We're now in Week Seven of our journey to UltraWellness.

In last week's blog, we reviewed UltraWellness Key #5 and the importance of detoxification for optimal health.

Today, I'm going to take you one step closer to UltraWellness by telling you how you can rev up your metabolic engine and boost your energy to avoid getting tired, help you think more clearly and to help you to live longer and healthier.

**Remember, the more detail on exactly how you can boost your energy and the entire video course on all 7 of the keys to UltraWellness has started and is available to you right now at no charge by going to the website below:

==> http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=46

Let's get started.

First, I want you to ask yourself some questions.

Are you tired and worn out? 

Do you have sore muscles, fatigue, and brain fog?

You might have metabolic burnout!

What do I mean by that?

Well, take a moment to consider just the opposite.

Imagine if you could find a way to tune up your metabolism, to increase the amount of energy you have, to be able to think clearly, and to feel less achy.

Imagine if you could prevent diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia. 

Imagine if you could heal fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Imagine if you could get to the root of aging and slow the whole process down.

This doesn't have to be just wishful thinking!

==> All that--and more--is possible if you give yourself a metabolic makeover!

I'll explain exactly how to do that in just a second, but first, you might have heard news reports about the rats fed high doses of resveratrol, the red phytonutrient found in red wine. 

They lived 30 percent longer while eating a bad diet.

In fact, they even became fitter and lost weight without changing their diet and while eating the equivalent of the standard American poor quality diet.

How could they eat more food, eat bad food, and not exercise, but become fitter AND live 30 percent longer than the average rat? 

One word.

MITOCHONDRIA.

The resveratrol protected and improved the function of the mitochondria through its effects on special master aging genes.

Here's how your mitochondria work.

They're tiny factories that turn food and oxygen into energy.

In each cell, there are hundreds to thousands of these little energy factories.  They exist in greater amounts in active organs and tissues, like the muscles, heart, and brain. 

Simply put, the mitochondria are where metabolism happens.

The role of your metabolism is to take the oxygen you breathe and the food you eat and process it to make energy, the fuel for life.

Along the way, many things can go wrong that may impede your metabolism, make it run less efficiently, or practically shut it down. 

The problem?

Mitochondria are very sensitive to damage.

And when your mitochondria aren't working properly, you suffer all the symptoms of low energy -- fatigue, memory loss, pain, rapid aging, and more.

Fatigue is the most common symptom of poorly functioning mitochondria. The reason we poop out as we age is the constant insult and injury we give our mitochondria. 

==>  This doesn't have to happen!

(For a much more detailed and in-depth look at how to give yourself a metabolic makeover, boost your energy and the other 6 keys to UltraWellness, please go to http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=46 -- remember, the course is available right now.)

Research shows that we can protect our mitochondria -- and boost metabolism.

Dr. Bruce Ames, the renowned scientist from the University of California at Berkeley (www.bruceames.com), has spent the last decade discovering how we can give ourselves a metabolic tune up.

In one study, he gave old rats who were tired, wouldn't get on the treadmill anymore, and couldn't find the cheese in the maze or swim very far, two molecules that boost metabolism, by making the mitochondria run better.

They are alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine. 

Overnight, these rats began acting like young rats!

They got up on the treadmill by themselves, swam long distances without fatiguing, and could easily find the cheese in the maze, just like young healthy rats.

How could that happen?

Well, he simply gave the cells the raw materials they need for optimal function.

The rats got a metabolic tune-up -- and achieved UltraWellness!

You can, too.

==> First, find the things that damage your mitochondria.

There are a lot of offenders.

These little energy factories are easily damaged by things like toxins, infections, allergens, and stress.

But the biggest insult over time is eating too much food -- too many "empty calories."

When the food is burned or metabolized with oxygen in the mitochondria, waste is produced in the form of free radicals, which create a chain reaction of rusting, or oxidation.

Unless you have enough antioxidants in your diet or you make enough in your body, you can't protect yourself from the damage to your mitochondria.

So when you eat empty calories -- such as sugar, flour, and processed foods that don't have the antioxidant levels of colorful plant foods like fruits and vegetables -- you produce too many free radicals that destroy your mitochondria and produce fatigue, metabolic burnout, and all the diseases of aging.

Imagine that a slow, progressive process of deterioration that contributes to, or is the cause of, practically every known disease is occurring inside of you at this very moment.

It is the result of dietary choices, lifestyle habits, stress and environmental exposures.  

This process of deterioration is called oxidative stress.

It is part of the inevitable entropy, or chaotic breakdown, that is the basic principle of life, like an orderly house that inevitably becomes disorganized, requiring regular attention. 

You are already familiar with this process.

You can see it in the rust on your car, the brown color that appears on an apple when opened and exposed to air, the rancid vegetable oil in your cupboard, and even the wrinkles forming on your skin. 

But it doesn't stop there.

What you may not realize is that your own tissues are rusting, your own fats are going rancid, and your brain is melting as you go about your daily life. 

Sound scary?

