Excel & Thrive

Let’s talk about our fire furnaces for a bit.

In your mitochondria there are two ways that ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) can be made: glucose oxidation or fat oxidation. We colloquially call this sugar “burning” or fat “burning” but that is really not what is happening. The fuel that is made through these two processes is called ATP, and THAT is what is ultimately “burned” by the cells for energy. The glucose and fat are oxidized and transformed into other compounds, and in the process, ATP is made.

But to simplify things, we will refer to these two processes as glucose burning and fat burning. Unlike what you may have been told, these two processes can go on at the same time in the mitochondria. However, fat burning is slower and because of its molecular pathway, it tends to gum up the glucose burning. Glucose burning is cleaner and more efficient.

Let me try to explain without getting too technical. [For all the nitty-gritty details, check out this article]. The making of ATP requires the movement of many electrons (the electron transport chain) and is dependent upon the ratio of NAD+ to NADH. More NAD+ (a molecule that can accept electrons) leads to more energy, which means more ATP. Too much NADH, and the pathway gets bogged down, leading to less energy and less ATP.

Primarily burning glucose keeps the NAD+ at a proper level, and energy levels soar. Primarily burning fat puts a damper on energy levels because NADH gets higher, signaling our metabolism to drop.

In addition, glucose burning creates 50% more CO2 (carbon dioxide) than fat burning. This is important because the higher the amount of CO2 in your cells, the more O2 (oxygen) your hemoglobin can drop off (it must trade for them). We all know how important O2 is in our cells, but did you know the exact reason?

Oxygen is the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain. That is why it is called mitochondrial respiration.

No oxygen, the ETC grinds to a halt and….no more ATP.

Anyway back to the topic at hand, you can see that the more CO2 you have in your cells, the more ATP you make, and the higher your energy capacity. Therefore it seems glucose truly is the preferred substrate of your mitochondria.

The ability to burn fat is there in the mitochondria because there are times (like a famine or during fasting), when fat burning needs to be utilized and prioritized. But unfortunately this also (appropriately) signals a down-regulation of energy production and an up-regulation in stress hormones. Your body thinks you need to conserve because you don’t have access to carbohydrates, and so it takes action.

This is not a state you want to remain in long term, and even purposely under eating (caloric-restriction) can put you in this state.

You want to be eating just enough fat to support the health and structure of your body, which is critically important. This amount varies for each individual but can be anywhere from 20-40% of your daily food intake.

And of course we are talking about animal-based fats (the fat already in your grass-fed meat, butter, cheese, raw cream, etc…) and other saturated fats (like coconut oil).

Do not make the mistake of thinking “vegetable oils” are healthy. Big Food only called them that to fool you. They are really seed oils, and they are one of America’s worst contributions to humanity.

Seed oils contain the dreaded PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) in damaged and toxic forms that are perhaps the WORST thing for your mitochondria and will affect your energy levels significantly.

PUFAs are the real evil in most processed “sugar-laden” foods, not the sugar.