Energy Health

How we feel during the day has a huge impact on our mental and physical health and it definitely will affect our energy levels. Eating the wrong foods, not sleeping enough, stress, anxiety, worry all contribute to what type of energy levels we produce during the day. 

But there are also other things that affect energy levels to. Medically there are some health conditions and diseases that change the body terrains systems and pathways. These are processes that interfere with the normal healthy metabolic functions that make us have energy and ATP levels.  

Found in every cell, ATP affects every physiological process requiring energy. ATP can communicate signals across cells once released into the extracellular space. ATP reduces fatigue, increases strength and power improves body composition. ATP supplementation improves cardiovascular health. The brain is highest consumer of ATP in the body, consuming approximately 25% of the total energy available.  

Another important organ for energy is the Thyroid. The thyroid hormones help the body use energy, stay warm and keep vital organs like the brain, heart, muscles, and others working properly and efficiently. Energy can also be affected by the Adrenal Glands that sit just above your kidneys. The adrenal glands produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential functions. Adrenal glands are composed of two parts. The cortex and them medulla, which are each responsible for responsible for producing different hormones. Symptoms of adrenal gland problems that will affect your energy levels are, upper body obesity, round face and neck, and thinning arms and legs; skin problems, such as acne, high blood pressure, muscle and bone weakness, moodiness, irritability or depression, high blood sugar.  

Low iron is also one of the reasons that an individual can have low energy levels.  

It serves as a carrier of oxygen to the tissues from the lungs by red blood cell hemoglobin, as a transport medium for electrons within cells, and as an integrated part of important enzyme systems in various tissues. You body need iron to produce hemoglobin, the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen to every part of your body. When iron levels are low, your cells do not get the oxygen they need, which can leave you feeling tired. Extreme fatigue and exhaustion are one of the most common signs of iron deficiency because it means that your body is having trouble carrying the oxygen to your cells, so it is affecting your energy levels. People lacking enough iron in their blood often feel sluggish, weak, and unable to focus.  

Extreme fatigue, weakness, pale skin, chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath, headache, dizziness or light-headedness, cold hands and feet, inflammation or soreness of your tongue and brittle nails are symptoms of low iron. Iron can be harmful if you get too much. Always check with your health care professional or arrange to take an iron blood rest to determine what level of iron you are at and may require. The RDA (Recommended dietary allowance) for adults 19-50 is 8mg for men and 19mg for women, 27mg for pregnancy and 9mg for lactation. Most vitamins have these dosages but anything above this, please check with your health care provider who can adjust these dosages.  

There are diseases that affect energy levels when your body is out of alignment. The body was created to perform and function well as long as we give it what it needs to work efficiently. Lacking nutrition and energy supplies causes the body to slow down looking for what I need. Mitochondrial diseases are long term, genetic, often inherited disorders that occur when mitochondria fail to product enough energy for the body to function properly. 

Mitochondrial diseases are Alzheimer’s disease, muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Diabetes, Cancer/ Mitochondrial diseases are caused by genetic mutations. Genes provide the instructions for making proteins, and the genes involved in the mitochondrial disease normally make proteins that work inside mitochondria. 

Energy balance is needed in the body. What is Energy Balance? Energy going into the body. Energy leaving the body, the body has positive energy balance. Energy going into the body. Energy leaving the body. The body has negative energy balance. Energy going into the body. Energy leaving the body, the body has equal energy balance.  

What happens if energy imbalance occurs? If the negative energy balance becomes severe, it affects the body’s metabolism, hormone metabolism, hormone production, mental health, cognitive facilities, and overall physical development and growth. The hypothalamus has substantial evidence that the brain, particularly the hypothalamus, is primarily responsible for the regulation of energy homeostasis. The brain monitors changes in the body energy state by sensing alterations in the plasma levels of key metabolic hormones and nutrients. 

The liver plays a central role in all metabolic processes in the body. In fat metabolism the liver breaks down fats and produce energy. They also produce about 800 to 1,000 ml of bile per day. Liver energy metabolism is tightly regulated by neuronal and hormonal signals. The sympathetic system stimulates, whereas the parasympathetic system supresses, hepatic gluconeogenesis. Insulin stimulates glycolysis and lipogenesis but supresses gluconeogenesis and glucagon counteract insulin action. The liver is involved in the metabolism of nutrients.  It receives digestive products in the form of glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerol.  

The metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein takes place in the liver, although specific functions are carried out by fat depots and skeletal muscle.  Fats or lipids are broken down in the liver for use as energy. They are then moved to fat tissue. More than 90% of body energy is stored in here and is the main source of fuel storage for the body. Fats are insoluble in blood and water and so the liver produces special, fat-carrying proteins called lipoproteins. The liver is the major site for converting excess carbohydrates and protein in fatty acids and triglyceride, which are then exported to stored in adipose tissue. The liver just does way too much. We need to take care of it. It is a major source of energy if we treat it right. 

The kidneys are other organ that participates in energy production. Their main job is to cleanse the blood of toxins and transfer the waste into urine. Maintaining overall fluid balance, regulating, and filtering minerals from blood, filtering waste materials from food, medications, and toxic substances, creating hormones that help produce red blood cells, promote bone health, and regulate blood pressure.  

Another organ responsible for energy is the Thyroid. Your thyroid has an important job to do within your body- releasing and controlling thyroid hormones and control metabolism. Metabolism is a process where the food you take into your body is transformed into energy. This energy is used throughout your entire body to keep many of your body’s system working correctly. Thyroid hormones play vital roles in regulating the body’s metabolic rate, heart and digestive functions, and muscle control, brain development and maintenance of bones. The main hormone of the thyroid gland is thyroxine. Thyroxine is a hormone the thyroid gland secretes into the blood stream. Once in the bloodstream, thyroxine travels to the organs, like the liver and kidneys, where it is converted to its active form of triiodothyronine.  

Low levels of thyroid-producing hormones, such as triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), can change the way the body processes fat. This can high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries), which can potentially lead to serious heart-related problems, such as angina and a heart attack. Hypothyroidism is a common condition where the thyroid does not create and release enough thyroid hormone into your bloodstream. This makes your metabolism slow down.  

Also called underactive thyroid, hypothyroidism can make you feel tired, gain weight and be unable to tolerate cold temperatures. Signs that your thyroid are unactive are tiredness, being sensitive to cold, weight gain, constipation, depression, slow movements and thoughts, muscle aches and weaknesses, muscle cramps and hormonal and bone disturbances. If you think that you may be experiencing these types of symptoms, a quick visit to your health care provider can take some routine tests to determine what your thyroid level is at and recommend what your next course of action is. The amount of calcium and other hormones distribution is determined through the Thyroid. 

So, as you can see there are many different avenues the body uses to provide someone with energy. We are all from different races, cultures, genetic and so the outcome will have different results. But the information is the same. If you are suffering from any form of poor energy, Nutritional Courtyard offers one-on-one Nutritional Counselling that can help you to uncover what is causing the low energy levels in your physical body. All counseling services are private and confidential. You can choose from a wide variety of great supplements that can support your health needs.