Good Energy

Dr. Casey Means just wrote a brilliant book, “Good Energy: The Surprising Connection between Metabolism and Limitless Health,” focusing on increasing our cellular energy to reduce metabolic dysfunction which leads to all diseases.

She is an Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor who stopped practicing surgery after seeing how sick her patients were by just treating the downstream ENT manifestations of their diseases instead of the root issues.

She is now focused on fixing our epidemic of busted metabolism with over 93% of Americans having at least 1 sign of metabolic dysfunction.

Creating health is giving the body what it needs and removing what it doesn’t to prevent chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, cancer, diabetes, and autism.

Dr. Means states that metabolic dysfunction occurs when any of our 40 trillion cells are underpowered.

When the powerhouses of our cells are not able to convert energy that we receive from our food, water, oxygen, and sun into cellular energy, we become sick.

Think about when a baby’s crying- they will not be able to express to you if they’re hungry, tired, need diaper changes, feel gassy, or have pain. You’ll go through all of the motions to figure out what’s causing their crying.

The same goes for our cells when they are not making enough energy. They will start screaming out for help by displaying general symptoms including fatigue, pain, and behaviors in our kids, and will be more specific when the cells of organs like the brain, heart, gut, kidneys, or eyes are affected.

Dr. Means talks about 7 main lifestyle causes that are going to underpower our cells which include eating ultra-processed food, lack of physical activity, stress, insufficient sleep, toxins, lack of natural light (sun) exposure with excessive artificial light (technology), and lack of exposure to changes in temperature.

Any of these factors will block our body’s ability to produce the cellular energy that it needs to create optimal health.

So, what can we do to increase cellular energy to prevent metabolic diseases for our?

·        Eat an organic whole-foods diet no matter what diet you choose- keto, Mediterranean, paleo, vegan, carnivore

·        Move at least 2 and ½ hours per week and do 2 days of resistance training per week- don’t need to worry about specifics

·        Reduce stress with whatever approach works for you- massage, therapy, meditation, yoga, reading

·        Get at least 7 and ½ hours of sleep

·        Avoid toxins including BPA in plastics, phthalates in personal care products, PFAS in personal care products and clothing, glyphosate in food

·        Get out in the sun at least 20 minutes a day to power your cells and regulate your body’s timeclock and reduce exposure to blue light throughout the day.

·        Get outside to expose yourself to temperature changes to improve cellular energy

Providing our cells with what they need and removing what they don’t need will allow them to make good energy to create health for our families!