Reasons Why Your Mitochondria Are Getting Destroyed

Dr. Ashley Froese tells us 13 of the biggest mitochondria-killers:

When those “power plants” get shut down…

How well mitochondria are doing might seem like a trivial issue, since after all, they are so very small, and we humans have bigger things to worry about, right?

But, when it comes down to it, the energy they have is the energy we have. If you don’t recharge your phone battery, your phone dies. If you run your phone battery into the ground and do all the worst things for its longevity, it gives up the ghost entirely much sooner than it otherwise would have done. So it is with mitochondria too.

So, with that in mind, much like you might engage battery-preserving settings on your phone, here are 13 key factors when it comes to mitochondrial health:

1. Bad sleep: skipping deep sleep prevents mitochondrial detox, repair, and fusion, leaving your cells overloaded with oxidative waste
2. Chronic stress: constant cortisol output forces mitochondria into permanent max-output mode, creating excess oxidative by-products and blocking recovery
3. Sedentary lifestyle: lack of movement turns off the signalling that builds new mitochondria, shrinking your overall energy capacity
4. Overtraining: daily high-intensity exercise without sufficient rest drives chronic oxidative stress and prevents repair, overloading your system instead of allowing mitochondrial growth
5. Sugar spikes: rapid glucose surges overload mitochondria with unburnable fuel, driving inflammation and insulin resistance
6. Seed oils: unstable omega-6 fatty acids combine with high glucose to accelerate lipid peroxidation, damaging cellular and mitochondrial membranes
7. Low protein intake: insufficient amino acids (including especially glycine and cysteine) impair mitochondrial enzyme repair and energy transport, forcing the body to break down muscle
8. Micronutrient deficiencies: low levels of B vitamins, magnesium, and CoQ10 stall the electron transport chain and leak energy as heat instead of ATP
9. Statins: these reduce CoQ10 production, impairing ATP synthesis and contributing to fatigue and muscle weakness
10. Metformin: this mildly inhibits respiratory chain complex 1, slowing the mitochondrial “assembly line”; may stimulate biogenesis but remains controversial
11. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics: drugs like levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin interfere with mitochondrial DNA, sometimes causing prolonged fatigue
12. SSRI medications: SSRIs can bind mitochondrial complexes, jamming energy production and increasing oxidative stress, which may contribute to brain fog in some users
13. Environmental toxins: pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals inhibit cytochrome oxidase and deplete glutathione, leaving mitochondria vulnerable to oxidative damage

PS: yes, the video says 15 things, but we count 13!

For more on all of this, enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Want to learn more?

You might also like:

7 Ways To Boost Mitochondrial Health To Fight Disease

Take care!