It is!

What starts this process is some insult -- too many calories, smoking, a sunburn, exposure to toxins, anti-nutrients, sugar, and more -- that tips the balance starting a chain reaction of cellular and tissue damage. 

Your body does have a built-in anti-rusting system and mitochondrial protection system, but it can become overwhelmed by all the work you ask of it. 

Like all the systems in the body, the problems arise when you are out of balance.

The system is called the REDOX system, after the chemical process of REDuction and OXidation. 

Reduction is the neutralization of damage from oxidation or rusting. 

But oxidation is not all bad.  In fact, your white blood cells kill bacteria and viruses by releasing hydrogen peroxide and other compounds we call free radicals. 

These radicals are not a left-wing political group, but unstable electrochemical molecules that are missing an electron, which makes them unstable and "lonely." 

They bump into neighboring molecules and steal an electron, making them, in turn, unstable.

The result?

A chain reaction that leads to disaster.

This is the process we call oxidative stress.

Much of the damage we experience as disease is the end result of oxidative stress that occurs in the mitochondria. 

In fact, one of the biggest generators of free radicals is the normal process of burning of food in the mitochondria.  Free radicals are the metabolic waste products from turning food into energy.

Toxins, infections, allergens, and even junk food also can create them.

The bottom line?

The more free radicals you make, the less energy you produce because you damage the cells' ability to make energy in the mitochondria.

And the ultimate loss of energy is death. 

This is why eating too many calories and not enough nutrients is at the heart of so much illness. 

Want to achieve optimal health and enjoy a vital, energetic old age?

==>  The key is to get your redox system back into balance and protect your mitochondria.

So are antioxidants the answer?

Not necessarily.

Much research has been done on antioxidants and disease -- and the results are mixed. 

One problem is that we are used to looking at things through the wrong model. 

Studying a single antioxidant that we isolate from food, like beta-carotene, is completely counter-physiologic. 

If fact, it underscores the fundamental lack of knowledge by most doctors about nutrition and the redox system. 

You see, we are looking for answers based on the drug model, where you have a single drug, a single effect, and a measurable outcome.  You give a pill for high blood pressure and the blood pressure goes down. 

But studying oxidative stress is completely different.  

First, antioxidants are part of an overall team that controls and manages the excess free radicals we produce. 

You couldn't put Michael Jordan on a basketball team by himself and expect him to win a championship. 

In fact, you could guarantee that Michael Jordan would lose EVERY game if he played by himself!

So why should we expect that one antioxidant alone could have any benefit? 

Here's another problem with antioxidants.

By definition, any antioxidant becomes an oxidant. 

In other words, an antioxidant works by giving up one electron to neutralize the free radical -- and then by definition it BECOMES a free radical. 

It then needs to be neutralized by another antioxidant, moving down a chain like a hot potato until it is finally neutralized by the mother of all antioxidants, glutathione, which can be recycled and restored. 

This is why some studies show that beta-carotene can increase cancer or that vitamin C may cause DNA damage. 

In addition, some of the most powerful antioxidants are not in vitamins and minerals, but in food, such as the proanthocyanidins in grapes and berries. 

This provides an important lesson. 

We should obtain the bulk of our antioxidants from food -- namely whole, real, unprocessed plant foods. 

And we should take antioxidants as a team, not individually.

Whew! 

That's a lot of biochemistry and physiology, and I really wouldn't go into so much detail if it weren't so important.

I want you to use this information to guide you on your path to UltraWellness.

So now you know what can damage your mitochondria.

Here's how to protect them -- and prevent rusting.

==>  Address the causes of damage to the mitochondria:

1) Eat less processed, junk food, sugar, and empty calories -- in fact, you should really avoid them altogether!

2) Detoxify -- Get rid of environmental and internal toxins.

3) Address inflammation.

4) Balance your hormones.

==> Then boost and protect your mitochondria:

1) Exercise.

Interval training increases the efficiency and function of the mitochondria and strength training increases the amount of muscle and number of mitochondria.

2) Eat whole real, colorful plant food that's full of antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Get 8 to 12 servings of fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains every day.

3) Take mitochondria-protective and energy-boosting nutrients.

These include acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, n-acetyl-cysteine, NADH, D-ribose, resveratrol, and magnesium aspartate.

4) Increase omega-3 fats to help build your mitochondrial membranes.

Give it a try and you'll see.

Taking care of your mitochondria will allow you to increase your energy, lose weight, and age well. 

It is a cornerstone of creating UltraWellness!

That's all for this week.

Next week, I'll explain how your mind affects your body and how your body affects your mind -- and important these both are for optimal well-being and health.

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Do you think you need a metabolic tune-up?

How has mitochondrial damage affected your health?

What have you tried to boost your metabolism and protect your mitochrondria?

Please click on the Add a Comment button below to share your thoughts.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

PS - Remember, the more in-depth video course on the 7 Keys to UltraWellness is finally available right now and you can sign up right now by going to the link below:

==> http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=46