What is Energy and how do I get more?
Fatigued, are you? Join the millions who make lack of energy one of the most frequent causes of doctor visits. You say you lack energy but what exactly is human energy? Energy is the power needed for our complex bodies to perform activities required for the existence of human life.
Sounds important but exactly how do we get the energy we need and even more if we are seriously deficient? In humans all activities of the body acquire usable energy by a process involving the consumption of food. Food initially contains energy in chemical form, but that chemical form must be converted into usable energy in the cell. Let’s go through how your metabolism begins when you first chew your food; initiating a series of internal chemical reactions that transform food eaten into energy needed.
The three primary sources of chemical energy in food are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Carbohydrates provide the energy form needed to activate muscles, with proteins emphasizing the building and restoration of tissues. Fat is the backup source of energy when carbs are not sufficient while absorbing nutrients and maintaining the core body temperature, but avoid trans fats.
Proper and complete digestion is required to deliver needed nutrients, with digestion demanding enzymes and acid in proper amounts to prepare your digested food for delivery to the cells. If inadequate digestive enzymes are present, your body adds acid and can divert white immune cells needed for body defense against health risks to the job of digestion. Poor digestion yields low energy while contributing to a compromised body defense.
The body by the process of metabolism then converts and makes usable energy available to the human body, with metabolism defined as the sum of physical and chemical processes in which large molecules are broken down into smaller molecules.
The process called catabolism inside the cell transforms the chemical energy derived from food, in most instances with oxygen, to produce usable energy as adenosine triphosphate, or what is better known as ATP. ATP is the fuel essential to produce body energy from proteins, carbohydrates and fats. This gets more complicated so pay attention.
The body’s energy systems include (1) anaerobic glycolysis absent oxygen and (2) the aerobic system requiring oxygen. The anaerobic glycolysis energy system absent oxygen utilizes carbohydrates to produce ATP and pyruvate as end products. Carbohydrates eaten, including sugar and starch, readily break down into glucose. Glucose can be used immediately as fuel or can be sent to the liver and muscles and stored as glycogen. Storage of excess glycogen yields weight gain; primarily as bulges around the waist as adipose fat. Toxins can accumulate also in this excess bad fat causing health issues associated with obesity.
After going through the liver, glucose not stored enters the circulatory system, causing blood glucose levels to rise. To breakdown glucose, it must be absorbed through the cell membranes to begin the process of glycolysis without using oxygen. When glucose for some reason is not absorbed into the cells, the level of glucose creates the issues of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. Energy levels can drop rapidly due to the lack of needed glucose in the cells that is instead stuck and contained in the blood in the circulatory system.
Type 2 diabetes can cause numerous major health challenges from blindness to amputations to cardio issues to fatigue, with fatigue sometimes so overwhelming it is difficult to even raise your arms plus brain fog that makes clear thinking wishful thinking. Cut out sugar and excess carbs. Now! If you have Type 2 diabetes and then a second health challenge, the Type 2 diabetes becomes a comorbidity that impairs your immune response and makes you more susceptible to other pathogens, including COVID-19 and Influenza.
The aerobic Energy System requiring oxygen involves body’ cells called the mitochondria that produce the bulk of ATP and your body’s energy, with required oxygen provided by the cardiovascular and respiratory systems via blood flow to the tissues. CoEnzyme Q10 is a suggested beneficial supplement, plus magnesium and other cardio and respiratory nutritional supplements..
The mitochondria as our energy factories are essential because they are the only place in the cells where oxygen can be combined with the food molecules to produce energy so desperately needed. After the oxygen is added, the material in the mitochondria can be digested and the cell kept full of usable energy.
Illnesses and microorganisms such as yeast overgrowth, mold, viruses, bacteria, worms and parasites; in addition to cancer, chemo, prescription drugs, allergies and diabetes, can all steal your energy. To defend against and recover from health invasions, keep your immune defense normalized to enable an optimized immune system, especially after the age of 55.
Frankly speaking, for enhanced energy eat a nourishing diet with moderate exercise, get ample sleep plus daily water intake equal to ½ your body weight in ounces and when the above are lacking, use energy supplement packages especially heavy in B vitamins with emphasis on B 12. If you are taking Metformin, as millions are, for Type 2 diabetes, be sure to take extra vitamin B12 to help offset known potential side effects.
You are the key to more energy for your body in most instances, with your lifestyle choices in eating, exercising, sleeping, managing stress, and supplementing as needed. The choice for most is to make needed changes with discipline on an ongoing basis, recognizing today is the first day for the rest of your life!
