6 steps to regain energy and vitality (2022)

Wednesday, it is 5 p.m., nothing is going well. Your arms are heavy and your eyes are closing on their own. Sleep overtakes you. And yet you are neither with a hypnotist nor in front of the 500th episode of Inspector Derrick.

So where does this sudden lack of energy come from?

If you have eaten late and heavy, if you have not slept for some time, the causes can all be found. But if not, where is the problem?

Like the stones of the Fifth Element that are in Milla Jovovich, this lack of energy may be in you.

And yes because in your body there are mitochondria, organelles that produce energy. Without them, there is no energy. Your body will then function very badly.
But then... "How does it work?" (Michel Chevalet if you read us).

It is in a few minutes what we are going to see here because understanding the basic functioning of our body is essential if you want to live to your full potential.

A bit of science...with a conscience!

Mitochondria

2 billion per second: this is the number of mitochondria produced in your body. Why produce so many? Because each organ needs it in huge quantities to function properly.

Some parts of the body like the brain, the heart or the muscles need it more than others. If they work badly, more or less serious problems such as fatigue or memory problems may appear.

In the event of a prolonged condition, diabetes, Alzheimer's or autism can be triggered. Not nice nice all that.

Hence the fact of taking the greatest care of it, something that we will see in the next newsletters.

Mitochondria do not produce energy by magic. For that they use oxygen which will help them to transform our food into energy.

This energy is called ATP but has nothing to do with tennis (two points for those who follow).

ATP: how does it work?

At the heart of our biology, it is she who will allow you to move, breathe, laugh and cry… Quite simply, to live.

Our food contains a lot of energy. They will be broken down into ever smaller molecules until they can be used by our cells.

Some will be more useful than others for producing energy, especially those rich in sugar (but not just any, as you will see in the next newsletter). Indeed the body will use glucose to create

ATP is easy:

Glucose + Oxygen → Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy (as ATP)
Perrier was right with his famous slogan: "Water, air, life!" »

As you have understood, energy production is not magic. Yet it is essential for our survival. That's why we thought that as Siho's first newsletter it was essential to explain the main basic principles.

The 6 reasons why you lose your energy

In our so-called “modern” society it is so easy to exhaust our bodies. I sometimes have the impression that everything, or almost, is dedicated to this sabotage in order.

From chocolate bars present in vending machines to a sedentary life, passing through coffee or LEDs… Follow the guide to understand how to destroy your precious energy reserves.

1) Lack of sleep

Let's start with the most obvious: sleep. We agree that when you sleep little you are more tired the next day. Indeed there is now a clear link between lack of sleep and oxidative stress.

One or more bad nights affect: mitochondrial bioenergetic capacity which plays a key role in energy production as we saw last week, breathing plays a fundamental role.

2) Stress

If stress can be a real ally after an acute phase of stress, you probably feel drained of your energy. Normal because in addition to a disruption of your hormones or a modification of your autonomic nervous system, your mitochondria will also change by changing size.

3) Lack of physical activity

Clearly our society pushes us to move less and less. I learned yesterday from the midwife (I'm going to be a dad in October, but that's another subject) that the average Frenchman walks 400m a day, whereas it would take a minimum of 5km to keep us in shape.

And unfortunately it has a significant impact on our mitochondria: sedentary behavior has a negative impact on age-related skeletal muscle mass loss and mitochondrial function.

If you have trouble going out for a walk because you don't have the desire or the time... become friends with a pretty 4-legged, you won't have a choice;)

4) Heavy metals

Heavy metals, one of my favorite subjects. If you do not know the damage they can create, I invite you to read this article. Very common in our current environment, they can impact the structure and function of mitochondria.

If you don't know where to find them, don't panic, it's very simple. We find, for example, mercury in most fish (the bigger they are, the more there are), arsenic in pesticides or even traces of lead in… Smecta!

Heavy metals cause a serious problem because they prevent the body from properly eliminating damaged mitochondria.

5) Blue light

In the Black Mirror series, besides the fact of a downright creepy possible future, what marks is precisely the permanent use of these black screens, our smartphones, computer or television screens.

If we are not, not yet, in the dark scenarios of the directors, we are clearly all more or less riveted to our screens. And the light created by these screens influences… our energy.

Just like the LED bulbs that you were forced to install in your home to replace your tungsten bulbs.

These devices emit blue light. It causes DNA damage to our mitochondria and increases the production of free radicals in the retina. Which damages your eyes.

After 6 hours your eyes tire more than they should and this phenomenon increases over time. Worrying, right?

6) Poor diet

And when I say "bad" I don't necessarily mean fast food and popcorn. Basically, it's the classic Western regime, although between us and the United States, for example, there is a gap. Finally… an ocean.

Here are the foods you absolutely must eat if you want to be a little more tired every day:
Trans fatty acids, found for example in chocolate bars, pizzas, many industrial dishes or margarines. With these everyday foods mitochondria reproduce half as fast as with other types of fat.

Excess omega-6s and I did say excess. The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio should be 1:1 to 4:1. Problem: with us it is 18:1! We therefore eat too much meat for too little oily fish.

