How to Optimize Your Mitochondria

Your Mitome analysis will soon reveal your mitochondria's unique pattern and specific needs based on the precise pattern it is using to produce energy.

While this revolutionary data is being processed, now is the time to prepare the terrain. These foundational strategies aren’t fluff, they’re the science-backed pillars that enhance mitochondrial function and resilience.

By implementing them today, you’re actively reversing the 1% annual mitochondrial decline that begins after age 18 and laying the groundwork for your custom protocol to work at its highest potential.

Think of this as laying the groundwork for transformative results in your energy production, metabolic efficiency, and biological aging when your custom protocol arrives.

Your mitochondria are microscopic engines, powering every cell, every function, every outcome in your body. But even the best engine fails without the right parts. Micronutrients are those parts. Vitamins and minerals don’t just support mitochondrial function - they run it.
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They serve as cofactors for the enzymes in your respiratory chain, dictate how efficiently you produce ATP, and govern everything from fat oxidation to DNA repair. That’s why locking in your micronutrients now is non-negotiable. You’re laying the metabolic groundwork your protocol will build on.

Here’s your daily mitochondrial nutrient checklist from foods:

‍🟤 Liver (1–2 oz) – For vitamin A, copper, B vitamins, and more

🦪 Oysters (1–2) – Zinc, selenium, and trace minerals

✨ Unfortified Nutritional Yeast (1–2 tbsp) – Most B vitamins except B2 and B12

🍓 Vitamin C-rich foods – Bell peppers, citrus, strawberries

🥛 Calcium sources – Dairy, bones (but not bone broth), or leafy greens like kale, napa cabbage, and bok choy

🥔 Potassium-dense foods – Lean meat, milk, legumes, tubers, fruits, vegetables

🥬 Digestive allies – A small amount of fermented foods, ginger, or bitters at each meal for enhanced nutrient absorption

Without micronutrients, your mitochondria can’t function. Without functioning mitochondria, your health can’t progress.

If you don’t follow these rules of thumb, track your diet in Cronometer (see ​How to Track Your Diet in Cronometer​) to make sure you are hitting all the micronutrient targets.

If you cannot meet your micronutrient targets with foods, use a high-quality multivitamin such as ​Adapt Naturals​ and ​Seeking Health Optimal Multivitamin Chewable​.

Make sure to get a half hour of outdoor sunlight each morning (even if it is raining, get outside under shelter), enough sun each day to feel warmed by it at least once, and some unprotected sun on your skin in the afternoon. You should never get burned and you never need to experience any color change to obtain maximal benefit from the sun.

Each week, your exercise should include at least one all-out 30-second sprint (not necessarily running, it could be on a bike or rower but should be an attempt to hit your maximal heart rate) and preferably a series of four to eight of these sprints with short rests between them in interval format, one cardio session where you hit a pace you could only sustain for ten to twenty minutes carried out for that duration, one cardio session where you hit a pace you could only sustain for an hour carried out for that duration, and six to nine sets of resistance exercise for each of the following domains: upper body vertical pull (e.g. pullup), upper body vertical push (e.g. overhead press), upper body horizontal pull (e.g. row), upper body horizontal push (e.g. pushup), lower body pull (e.g. deadlift), lower body push (e.g. squat), horizontal rotation (self-explanatory), and diagonal rotation (e.g. regular and reverse chop and lifts). Get as much light movement in as possible, aiming for at least one if not several hours per day.

Make time for psychologically winding down before bed and getting eight hours of sleep every night.Spend some time in nature at least once a week, even if it’s just a walk on the beach or through the woods.

Maintain healthy practices for coping with psychological and emotional stress, maintain a strong sense of purpose, and maintain healthy relationships with friends and family.

Make an effort to minimize the use of plastic in cooking, water supply, and food storage; to minimize the use of toxic sanitizers and cleaners; to maintain a mold-free living environment; to use natural fabrics for clothing rather than synthetics; and to be a minimalist toward pharmaceuticals, using them only when necessary.

Be deliberate and mindful about your use of wifi and cell phones. Turn your wifi off when you sleep, use wired connections instead of wireless whenever it is practical, and put maximal distances between your electronic devices and your body whenever you can, especially between your cell phone and your head, and your reproductive organs.
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When we send you your analysis, you'll be given diet and supplement strategies specifically tailored to you, and you will want to be able to track your progress with them. The proof is in the pudding. Always test our recommendations against your own experience.

Here's what we recommend for tracking:

Develop a quantitative health score for the things you care most about related to your well being, and record it on a daily basis to track how it changes while implementing the protocol.

Measure glucose, ketones, and lactate at least three times before and after each step of the protocol so that if anything becomes too much for your body you have an objective and leading indicator. Measure them at least upon waking. You may add another metric such as after lunch or before bed if you have repeated cyclical health problems that occur at specific times during the day, or if you collect exploratory data and notice one or more of the values is usually highly abnormal at a certain time of the day.

Recommended products for doing this: ​​

KetoMojo meter and strips​​, Novabiomedical Lactate Plus​ ​meter​​, Novabiomedical Lactate Plus​ ​strips​​, ​​alcohol pads​​; If you plan to do a LOT of testing,​ ​extra KetoMojo strips​​, extra​ ​lactate strips​​, and​ ​extra 30g lancets​.

When testing, wash finger with soap, rinse, wipe with alcohol pad, puncture, lightly massage finger if needed but do not squeeze, wipe away first 2-3 drops of blood, then test.

Waking glucose should be under 90 and close to 80; waking lactate should be 0.5-0.9; postprandial glucose should be under 140 at any time point and ideally close to 100 after one hour; postprandial lactate should be under 1.5 and ideally 0.9-1.2.

Our recommended format for tracking: Keep a spreadsheet where each row represents a day. Have a column each for your glucose, ketones, and lactate, and for each quantitative health score you track, and include a final column for any notes that may be important. When you make major changes in your protocol, insert a highlighted header row. The highlighted header rows will allow you to more easily spot how changes in your protocol led to changes in your results.

Review the previous modules for full tutorials and deeper insights into how to use GKL data to guide your protocol implementation.
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Your comprehensive mitochondrial optimization protocol is being finalized based on your unique mitochondrial type and will arrive shortly. This precision-targeted plan will address your specific respiratory chain inefficiencies with evidence-based interventions tailored to your mitochondrial phenotype. Meanwhile, implementing the foundation strategies outlined above will begin upregulating key electron transport pathways, enhancing NAD+ production, and improving redox balance—creating an optimal cellular environment for when your full protocol arrives. These preliminary steps can already initiate improvements in ATP generation, reduce oxidative damage, and enhance metabolic efficiency.