Erin O'Hara: Naturopath and wellness expert on the benefits of improving mitochondrial health

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of your cells, and they generate the ATP needed for survival. 

Declining mitochondrial performance is strongly associated with aging and age-related diseases.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara reveals how to improve your mitochondrial health, including diet and stress management tips.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
It is time to talk wellness now. I'm joined by
Aaron O'Hara. Good morning, Good morning. Okay, you are going
to take us through mitochondria today and we're going to
talk about these incredible cells which are kind of like
the powerhouse of cells, aren't.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
They absolutely in mitochondria if you don't know what they are,
They're in every cell within your body, and you can
think about them as like the little batteries that run
your energy production within your body, so they're really really important. Basically,
all the food that you eat, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats,
you use that by combining it with oxygen and this

(00:48):
process known as the crypt cycles within these little mitochondria,
which are those little cellular batteries combined, and that's what
makes energy. So basically, if you want energy to go
out and do things, you need to have a really
good mitochondria function. The thing with the byproduct of producing energy, though,
is you do release free radicals, and that's why as

(01:09):
we age, this process is not always as good as
when we're a little child. Basically as we age, it
does affect how the mitochondria function, and we do have
more problems with our health based on mitochondria health.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
So it can decline. Can things interfere with it as well?

Speaker 3 (01:25):
There, Yeah, you can get DNA mutations, which is actually
one big part that actually happens as we age, as
well as structural damage within these little cellular batteries. And
when that's not happening properly, what happens is then we
can get a cellular energy crisis and that can lead
to increase inflammation and that flows on to increase chronic

(01:48):
age related diseases. So that would be things like diabetes, Alzheimer's, dementia,
even just chronic fatigue, more fatigue.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
In a way, they're responsible for our general health almost absolutely, Okay,
And when you look at all chronic disease, actually one
massive component that affects whether you get chronic disease or
not is actually mitochondria health. And so as we age,
we're releasing more Freddie radicals, which is then affecting how
these cells are producing energy, which then has a flow

(02:19):
on effect of increased inflammation, which means theym again more
likely to get chronic diseases. Like arthritis, diabetes, dementia. Because
we have a lot of mitochondria in our brains, it
really affects neurog generation as we age because we have
these mitochondria that are basically controlling cellular energy in your

(02:40):
brain function. So how are we going to know if
we've got an issue? Because we talk It affects so
many things. How do you narrow it down to going
on there's a problem with your mitochondria, Well, that's where
it's looking at symptoms. So some symptoms you'd expect with
poor mitochondria function would be unexplained fatigue, so getting really

(03:00):
exhausted for no particular reason. And as we all notice,
you probably find your energy is not what it is
at twenty five as it is at sixty five.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
So it shows you that change in mitochondria health as
we age naturally happens. You can get severe muscle weakness
when your mitochondria not working properly, delays in memory, so
you have poor memory loss, also hearing loss, vision loss
as well as constipation. Diarrhea can relate into mitochondria function

(03:33):
as well. And there's lots of diseases that are actually
more severe. Mitochondria health or dysfunction diseases, but also secondary
to that is actually your other health conditions like your diabetes,
mes and even cancer actually has a huge component to
mitochondria dysfunction. Now, there is a lot that we can
do to improve mitochondria health. Do it so it's not

(03:56):
all doom and glue as we age. Actually all that
we do is actually going to really make a massive
difference in how healthy your mitochondria function is. And that
comes down to physical activity is like my number one,
get out, move your body. Anything that has a regular
aerobic so using oxygen activity as well as interval training

(04:19):
is amazing for mitochondria health. As well as what's trending
at the moment, the Zone two training, which is low
intensity cardio exercise that's sort of sixtetus seventy five percent
of your maximum heart rate, really really helpful for improving
metabolic flexibility and mitochondria function. Also looking at your nutrition,

(04:39):
so things that will help with improving and clearing out
the damaged mitochondria and improving cellular repair is things like
intermitted fasting, also calorie restrictions, so if you're over eating,
you're actually going to be making your mitochondria work harder.
As well as boosting in your antioxidants, so things like
oh your eat the color of the rainbow, So your

(05:01):
fruits and vegetables great for mitochondria function, as well as
getting in polyphene else that we get from our colorful
fruits and vegetables, as well as things like green tea
and pomegranate amazing for mitochondria function. Cold exposure, so doing
your cold ice baths actually stimulates the production of mitochondria

(05:22):
and enhances their efficiency. Sleep, which I think always gets underrated.
Sleep is amazing for mitochondria function as it helps you
remove the mitochondrial waste from the build up of the day,
as well as stress management, always keeping that under control
as when we're stress we're going to be putting more
strain on the mitochondria. And then you can look into

(05:42):
some supplements, so things like COQ ten is amazing, which
is also known as ubiquinol, which is the most probably
known as the spark blood for mitochondria function. B vitamins
so whether it's a B complex or your MNN which
is always so trendy at the moment, which is actually
just B three and then cartatenes are protein is helpful

(06:02):
for mitochondria function, and you can look into things like
alphae them not f essage or things like PQQ, which
are all things that are going to be amazing from
improving mitochondria health.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Brilliant.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Thank you so much, Aaron. We'll catchap next week.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio