big fan of longevity and mitochondrial health. And that's why we look at some of these people like, how can Cristiano Ronaldo be playing soccer? And he's going to continue to do it year after year after year, much later. When a lot of people are done with their soccer career, he's still going to be playing.

• 47:01Josh Axe?

  Very similar thing. You look at people like, like Gwyneth Paltrow. She's aging slower than most other people because she's so focused on boosting her mitochondrial health. And listen, you don't have to do exactly what the celebrities are doing. But if you want to look younger, feel younger and boost your mitochondrial health, there are so many things you could do. Now, remember the basics. You want to eat a mitochondrial rich diet, right? You want to eat more pomegranates, more berries, more walnuts, more extra virgin olive oil, more wild caught salmon. You want to get good, deep sleep and support those light rhythms and circadian rhythms in your body. You want to walk more and, and do, you know, weight training a couple of days a week at least. And lower stress. Those things are going to do big, big things for your mitochondrial health. Now let's connect to something a little bit deeper here.

• 47:46Josh Axe?

  We're going to look at ancient Asian medicine in the Bible and what they say about mitochondrial energy. Now they're not mentioning mitochondria, but some of these same principles apply. In ancient Asian medicine and TCM, they, they use the word Qi, which they called your body vital energy. We call it cellular energy today. They call it vital energy. And there were a lot of practices in Chinese medicine that were known to boost your Qi. And some of those would be, there's actually a therapy called Qi Gong. It's doing deep breathing, that deep diaphragmatic breathing in and out is incredible for mitochondria and for your Qi. Eating a diet rich in wild caught fish like they do in Japan today, probably the place that's practicing the best form of this ancient Asian medicine in terms of diet.

• 48:30Josh Axe?

  It's a lot of wild fish. It's a lot of seaweed. It's a lot of rice. It's a lot of nutrient dense fruits. You know, that's a big part, sweet potatoes. It's a big part of their diet. And these build Qi and cellular energy. And then there's even practices like acupuncture, which are beneficial as well. And then the Bible is full of this connection between our spirit and our strength. You know, Proverbs 1722 says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Isaiah 4110 says this, "Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

• 49:13Josh Axe?

  And this is saying, and we know this fear, the emotion of fear, causes, puts you in a fight or flight state. Your adrenal glands start producing more cortisol and stress hormones, and that starts to burn up a lot of your mitochondria. Okay? A lot of that cellular energy. And so, when you're living in a state of faith over fear, it's going to preserve more of your mitochondria when you're trusting God. By the way, something the ancients knew that we don't know today is, there is this deep connection between our spirit and our physical body. And primarily, the element that most supports our mitochondria, according to biblical ideas and ancient Asian ideas, is having a purpose.

• 49:58Josh Axe?

  What's your purpose in life? If people are going through their life and they're not clear on their purpose, and they don't know what they're called to do, I mean, God is continually telling people, "I've called you to this," and being prepared. You know, I think about the Bible talking about, you know, using your gifts for good, using your talents, and also thinking about eternity. I mean, the Bible is chock full of purpose. So is ancient medicine. And so, one other clear way that's not a diet, or a supplement, or a movement, when it comes to boosting your cellular energy and your mitochondria, is discovering your purpose, taking your God-given gifts, and using those for the good of others. What is that thing you're passionate about? What is that opportunity you have in front of you? And pour your heart and soul into it, while also getting proper rest, right?

• 50:43Josh Axe?

  Doing that simultaneously. But purpose fuels your mitochondria. Think about this, when you're excited about something, I don't know why, it's making me think about this. When I was a kid, I can remember, this was being, I don't know how old I was, maybe seven, eight years old, and I knew we were going to Disney World that day. And I woke up, you know, like, the week before, I was like dragging myself out of school. I was tired, but we were going to Disney World, even though I'd slept worse, I woke up at, you know, like 5:00 AM, like ready to go to Disney World. Okay. Like this, there was a purpose in front of me to have fun and a blast with my family and cousins and grandmother. And like, I was, I was really excited. Okay. And then today, you know, I think about the, the Olympics that was just going on, we have people here competing for golden medals and things they've worked their whole life for. And that's exciting. They're, they're competing

• 51:28Josh Axe?

  for these, you know, these, these medals, these, these sort of crowns. And, but if you're a Christian, or you believe in eternity, you're competing for crowns in heaven, eternal rewards. I mean, we should all have this great sense of purpose in our lives and purpose fuels mitochondrial and cellular energy. And if you want to optimize your mitochondrial health, you want to come at it from all angles. Okay. You want to support it with food. You want to support it with movement. You want to support it with spiritual practices to optimize your cellular health. So here's what you can expect by making all these changes we talked about. Many people notice clear thinking, more stable and a much greater level of energy,

• 52:09Josh Axe?

  better hormone health, especially testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and definitely thyroid hormones. And, and you're, you're just going to notice more energy and you're going to look and feel younger. That's what starts to happen when you fix your mitochondria and you fix these cellular signals. It's so critical and important. And if you've been tired for a long time, maybe you need to hear this, your fatigue is not who you are. It's just information. Low energy is your body saying your cells need support, not more stimulants, not more willpower. So instead of asking, what supplement do I need? Ask, have I reduced the damage? Have I removed what's broken? Have I rebuilt with the right signals? Because when you restore rhythm, fuel and purpose,

• 52:53Josh Axe?

  energy follows. So instead of asking, is there a single supplement I can take? And again, you should take a few supplements. That's going to be helpful. But more than that, what is the foundation you need to build? What are some of the lifestyle things you need to change in order to transform your mitochondrial health? I also want to mention, if you're a person really struggling with, you know, hypothyroidism or

• 53:12Josh Axe?

  Low testosterone, chronic fatigue, any of these issues that are tied to mitochondrial health and you need some help, there's some great resources. You can go to thehealthinstitute.com. If you're local or national area, you can check out the longevity clinic. These are going to have practitioners that can help guide you and give you the exact protocol and every detail of how you can take your cellular and mitochondrial health to the next level. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Akk Show. Each and every week, we're diving deep into the science and the principles of how you can heal physically, mentally, spiritually, and take your health and your life to the next level. Make sure to subscribe. Again, I'm so grateful for all of you subscribers. It's the number one thing you can do to support the show. And also, thanks so much for sharing this. I'll see you on the next episode.