The Mighty Mitochondria

Why so mighty, you may well ask! Because it’s the powerhouse of every cell in our body. This means it’s the energy that fuels us. Just like a tiny fuel generator in every cell. That turns the food we eat into energy using ATP synthesis

It is also the place where our sex hormones are produced, and to do this they need cholesterol. This can be why low cholesterol diets and be problematic for our hormones. In simplistic turns the cholesterol in our mitochondria becomes pregnenolone, which goes on to become estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol to name a few. These hormones have such important functions in the body to keep it running smoothly.

In many of my women’s health cases the mitochondria is a great place to start, as you can see, it’s at the start of the process of all things hormonal. So if something is wrong here it can cause a hormonal imbalance further down the line.

When we have too many free radicals in our bodies they cause oxidative stress, and if we don’t have enough antioxidants to clean up the free radicals this causes damage to the mitochondria and this can lead to disease in the long term.

This can be caused by pollution, smoking, excess alcohol, toxins, bacterial, fungal or viral infections and high blood sugar levels. So here at Points we look at the individuals health and lifestyle to see if any changes need to be made. This is why it is so important to make sure enough antioxidants are in our diet to mop up the free radicals. Some good sources of antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E and flavonoids, found in berries, green tea, coffee and dark chocolate.

So yes I think the mitochondria is pretty mighty! and it has a big part in hormonal heath too.

If you have any questions on how health coaching could help with your mitochondrial and hormonal health please just drop send us an email or drop us a line.

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