Second Chapter Mitochondria Discussion

6/22/14 254lbs, 54 pounds lost since 8/30/11
No ride today

I have studied a number of books and websites through the years attempting to explain something I have experienced my whole life. I had not found a satisfactory explanation until I began to read the University of New Mexico documents and studies on Mitochondria, then expanded my research. For an explanation of what Mitochondria are and what their function is, see my blog posted 06/21/14 here.

Mitochondria in a lung cell photographed by electron microscopy. Picture public domain, farmed from Wikipedia

During my 40+ year "career" as a bicyclist, I've discovered that the good old "Calories Out - Calories In" theory of weight loss and maintenance does not work with me. According to this reasoning, if I eat 3500 calories, but burn only 3000, then there is a net weight gain. However, there are two situations that happen in my life that have been documented over and over and over. They are:

1. When I ride my bicycle aerobically at least 4 times a week and 30 minutes per ride (which is not that much) it is impossible for me to gain weight, no matter how many calories I eat. During these times I have not always lost weight (with a couple of notable exceptions), however I have never gained weight. The most recent occurence was between July 20, 2011 and January 21, 2012, a 6 month period where I did not diet but rode with a frequency of 4 to 5 times per week. I lost 33 pounds during this period alone. (You would not believe the amounts of food I was eating during this period - it was staggering. Ask my wife lol!). Other examples are experiences throughout the 1980s, and the early 1990s when I lived in Denver. This has been repeated over and over in my lifetime.
2. When I ride those same 4 times per week and my rides average 2 hours each, my weight always settles in at 215 regardless of my diet. No matter how little or much I eat, 215. If I start at 300 pounds, I end up at 215 (with no diet). If I weigh 195, I gain to 215. When riding extensively, my body loves 215 regardless of diet. 

If weight gain and loss is simply based on how many calories a person consumes vs. calories burned, neither of these episodes would have happened. But they do. Over and over. Why?

My first clue was in a book entitled Fit or Fat that I mentioned in yesterday's blog. In it, the author (Covert Bailey) explains that the reason diets don't work is because they do not address the real issue: That the body's chemistry is predisposed to store fat (rather than using it). The real key to fat control, he states, is to change the body's chemistry to normal and then it becomes a "fat burning machine". If we just diet, without addressing the underlying cause of our obesity, we will always gain the weight back because we have not addressed the real issue.

However, the book, although correct, does not go far enough into the science of the necessary chemistry change although it is very strong on the method (aerobic exercise) to bring it about. I finally discovered the role of Mitochondria by doing internet searches, and the evidence of the power of Mitochondria to control not only weight but other health issues is overwhelming. I first ran across the term "Mitochondria" referencing work done by Ken Kravitz, Ph.D., at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. One of his documents is available by clicking the link at the bottom of yesterday's blog. Once I had the term for the actual mechanical cellular "part" that was missing from the Fit or Fat chapter, then Google and I began to dig up a multitude of studies and data regarding Mitochondria.

I wrote a paragraph in yesterday's blog to explain how and why Mitochondria work to change muscle chemistry so that it causes the body to use ("burn") more fat rather than storing it. Here is a reprint:

"What does this mean to those of us that want to get a grip on our health and weight? Plenty. The amount of Mitochondria in a cell is utterly dependent on its need. In a muscle cell, there can be thousands; in a hair cell, a few. They proliferate based on energy need. Therefore, again a simplification, the more we exercise, and the higher the energy needs of the used muscles, the higher the number of Mitochondria in the muscle cell. And the bonus, the point of the discussion really, is that Mitochondria are never at rest. Once a huge number of Mitochondria are present in a cell because of increased exercise, they continue to turn fatty acids and glucose into ATP when the muscle is at rest. This translates to an elevated metabolism, or the ability to burn fat even when we are at rest."

The way my body responds to aerobic exercise (detailed in the bullet points above) has always baffled me until now. It is so refreshing to find an answer that makes sense.