Why do mitochondria decline with age?

The truth is we don’t fully understand why—yet. However, there are some well advanced theories. One of them relates to the mitochondria’s free radical defense system. Mitochondria are responsible for 90- 95% of the free radicals in our cells. Free radicals are by-products from the energy generation process. It’s a bit like how an engine burns fuel and generates polluting exhaust.

Because mitochondria are right at the core of this energy generation process they are exposed to 10 times more free radicals than the rest of the cell. For this reason, they are literally stacked with antioxidants to protect themselves.

As we get older the level of antioxidants inside our mitochondria declines. With less antioxidant protection, free radicals start to damage the mitochondrial membranes and—because the energy generation process happens in the membrane— this affects how much energy the mitochondria can produce.

To make things worse, as the mitochondria’s natural antioxidant system declines they start to leak free radicals into the cell, where they damage vital cell components and our DNA. Year by year, this slow process damages our mitochondria and results in less and less energy being available to our cells. When combined with increasing free radical leakage into the cell, the result has significant consequences for our health.

A WORD ON FREE RADICALS

For a long time, it was thought that free radicals were the enemy and it was recommended we take antioxidant supplements to counter them. We now know that free radicals are not all bad. In fact, a certain level of free radicals is good for us. We use them to send important messages within our cells and to neighboring cells. Our immune cells also use free radicals as part of their defense mechanism against infection. Free radicals become a problem when they get out of balance and we shift into a state called “Oxidative Stress”. Too much oxidative stress at the cellular level can lead to cell damage adverse health conditions.

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