Due to chronic nutrient deficiencies, at some point my body’s standard metabolic pathways and enzymes were hindered from functioning properly, and my mitochondria had a tougher time generating energy, with all the subsequent health effects and years of ME/CFS symptoms. From deterioration, total breakdown, and back to turning my health around, my case was a good example of biochemistry in practice. Some important terms related to ME/CFS that are happily discussed more and more these days are:
● Metabolism: the chemical processes occurring within a living organism in order to maintain life
● Metabolic pathway: a series of interconnected chemical reactions that occur within a cell
● Metabolomics: the scientific study of metabolites present within an organism, cell, or tissue
● Mitochondria: Essential organelles in cells which are, simply put, the energy power plants of our cells. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the energy storage that they produce.
Our body is bombarded from all sides by the exposure to many toxins, unhealthy water, and the daily intake of excessive sugar, processed carbs, herbicides, pesticides, preservatives, chemicals, industrialized oils, antibiotics, and often highly processed and nutrient poor food. Add to this any issues with breaking down food into the nutrients we need and absorbing them properly, for example, through EPI or microbiome dysbiosis, and it is a recipe for metabolic and mitochondrial dysfunction. The body works hard to stay in homeostasis, filtering toxins and utilizing our amazing anti-oxidant system, and it can take a while to get to a diseased state. However, over time and with continued hits to the body, this damage spiral increases and vicious cycles ensue. Further nutritional deficiencies, microbiome imbalances, oxidative stress, mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunctions, and a subsequent myriad of illness symptoms can result.