Exercise as Medicine
Mitochondria are present in almost every cell in the human body. Creating more than 90% of our required energy, our mitochondria transform the food we eat and oxygen we breathe into essential energy, which keeps our hearts beating, lungs breathing, brains thinking, and bodies moving.
When mitochondria don’t function properly, they don’t produce the energy we need. Mitochondrial disease commonly affects energy-intensive systems such as the heart, liver, kidneys, brain, muscles, digestive tract, eyes and ears.
If you’re living with mitochondrial disease, daily exercise is essential to your health. From improving strength and energy levels to reducing fatigue, stress and anxiety, exercise offers many important benefits that can be gained with even small increases in physical activity. Those first steps are the most important and MitoCanada is here to encourage and help you energize your life.
If you have mitochondrial disease, safe and mindful exercises can be highly beneficial. Exercise can improve mitochondrial quantity and function, improve muscle strength, and help reduce fatigue.
The benefits of exercise extend to every part of the body and improve mitochondrial health. Exercise advantages for everyone include:
- increasing production of healthy mitochondria which means more energy!
- growing muscle strength and joint health
- boosting energy and stamina
- supporting brain health
- helping to maintain blood pressure control
- supporting the reduction of anxiety and depression
- helping to maintain a healthy weight
- increasing the body’s ability to use oxygen while exercising (VO2max)
- improving quality of life
