What your mitochondria actually do
On this episode Dr. Martin opened with a quiz for his live audience: what do we call the battery packs inside your cells? They got it. Mitochondria. Every cell you own has them, and they are the reason you have energy at all.
Your food is broken down in digestion, and your blood carries the nutrients and oxygen to every cell. Then the battery packs take over.
Dr. Martin on what happens next:
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906Now, when that happens, your mitochondria, your battery packs, they make fuel from your food and they produce a fuel called ATP.
Your heart, your muscles and your brain all run on ATP. When women over 60 tell him they are tired all the time, this is the level he wants to look at.
Why the food you eat decides your energy
This is the centre of the episode, and he says it more than once on purpose.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906Repeat, repeat, repeat your little mitochondria within yourselves, your battery packs within yourselves, operate and produce a much higher ATP, depending on the food that you eat.
His point is that your mitochondria are not fixed. They do not put out the same energy no matter what you eat. Feed them well and they make more fuel. Feed them badly and they make less. Nothing dramatic happens on any single day. It shows up slowly.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906Mitochondria only work properly based on the fuel.
So before you look for something to add, look at what you put in the tank three times a day.
The food he puts first
The study he was reading on this episode was about CoQ10, a nutrient your mitochondria need to make good energy. He says the battery packs only produce real energy in its presence. And then he goes straight to the plate.
His argument is that the food highest in CoQ10 is steak. Liver is a little higher, he says, but he does not like liver, so steak is his number one food on the plan.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906CoQ10 is in steak. You gotta eat steak to elevate your coQ10.
Chicken, he says, does not have it. Neither do plants.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906You can't do that from plants. I'm sorry. You can't eat fruit and say I'm elevating my coQ10. I'm not telling you never to eat fruit.
Notice the last line. He is not banning fruit or vegetables. He is saying do not look to them for your energy. Steak also brings B12 with it, which is the other reason he keeps it at the top of the list. If you have been told for years to cut red meat and you are wondering whether chicken is the better choice, he covers that in is chicken healthier than beef.
For the supplement side of CoQ10, including why it matters more after 60 and what statins do to it, see CoQ10 for women over 60. This article stays on the food.
What crappy carbs do to the battery
Here is the other half of the fuel story. Your mitochondria will process whatever you hand them. If you insist on eating bad food, he says, they will still deal with it. The cost is what gets left behind.
Most cars run on 87 octane, he says. A jet gets high octane jet fuel, and your cells are the jet. A piece of bread is the cheap stuff.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906It's crappy fuel. It's not gonna last. There's gonna be a lot of debris. It doesn't feed the mitochondria properly.
Then, he says, your ATP goes down, down, down. Put steak in instead and the cells in your brain, your eyes, your muscles and your heart get the better fuel. This is also why he says his Reset works. The biggest reason, in his words, is that you are changing the fuel.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906You're getting away from crappy carbs that really destroy your ATP.
"Give your brain cells fuel the 2000 battery packs within every brain cell that you own."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906Your brain and eyes run on this too
The part of the study that caught his attention most was the brain. He read that your brain cells carry the highest number of mitochondria in the body, around 2,000 battery packs in every single brain cell, according to the research he was quoting.
He ties this to what he has said for years about fat. Your brain is about 60 percent fat, and a very specific fat, the long chain fat called DHA. That is the reason he talks about DHA so often. He also says sugar makes brain cells shrink, and that a brain shrinks with age, which is why he does not want sugar to be the fuel a woman over 60 is running on.
A second study he read linked vision loss with dementia. His takeaway: the battery packs in your eyes want what your brain wants. Carrots are fine, he says, but the better food for your eyes is saturated fat and the CoQ10 in steak.
He is careful about where fat belongs, though. Brain, eyes and joints, yes.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 906Where you don't want fat is in your organs like your heart and your liver.
So his answer is not less fat across the board. It is the right fat, in the places that run on it.
What a mitochondria plate looks like after 60
Put the episode together and the plate is simple. It starts with steak or another red meat as the main event. It carries good fats rather than being built around bread, pasta, cereal or sweets. Vegetables and some fruit can sit beside it, but they are not where you are looking for your energy.
- Protein first. Steak is his number one food for your battery packs, with liver a little higher if you like it.
- Fat for the brain and eyes. He wants DHA and the saturated fat that comes with steak.
- Cut the cheap fuel. Bread, sugar and processed carbs are the 87 octane he wants out of the tank.
- Watch what drains it. He says statins knock your CoQ10 down, which hits the same battery packs.
If you are worn out and want the bigger picture on fatigue in your sixties, read tired all the time after 60, or start from everything Dr. Martin thinks.
Common questions
How can I boost my mitochondria naturally after 60?
Change the fuel. Dr. Martin says your mitochondria make more or less ATP depending on the food you eat. He puts steak and good fats first and wants bread, sugar and processed carbs cut down.
What is the best food for mitochondria?
On this episode, steak. He says it is the food richest in CoQ10, which your mitochondria rely on to make energy. He mentions liver is a little higher, but steak is his number one.
Is sugar bad for my mitochondria?
He calls it crappy fuel. Your mitochondria will still process it, he says, but it leaves a lot of debris, it does not last, and your ATP goes down.
Can I get CoQ10 from fruit and vegetables?
Not in his view. He says you cannot elevate your CoQ10 from plants or fruit. He is not telling anyone to stop eating them, only not to look to them for energy.
When the battery needs help
Dr. Martin says your mitochondria only make real energy in the presence of CoQ10, and statin drugs knock it down. Martin Clinic's Ubiquinol is a CoQ10 supplement for women who want that support alongside the right food.
60-day money-back guarantee. Formulated in clinic.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
