Brain fog, fatigue, constant exhaustion. Sound familiar? Yeah, you, me and seemingly everyone in the modern world. What gives? Dr. Casey Means suggests it’s a power problem: the cellular machinery set up to power our function isn’t working properly, and frankly, it’s our fault (not our mitochondria). In an interview leading up to the release of her new book, Good Energy, we asked Dr. This about why metabolic dysfunction has become so rampant and the changes she recommends taking to get our cells functioning properly again.
Fidget: Metabolic health is a relatively new concept in the wellness world. What would you say to someone who has never heard of metabolic health about why it is important and why it has become your primary focus?
Dr. Casey means: Metabolic health is the foundation of all health. This is because each of our 40 trillion cells needs energy to do its job, and this energy comes from metabolic processes. This comes from the way we convert food energy into cellular energy: this is metabolism. Today, in 93.2% of American bodies, metabolic dysfunction is present. This percentage should be close to 0%!
This means that among the vast majority of American adults, there is a problem with the way our bodies fundamentally fuel themselves.
It is a direct result of modern industrial diet and lifestyle, which synergistically harms the metabolic machinery of our cells. Most affected are the mitochondria, which you may remember from high school biology as the “powerhouses of the cell.” Many synthetic environmental toxins harm our mitochondria. Lack of sleep harms our mitochondria. Refined sugars and grains harm our mitochondria. Too much sitting hurts our mitochondria. Even chronic fear dampens the ability of mitochondria to do their best.
When our metabolic machinery is not functioning properly, we are like underpowered machines, rushing to get the daily work of our lives done. When our cells are busy performing the billions of chemical reactions they must perform each day, it creates a body in trouble…which manifests itself in symptoms and disease. It is therefore not surprising that 9 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States are currently fundamentally linked to metabolic dysfunction. Our diet and lifestyle are killing us, and they’re killing us because they harm our metabolism.
It is my mission in life to evangelize. And I believe that until the healthcare system moves toward metabolic optimization, we will continue to get sicker and sicker, and no amount of drugs, surgery, or increases in healthcare budgets can fix that – unless we focus on the RIGHT issue.
As individuals, to revolutionize our energy, minimize our symptoms, have a sharp body and brain, and live a long and healthy life, it is fundamental to focus on metabolic and mitochondrial health. We need to eat properly before we can do anything else.
WL: Who or what was the greatest influence in directing your health and medical studies toward cellular health?
CM: The biggest influences for me have been the forward-thinking and fearless medical leaders who brought together the elements of functional medicine, the concept of “food as medicine,” and metabolic health. I am indebted to the friendship and collaboration with Drs. Mark Hyman, Robert Lustig, David Perlmutter, Sara Gottfried, Dom D’Agostino, Terry Wahls, Ben Bikman, Molly Maloof – their writings and content changed my life. Follow them all, read their books and watch your life improve!
There are many others, like Drs Jeffrey Bland, William Li, Howard Luks, Chris Palmer, Steve Gundry and many others…
I also admire many content creators and thinkers who have moved the healthcare field forward, like Jeff Krasno, Shawn Stevenson, Kayla Barnes, Mona Sharma, Ben Greenfield, Dave Asprey, Louisa Nicola, and more.
I am also deeply inspired by the regenerative farming community and its leaders, like Molly Chester of Apricot Lane Farms, Will Harris of White Oak Pastures, and Jesse and Ana Smith of White Buffalo Land Trust.
WL: People don’t often turn to their doctors for recipes. Have you always had a knack for cooking/a talent in the kitchen? Do your kitchen explorations act as a counterpoint to your medical activities, or do you find the two elements complementary?
CM: I have been inspired by the power of food since a young age. As an undergraduate at Stanford, I studied nutrigenomics, which gave me an understanding of how food compounds can actually change our gene expression and that our genes are not our destiny. In fact, it is the interaction between the environment, what we put in our body, the way we live, in conversation with our genetic code that determines our destiny.
When I was a young child I was very overweight, and at 14 I started learning everything about nutrition, reading tons of books at the library, studying science, and starting cooking my own food and eliminate processed foods. The weight came off effortlessly, and it ingrained in me the power of true rood.
One thing we don’t often think about is that the body is made entirely of food. Every atom in our body is made up of food. Essentially, pregnancy is the process of 3D printing a human being from the food in the mother’s body! It’s incredible! And it’s not just the building blocks of the body, it’s also the instructions and information that goes into the body to tell it what to do.
As such, I have always been deeply impressed by the fact that eating and cooking is fundamentally the transmutation and transformation of environmental energy into human energy… of environmental matter into human matter… of environmental potential into human potential… It’s all one. , everything is linked, and the quality of food becomes the quality of our life.
Eating, eating, cooking, gardening… it’s inextricably linked to the human body and human health, and I think our healthcare system would be much more functional if doctors saw things that way.
There is no denying that we are what we eat, and that what we eat in the United States these days is ultra-processed, industrially manufactured, lifeless, devoid of nutrients, and covered and filled with toxins. It is so obvious why we are sick and what we need to do about it. It starts with food.
WL: What is the one thing a person can do today to improve their metabolic health?
CM: Buy food at a farmers market! Eating unprocessed foods grown in healthy, thriving soil is the best thing you can do for your health.
WL: What is your favorite wellness modality: from yoga to cold plunges, red light therapy to acupuncture… is there one you would never want to leave behind on your journey?
CM: Too many to count! One of my favorite things to do in any cold environment is to find a body of freezing water and jump in to get my free cold therapy. It could be an alpine lake in Wyoming while hiking, a glacial lake in Montana during an off-site venture, an icy river in the dead of winter while visiting friends in Bend, Oregon… I can’t help but jump into cold bodies. water! I also don’t go anywhere without earplugs, eye mask, turmeric, magnesium, l-theanine, lavender essential oil and valerian root. You never know what sleeping conditions will be like when traveling, and having my own little sleeping set is amazing!
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Casey Means, MD is a physician, chief medical officer and co-founder of metabolic health company Levels, Stanford lecturer in food, design and technology, associate editor of the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, and author from Good Energy: The surprising link between metabolism and unlimited health.
Its mission is to maximize human potential and reverse the epidemic of preventable chronic diseases by equipping individuals with technology tools that can inform smart, personalized and sustainable food and lifestyle choices. Dr. Means’ perspective has recently been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Men’s Health, Forbes, Business Insider, Techcrunch, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Hill, Metabolism, Endocrine Today, and more.
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