Uncoupling Your Mitochondria for Longevity, Rejuvenation, and Weight Loss
2023 #1 The Rowen Report
Dear Subscriber,
I am so happy to let you know that I am back home and safe. I will be writing extensively in the coming weeks on deep subjects on the premium page, as I adjust back to equilibrium, with shorter pieces here on the free subscription page. Thank you so much for hanging in during my absence.
The following piece was written on 1-9-32. I had sent it to Terri for posting but she had difficulty getting it posted and I’ve been able to fix the glitch. So, here goes:
Today, 1-9-23, I learned that international news covered a major shift in the thought of organized medicine about the obesity epidemic in our children. Some 15 millions of them in the USA alone are classified as obese. I agree that this is a national catastrophe. Obesity is directly related to diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, and a host of chronic diseases that make life in a physical body rather unpleasant.
But this is where organized medicine and I diverge. The former is pushing for aggressive management - including drugs AND surgery. I am absolutely opposed to this new crazed paradigm. Drugs and surgery for a problem of consuming too many calories, the wrong type of calories, and lack of exercise (in the TV and digital generation???).
Now, take a look at the marketing and advertising war with our children as the collateral damage. While ads for drugs are at the top of the heap for targeting adults, ads for trash and fast junk food are a good second. There are no ads for organic broccoli, carrots, celery, etc., as there are not patentable products for huge profit or any profit, for that matter. The airwaves and transmission lines are choked with the “joys” of eating garbage and fast, processed death.
Interestingly, society saw fit to ban cigarette ads after it became clear the health consequences of smoking. But we know the disaster of toxic “food” consumption. We know the physical and mental health benefits of exercise. Adults are now pelted with this information. But what about kids?
I raised children. But I did not stock my pantry with trash of any kind. My kids had no choice but to eat healthy when with me. I told them that I could not control what they do outside the house, but I repeatedly educated them on the consequences of their choices.
Today I shudder when I’m at Costco or the grocery store, where I see lines of customers with carts full of chips, sugary drinks, canned and packaged “foods,” etc. And children are clinging to the carts asking Mom/Dad for these.
Due to the SAD (standard American diet), the childhood obesity epidemic is to be expected. In my humble opinion, we are seeing lunacy in the shift of mainstream medicine’s pundits to espousing drugs and surgery for childhood obesity, rather than addressing the cause. Of course, in today's world of Pharma control, this is the path of least resistance. I agree that losing weight can be problematic.
First, eliminate ALL refined so-called “foods.” Among the worst of these are refined wheat products such as bread, pastries, pasta, flour-based products, and sugary and artificially sweetened “drinks,” and even fruit juice (sudden high glycemic load). All “fried foods” should also be excluded. On our websitehttps://drrowendrsu.com/our-blog/diet-recommendations/ “We recommend not eating food that was cooked with oil, not even olive oil, since liquid oils are sensitive to heat and light. You can add organic extra virgin olive oil onto your food after it is cooked. Or use organic butter/ghee/coconut oil/palm oil to cook with since saturated fats are relatively stable to heat and light. Skip margarine or hydrogenated fats. Don’t eat farmed fish/seafood. Wild-caught seafood or organic pasture raised-finished/grass-fed meat/poultry/eggs are cleaner than farmed seafood or only cage-free poultry. Best to keep animal protein at 3x/week or less. Eat mostly raw vegetables/low glycemic fruits as tolerated.”
Another problem is eating a lot of foods rich in “lectins.” A high lectin intake seriously contributes to chronic disease, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, blood sugar regulation problems, autoimmune diseases, and fatigue.
Lectins are naturally occurring proteins that are found in most plants. Foods that contain higher amounts of lectins include beans, lentils, soybeans, peas, stringbeans, peanuts, cashews, niteshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell and hot peppers), all grains (grain damage, lol) except millet and sorghum. Plant-derived dietary lectins have been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease. Steven Gundry, M.D., author of The Plant Paradox, teaches that the main cause of these problems is that lectins damage the intestinal lining, causing excessive permeability of these mucous membranes, resulting in so-called “leaky gut,” and possibly even inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), and possibly irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This allows gut contents to “leak” into the bloodstream and then settle into different parts of the body, causing inflammation that gets “labeled” as arthritis, headaches, asthma, allergies, etc.
Dr. Gundry has written books linking key triggers of obesity, inflammation and degeneration. In his book “Unlocking the Keto Code,” he puts together and explains decades of different theories and observations regarding diet, longevity, rejuvenation and obesity.
