What Does It Take to Have All Day Energy, Crush Workouts and Feel Good in Your Body?

Knowing what it takes to get fuel to your cells is at the root of optimal health at any age.

This is mitochondrial health. 

Mitochondria are the little factories in every one of your cells that make energy. 

They also have the ability to help the cells detox aka take out the cell trash from making energy. 

Resources like vitamins, electrolytes, nutrients, hormones and other signaling molecules need to bind or diffuse across into the cell to get to the mitochondria for energy making and detoxing.

The mitochondria do not run optimally when resources are low, toxicity in the body is elevated or there are genetic mutations keeping them from running optimally. 

As you get older the likelihood of mitochondria not running optimally increases.

And your total number of mitochondria decrease – if you are not maintaining your muscle mass.

This is why I am such a stickler on making sure my clients are eating sufficient amounts of protein throughout the day!

To ensure your mitochondria are fueled and maintained on a daily basis you’ll need to check the following areas…

• Digestive health – if you can’t break down foods you won’t absorb the nutrients you need
• Identifying any foods that inflame your body – gluten/dairy/soy/corn/sugar/chemicals/dyes – all interfere with getting nutrients to your cells.
• Food & drink intake quality – non-toxic closest to nature food doesn’t come with toxins that damage your gut lining, destroy your microbiome and prevent nutrient absorption.  
• Filtered water – non-toxic water is vital for your health – the less toxins your body has to deal with the more nutrients that get to your cells
• Healthy air quality – poor air can lead to toxin build up in the body and hijack cell ability to make energy
• Thyroid hormone health – making sure you’re able to convert they thyroid hormones T4 to T3 on a cellular level and that your cells can take up T3 is key – iodine + magnesium + selenium help here
• Sex hormone health – adequate levels of estrogen prevent degradation of your mitochondria
• Methylation activity – knowing if you have a methylation mutation (MTHFR/MTRR and derivatives) can help  you determine amounts of B12/folate/choline and other co-factors needed to help your cells detox and make energy.
• Maximize the amount of time spend in rest, digest and chill parasympathetic mode vs fight or flight
• Cardiovascular fitness and circulation – if you’re not moving your body it’s really hard to have healthy cells
• Muscular health – muscle contains the most mitochondria and exercise increases demand for the body to make more mitochondria.

Whew that’s a lot – BUT it doesn’t have to be complicated. 

To have limitless energy, crush workouts and feel good in your body at any age it’s key to focus your efforts on making sure you are keeping your mitochondria healthy. 

You can take maximum amounts of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and still feel like crap. 

Why?

Because your cells are not healthy. 

Gurus out there have you thinking you can take bio-identical hormones and all your aging worries will go away. 

Sure you might feel amazing for a week or you may think you need to keep upping your dosage of hormones because you’re not getting results. 

Your cells need to be primed to handle an influx of hormones. 

The longer I’ve specialized in hormone optimization the more I’d like to put everyone on a cell priming program prior to thyroid or bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. 

Unfortunately, some folks are feeling so awful they need a hormone bandaid to get to the re-booting process.

You don’t have to get to that point.

It’s possible to optimize your cell function and fuel your mitochondria long before you start to see declines in your energy. 

I want to scream from the roof tops for 35 year old women to hear this…get on top of this stuff asap – you’ll prevent yourself a lot of grief!

My medical training didn’t give me the full knowledge of this at 35 when I started to see my health take a dive as I entered peri-menopause.

I had to research it for myself.

If your doctor doesn’t have an interest or hasn’t had time to research on their own – they won’t advise you on this phenomenon!

Now – if you’re over 35 don’t panic – there’s hope for you – there’s just a little bit of work to do.

Here’s what I recommend …

• Get your gut function tested – Ex: GI Map or go through Quest/Labcorp and assess your elastase, calprotectin, lactoferrin and H pylori stool levels. This allows you to know if you need digestive enzymes or if there’s inflammation on your gut lining.
• Cut out gluten, dairy, soy, corn and sugar for a month and re-introduce them one by one every 72 hours and see what your gut does. (If you need guidance see: The Whole 30 Diet website)
• Get a higher quality water filtration system like a Berkey or Aqua Sana
• Contact HypoAir and do a complimentary air quality assessment
• Get a complete thyroid and hormone panel  – TSH, free T3/4, T3 uptake, reverse T3, Anti-TPO, Thyroglobulin antibody, progesterone, free and total testosterone, estradiol, estrone, DHEA-sulfate, sex hormone binding globulin (if you’re still cycling test day 19-26 of your cycle).s
• Assess your methylation status with Genova’s Methylation Panel, have DNA testing or get B12/folic acid and homocysteine tested to see if where you stand.
• Get a DEXA scan done at a local gym or health center to determine your muscle mass, body fat percentage and bone health status – use this data to assess for improvement with interventions
• Get a heart rate monitor with HRV measurements and watch to see heart rate go down if over 70 on a baseline and HRV to go up over time to ensure you’re improving your cardiovascular status. 
• Make sure you’re doing zone 2 cardio (sustained heart rate 120-130) at least 5 days a week x 30 minutes
• Create a fitness routine where you’re lifting weights or resistance training of some type for 2 days a week
• Obtain a lab test that assesses your vitamin and nutrient status like Genova’s NutrEval
• Consider DNA testing like IntellxxDNA to ensure you’re countering any other genetic mutations that you may have. 

That’s a lot – I know. 

If your eyes glazed over and you went into full on overwhelm mode… that’s ok – I get it. 

You’re busy and taking care of your health is tough when you’re already fatigued and overwhelmed.

Research has shown a tired, stressed brain has a difficult time trusting your health decisions, creating healthy habits and following a sustainable routine. 

How are you supposed to take care of yourself when you’re tired, stressed out and unable to decide what’s best for your health?

It’s impossible. 

This is why I created the Women’s Health Optimization program, it’s a 1:1 program for busy women that are looking for clarity on what they need to reboot their energy, get back to crushing workouts and feel good in their body.

No group calls, videos to watch, no BS – just straight answers connecting your symptoms to lab results and custom protocols based on research to get you back on track as soon as possible. 

Want to know if you’d be a good fit for my program?

Let’s chat – click HERE to schedule a 15 minute visit.  

Cost of the call will be rolled into the program if you decide to enroll. 

Either way you’ll leave the call with clarity and next steps on your way to restoring your energy to feel good in your body!

Here’s to your total body health,

Dr. J

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PS: Why wait any longer – there’s still time to get your energy back to enjoy this summer to the fullest – click HERE and let’s talk today!