Fifteen words carry nearly all of the writing on this subject. This is the reference page — come back to it whenever a later lesson uses a term you don't recognize.
The fifteen terms that appear throughout this school, defined in plain language — plus two that are routinely misused.
This is the last Level 1 lesson, and it is a reference rather than an argument. Everything above Level 1 assumes these fifteen words. Learn them and the rest of the school opens up.
Come back to this page whenever a term in a later lesson stops you.
The system, once more“Oxidative stress” is frequently used as though all oxidative activity were harmful. It isn't — reactive species are normal signals at ordinary levels, and blanket suppression is not obviously desirable. “Biogenesis” is often invoked to imply that more mitochondria is always better; capacity matched to demand is the more accurate goal. Both words appear constantly in marketing, usually with those nuances removed.
The sequence these terms describe — fuel in, carriers down a chain, a gradient stored, a turbine turning it into ATP — is settled biochemistry, resolved down to the structure of the individual proteins involved.
Reactive oxygen species act as normal signaling molecules at ordinary levels. Large trials of high-dose antioxidant supplementation have not delivered the benefits that treating all oxidative activity as harmful would predict, and in several cases showed the opposite.
Exercise triggers mitochondrial biogenesis in humans. This is the best-established entry on the list, and the reason biogenesis appears in the vocabulary at all.
Whether oxidative stress or metabolic flexibility can be usefully measured in one individual outside a research setting. The available markers are inconsistent and do not translate cleanly into a personal number.
That more mitochondria is automatically better, or that any commercially available test reports a person's oxidative-stress level.
Fifteen words carry nearly all of the mitochondrial literature — fuel in, carriers down a chain, a gradient stored, a turbine turning it into ATP, and the building and clearing that keep the machinery in good order.
Health makes more sense when more than one person is looking at it. Everything here is free to read.
Want the rest? The foundation bundles collect these lessons into one file, free.
A visual guide to how metabolism, mitochondria, hormones, sleep, muscle, the heart, the gut and the brain influence one another — the whole system on one page, with the strongest connections written out. Use it as your roadmap while you work through the lessons.
Free. The map is yours to keep. Plus occasional new lessons and evidence-based updates. No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
This lesson relates to these health systems — health works as a connected system, not isolated topics.
Prerequisite: Your Mitochondria Change With Age
Free to download right now — no email needed:
The Health Map — a visual guide to how metabolism, mitochondria, hormones, sleep, muscle, the heart, the gut and the brain influence one another. Every lesson on the site stays free to read either way.
Free. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
