In this Episode of The Human Upgrade™...
…you’ll find out why you’re tired, how to fix it and ways to increase your energy. Fatigue is a hidden epidemic, with chronic fatigue syndrome being the most severe end, but most people (in the U.S.) are experiencing some level of being flat-out tired as hell.
Guest Ari Whitten, Ph.D. (Cand.), CES, PES, says that as a culture, we have normalized fatigue. In his newest book, “EAT FOR ENERGY: How to Beat Fatigue, Supercharge Your Mitochondria, and Unlock All-Day Energy,” he explains that 5.4 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (the most severe case of fatigue). However, the true fatigue epidemic affects 50 to 100 times more people.
So what can you do to increase your energy currency? A lot, as it turns out. In this conversation, you’ll learn:
- what’s causing the dysfunction in your mitochondria and how you can repair these critical energy cells.
- strategies that will double your energy levels.
- 7 top supplements (and more) that help get your mitochondria back on the energy track.
“Mitochondria are essentially the canaries in the coal mine. They're not just these mindless energy generators, they are actually our energy regulators.”
Ari Whitten
Ari has been studying and teaching natural health science for more than 25 years. He went through his own battle with chronic fatigue that inspired his obsession with energy. For the past seven years, he’s focused specifically on improving human energy. His education and work in this area touches on critical aspects of human health from nutrition to physical training, to light science, to psychology, and more.
He created The Energy Blueprint science-based lifestyle programs that target brain energy and mitochondria. He also hosts The Energy Blueprint podcast that features world-wide experts on the subject of understanding fatigue and how to get more energy.
This episode’s discussion gets right into the role of mitochondria in human energy.
“I really see mitochondria as the most upstream thing that is regulating human energy levels,” Ari says. “So, not just playing a role in some particular biochemical process that is indirectly related to energy production, but the actual thing that is deciding whether we should be producing lots of energy at the cellular level or not very much energy, that’s what our mitochondria do.”
Ari’s research (420 citations in “Eat for Energy”!] is clear. The cause of fatigue is mitochondrial dysfunction, he says. And the biggest factors that affect your mitochondria include:
- Circadian rhythm dysregulation and poor sleep
- Carrying too much body fat and too little muscle mass
- Poor gut and microbiome health
- Blood sugar dysregulation
- Nutritional toxicities and deficiencies
- Neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances
When you understand factors like resilience, cell defense, nutrition and supplementation, you’re on your way to better energy.
More about Ari Whitten: He’s the author of several books, including: “The Ultimate Guide To Red Light Therapy: How to Use Red and Near-Infrared Light Therapy for Anti-Aging, Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, Performance Enhancement, and Brain Optimization.” He earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and two advanced certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist. He’s completed three years of coursework for his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, an education which rounds out his approach to optimal health, a trifecta of nutrition, fitness, and psychology.
Enjoy the show!
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- Our Partners
- Links & Resources
- Key Notes
Complete Spectrum Hemp + Chinese Herbs:
https://radicalrootsherbs.com/DAVE, use code DAVE to get 10% off
Biostack for High Performance:
https://vatellia.com, use code DAVE2022 to save 10% or subscribe and save 15% + receive a free bottle of Kale Buster
Meat Sticks! All the Good Stuff-No BS:
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Website: theenergyblueprint.com
Book: EAT FOR ENERGY: How to Beat Fatigue, Supercharge Your Mitochondria, and Unlock All-Day Energy
The Energy Blueprint Podcast: theenergyblueprint.com/podcast/
Instagram: instagram.com/theenergyblueprint/
Twitter: twitter.com/ari_whitten
Facebook: facebook.com/theenergyblueprint/
- You’ve talked about low carb diet traps in other books and even the low carb myth, because turns out you make energy from carbs. But let’s just get right into it. Tell me about human energy, where it comes from. – 2:53
- And what they find is, in general, between the ages of 20 to 40, most people lose about half of their mitochondrial capacity, between the ages of 40 to 70, it gets cut in half again. – 8:42
- There are certain supplements that have been shown in people with stress related fatigue and exhaustion to cut their levels of fatigue, to cut their levels of depression and anxiety and brain fog in half in a week or a month. – 12:33
- Rhodiola is a powerful one. I look at PQQ as a really powerful one as well, even coenzyme Q10 for a lot of people is a big deal, so is acetyl-acetate, which is a mitochondrial metabolite that actually primes the pump. – 13:11
- I think we need to be cautious around making sure we understand physiology accurately and making sure that we’re working with the intelligence of our body and not against it. – 20:14
- The idea you that your mental state is one of the many variables that affects mitochondria is really important. But do people get chronic fatigue because they had a bad breakup? – 24:53
- So, I mean, these are six nutritional causes specifically. So, circadian rhythm disruption, blood sugar dysregulation, poor body composition, poor gut health and poor brain health. – 29:46
- There’s many layers to this, but melatonin is actually, turns out, is basically the most important mitochondrial antioxidant and is vital for protecting our mitochondria and our neurons, and has profound anti-cancer effects as well, super important for preventing the development of cancer. – 34:35
- But too much antioxidants all the time, no. No antioxidants ever, no. How would we know how much to take? What do you do to look at that? – 41:49
- Red and near-infrared light also have another mechanism of action that’s very important, which is retrograde signaling. – 48:53
- There’s advantages to building up that natural, innate sunscreen that we’re all born with the capacity to produce. Well, almost all, unless you’re extreme Fitzpatrick type 1, or you have albinism or something like that. – 56:24
