Which organ in your body do you think uses the most energy?
Your heart? Your lungs?
Nope. It’s your brain.
Your brain accounts for only 2 percent of your body’s weight, but it uses 20 percent of your body’s total energy.
The energy that fuels the brain is produced by mitochondria, organelles located inside every cell in the body, commonly known as “the powerhouse of the cell.”
Unfortunately, quite a few things can mess with our mitochondria and keep them from producing the energy the brain needs, like environmental toxins, physical inactivity, poor nutrition and aging — all of which lead to oxidative stress.
When this happens, the result can be neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
These conditions have always been considered irreversible — they only get worse with time.
But for the first time, thanks to a groundbreaking study, there’s hope of reversing memory loss.
And it all comes back to that “powerhouse of the cell” — the mitochondria.
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Boosting mitochondria can restore memory
A group of Canadian researchers has found that mitochondrial dysfunction can cause the cognitive symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
This is a really big deal. Using a new tool, these researchers have shown that not only are dysfunctional mitochondria associated with these diseases — they’ve established a “causal link,” a term you rarely hear in research.
The tool is an artificial receptor that activates specific proteins within the mitochondria, which stimulates mitochondrial activity.
In the Canadian research, the activation of these proteins in the brain cells of mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases successfully increased their mitochondrial activity.
More importantly, it restored their memory performance. In other words, the study linked impaired mitochondria to dementia symptoms and showed that boosting mitochondrial activity can restore memory in animals.
“This work is the first to establish a cause-and-effect link between mitochondrial dysfunction and symptoms related to neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that impaired mitochondrial activity could be at the origin of the onset of neuronal degeneration,” explains Dr. Giovanni Marsicano, co-senior author of the study.
And according to Dr. Étienne Hébert Chatelain, another co-senior author of the study, “Ultimately, the tool we developed could help us identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for dementia and facilitate the development of effective therapeutic targets.”
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How to support your mitochondria
These findings confirm older research that links impaired mitochondrial activity with Alzheimer’s.
A 2017 study found that by stimulating the natural self-protective mechanisms of mitochondria, amyloid plaque (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s) was reduced and cognitive decline reversed in mice.
So, it’s pretty clear that we should support our mitochondria… but how do we do that?
CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10) is a vitamin-like compound produced by the body. PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone) is a natural enzyme similar to CoQ10 and found in tofu, green tea, and spinach. Both of these have been shown to support and even replenish mitochondria, which naturally decrease in production after age 40.
It isn’t easy to get a therapeutic dose of PQQ from food. The best thing is to supplement with at least 5 to 20 mg per day of PQQ, and/or 50 to 100 mg of CoQ10.
An anti-inflammatory diet rich in probiotics goes a long way toward protecting your mitochondria. Eating probiotic-rich foods like yogurt (or taking a supplement) as well as adding green leafy veggies, blueberries, salmon and avocado to your diet will help.
Aside from your diet, the usual candidates for promoting wellness will also help strengthen your mitochondria…
Avoid stress. Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation. Meditation, massage, aromatherapy, or a hot bath… find the relaxation technique that works for you.
Get enough sleep. Getting less than six hours of restful sleep a night has been linked to markers of chronic inflammation.
Exercise. No need to join a gym. A brisk walk every day will do the trick and help you slash your risk of inflammation.
Sources:
Scientists reversed memory loss by powering the brain’s tiny engines — Science Daily
Potentiation of mitochondrial function by mitoDREADD-Gs reverses pharmacological and neurodegenerative cognitive impairment in mice — Nature Neuroscience
Healthy mitochondria could stop Alzheimer’s — Science Daily
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