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Cell Power

Mitochondria are cell organelles (literally; organs of the cell) that serve as powerplants, processing nutrients and oxygen that feed the cells. But toxins and diseases weaken mitochondria, often reducing cellular efficiency, as we grow older. The results range from the typical signs of aging to chronic and debilitating illnesses.

Fortunately there are simple steps we can take to prevent the breakdown and loss of vitally important mitochondria. Disorders sometimes associated with mitochondrial dysfunction include chronic fatigue syndrome, dementia, cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), and kidney ailments. To that list we can now add type 2 diabetes.

Knowing that the accumulation of fat in liver and muscle tissue is an accurate predictor of insulin resistance (a precursor of type 2 diabetes), a team of scientists at Yale University School of Medicine used non-invasive scans to examine the muscles and livers of 29 people. Subjects were made up of two groups: 13 were between the ages of 18 and 39, and 16 were between the ages of 61 to 84. All subjects were healthy and showed no signs of pre-diabetic conditions such as excessive body weight.

Results showed that the group of older subjects not only had a higher accumulation of fat in their liver and muscle tissue than the younger group, but also an average of 40 percent lower metabolic activity of the mitochondria. This is significant because one of the key jobs of mitochondria is to convert both fatty acids and glucose into energy.

The Yale researchers' conclusion - that a lack of the mitochondria necessary to burn fat promotes a lowered sensitivity to insulin - leads to this practical advice: Get up and exercise. Because studies have shown that regular physical activity stimulates and even increases the amount of mitochondria within your cells.

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses. - Hippocrates