A big roadblock to weight loss is the development of insulin resistance, which is actually on the diabetes spectrum. Your body produces high insulin to shove the excess carb calories out of your blood and into fat storage. But it creates a vicious cycle in that the excess insulin prevents the body’s fat deposits from breaking down into free fatty acids and ketones to be released into your bloodstream. This puts up a wall in getting your energy furnaces, your mitochondria, to properly cycle between burning fat vs sugar. Worse, once in this high insulin state, your mitochondria are “locked” into “efficient” energy production. This means that they are converting all the calories into ATP, the energy molecule that powers your cells, but this further assists in converting glucose into fat for storage.
This is akin to keeping your automatic transmission engaged in drive 100% of the time, even while parked or stuck in snow. This is not good for your drivetrain. Stuck in snow, your transmission will only drive you deeper if simply engaged in one direction. It needs to “rock” back and forth to get you moving.
Research is now showing that calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, and an old, but toxic, weight loss potion (dinitrophenol) all have one thing in common. They all encourage the “uncoupling” of your mitochondrial “drivetrain” so that rather than remain “engaged,” the mitochondria burn calories without making mechanical energy (ATP) and simply waste the calories in the mitochondrial furnaces generating excess heat you just throw off. This is much like disengaging your car’s transmission so that you can “rock” in the snow or park, leaving the engine on to generate heat.
This is a normal process your mitochondria have evolved to do naturally based on the natural daily and seasonal variations of caloric excess and scarcity.
Most importantly, for longevity and rejuvenation, not only do your mitochondria continue to actually burn fat stores during the “disengagement” or uncoupling, but they use this period of “rest” to repair themselves and multiply, thereby enabling you to reap the known benefits of calorie restriction: longer life span, and better health, without the pain of calorie counting or prolonged no-eating periods. This is “exercise” for your all-important mitochondria.
I will write about other ways to uncouple your mitochondria and have a more in-depth series of reports on these and other measures on my return in March, especially for the premium subscribers, whom, I trust, will be rewarded for their past support and patience in waiting for my return. However, I believe that you can make a huge difference in your own or child’s weight problem with the aforementioned steps which can gradually be implemented. Bonus - NO CALORIE COUNTING. No calculating percentages of protein fats and carbs. Just gradually narrow the eating hours to 6-8 hours daily. The smaller this “window” of eating, the more benefit. I was blessed by one sending me a book entitled the “Circadian Code” (by Satchin Panda, PhD) which extensively details how our bodies will benefit by restricting eating to these limited hours. It is a good read.
Dave Asprey has a great podcast on uncoupling mitochondria for longevity, rejuvenation and weight loss: https://overcast.fm/+1QzPIQfPs
Folks, please do NOT rely on drugs or surgery for weight control. There are serious consequences to both. I repeat my mantras of 40 years: “If God did not make it, do not eat it.” “Eat what grows around you ripe, raw, organic, and when is season, whenever you possibly can.” Just say no to fast, fried, refined and processed tickets to disease. No trash food, no grazing or fried foods, and of course, a diet low in lectins (See The Plant Paradox by Gundry) to further protect the gut lining of you and your children. And – get outdoors in the sun and exercise. Even if it’s nothing more than long walks, hopefully on wet grass or wet sand at the beach to “ground” you and do “earthing.”
To Your Excellent Health,
Robert Jay Rowen, MD (with additions from Dan Kenner, PhD, LAc., and Terri Su, MD)
Additional source: Gong T, et al. 2017; Plant Lectins Activate the NLRP3 Inflammasome To Promote Inflammatory Disorders, Journal of Immunology 198(5): 2082–2092. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1600145
Welcome home. Hope Oregon wasn't too horrible. Regarding diet. We've been Paleo for 10+ years now. It's a complete lifestyle change for the better. I have not gotten sick with the China flu and believe it's due to my clean diet. We really watch natural sugars as well and keep them limited. I was also getting D3 injections last year to build my D3 levels to optimal. I also own an ozone generator and have taught myself how to do BOOO (breathing ozone through olive oil.) I used it daily when my husband became ill with c...19. And had him do it. He was ill for about a week. He threw everything at it. Why he got ill we'll never know. He works at home. But about a week before he was working long hours, stressed and was in several stores. We have both been sick with the flu before in our lives and had some really bad cases. His c..19 illness wasn't the worst. But he said it wasn't fun either. Neither one of us will do the "vaccines" and we just proved it wasn't necessary. "DIET" is the foundation of health.
Congratulations on your return!