However, omega-3s improve the efficiency of our mitochondria and excess omega-6s damage them.
To end this list, the one you probably didn't expect: fructose.

Fructose is the sugar found in fruit, corn and some cereals.

Fruits are good for health but in excess or deprived of their fibers they can be excessively bad. Damaging for the intestinal flora (as such I invite you to read this wonderful article written by Nina Vinot, a size in the field of probiotics) they are also harmful for the liver and for the production of oxidative stress.

Forget what the word “fatigue” means?

Well… not if your baby wakes you up several times a night or you work 35 hours in a day ☺ Apart from that, the deep fatigue of the one you can't get rid of shouldn't be part of your existence.

There are indeed simple techniques to put in place on a daily basis to live a day, a week and then a life full of pep at all levels.

6 steps to regain energy and vitality

1) Light

Without the sun life would not exist. Its full-spectrum light (from infrared to ultraviolet) acts on a plethora of functions in the body, with specific functions for each of them.

We were taught that exposing ourselves to the sun was not good because it would cause skin cancer. Not wrong if the exposure is made at too high a dose. But properly exposing yourself to sunlight has plenty of benefits, such as improving the production of certain hormones and neurotransmitters, producing vitamin D, regulating the circadian rhythm and even helping the mitochondria.

What is good sun exposure? Depending on your skin type and where you live, the answer will not be the same. Very simply for a white-skinned person living in…Brittany (I could have taken Paris as an example but it's much less dreamy) 13 minutes at noon in July and August, naked as much as possible, is enough to recharge the batteries!

2) The circadian rhythm and sleep

Optimizing your circadian rhythm and your sleep are the two most important elements for improving your energy in the short, medium and long term.

The circadian rhythm is basically your body's sleep/wake cycle. Sufficiently long and quality sleep is essential to recharge the batteries and also for the damaged cells to be eliminated (=autophagy).

Here are some examples to put in place tonight:

• Go to bed on a regular schedule with a relaxing activity just before (reading a book is great. And you don't have to start with the Assomoir!)
• Avoid stressful activities a few hours before bedtime (a violent film, Cnews, sports)
• Sleep in a cool room
• Dinner 3 hours max before going to bed

3) Put stress away

Easier said than done you might say. However, avoid chronic stress at all costs, which affects ALL of your physiology (digestion, hormones, mitochondria, etc.).

Here are a few things you can do at your own pace:

• Meditate. We make a big mess of it when we've never done it (it's not for me / I won't be able to do it / I'm going to be bored) and then after a few practices, hop it's much simpler than it seems. For that, you don't need to do zazen (a very demanding discipline that I practiced in my old life): controlled breathing, praying or the practice of mindfulness will do the trick.
• Take a walk in nature
• Go out dancing, singing, laughing with friends

4) Detox: it's good

Here I am not talking about a detox cure but a life with less daily intoxication. For this I warmly invite you to:

• Change toothpaste
• Filter your water
• Don't wear perfume
• Use as little plastic as possible

Increase foods that help detox, including crucifers, berries, seaweed, avocados or beets.

5) Energy is on your plate

To properly absorb what you ingest, you must digest well, this is the basis of the basis, before taking vitamins and other products. And for that you need to have a gut in top shape.

Many people have a porous intestine, which means that food passes where it shouldn't. It will cause a whole series of more or less unpleasant symptoms that will prevent you from living fully. So priority number 1 is to have piping in working order.

If there were to be ONE priority, this would be it. As the late Tonton David sang: "she's my number one!"

I could talk to you for hours about intestinal health, but that's not the point. After years of personal research, what I have found best for repairing the intestine is bovine colostrum, a powder stuffed with immunoglobulins in particular, which acts in a few days.

Nutrient-dense foods

• Phytonutrients boost our mitochondrial function and reduce chronic inflammation. In no order of importance you can consume:
• Resveratrol-rich grapes
• EGCG-rich green tea
• Chocolate stuffed with epicatechins
• Tomatoes, carrots, watermelons, melons… rich in carotenoids
• Broccoli, Brussels sprouts or other sulforaphane-rich cabbage

By reading this food list you have understood: put some color on your plate!

Of course, you can add to this the excellent products of SIHO:

• Concentrated Organic Chaga
• CHAMPIMIX : organic medicinal mushroom extract
• colostrum
• Concentrated Organic Lion's Mane
• Organic prebiotic fibers - I've gut the Power
• Concentrated organic reishi

6) Drink, eliminate!

And not just anything. No soda of course, no coffee or fruit juice and not even too much tea, but quite simply what Captain Haddock couldn't stand: water!

Even mild dehydration can cause headaches, trouble concentrating, mood swings and fatigue.

Just that !

The question that we have all asked ourselves at one time or another is how many liters to drink. If most of us have 2l in mind, the reality is quite different:

• 2.7l per day for women
• 3.7l per day for men

Conclusion

We have reached the end of our journey to regain energy and vitality. You now have a lot of elements to start building a life rich in energy, energy that will allow you to fulfill yourself, live a more harmonious and full of pep life. But maybe you also have some advice?