In this educational video Dr. Ashley Frazee explains why mitochondria are central to energy, aging, and disease, and presents a practical four‑phase protocol to restore their function. She first describes mitochondrial anatomy—the outer membrane, inner folded membrane, cardiolipin, and mitochondrial DNA—and how oxidative stress and toxins damage these structures. She then outlines the “sabotage” factors that impair mitochondria, including statins, certain antibiotics, over‑the‑counter pain relievers, ultra‑processed foods, refined seed oils, high fructose, oxidized fats, alcohol, chronic stress, and sleep deprivation. The first protocol phase is to eliminate these stressors. The second phase is to trigger mitophagy (the selective removal of damaged mitochondria) through exercise, cold exposure, fasting, time‑restricted eating, and polyphenols such as urolithin A. The third phase is mitochondrial biogenesis, achieved by activating AMPK via the same stressors (especially high‑intensity interval training, cold/heat exposure, and fasting) to force the cell to build new mitochondria. The final phase supplies raw materials and supplements—healthy fats, polyphenol‑rich foods, omega‑3s, CoQ10/ubiquinol, alpha‑lipoic acid, acetyl‑L‑carnitine, NAD+, and urolithin A—to maintain membrane fluidity, support electron transport, and fuel DNA repair. Dr. Frazee also mentions a sponsor (Element electrolytes) and emphasizes social connection as a metabolic benefit. The video concludes with a concise roadmap for a mitochondrial reset and a disclaimer that the content is educational, not medical advice.
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Mitochondria have soared from something you learned in high school biology to the center of longevity, performance, and conversations about fatigue. Why? Because this little thing that most doctors don't talk about is where our energy comes from. It all comes down to the mitochondria. And if yours are trashed, if they don't work well, you won't work well either. And this is proven. We know from mounds of research that mitochondrial dysfunction is an underlying accelerator of cellular aging, muscular fatigue, brain fog, and can even make us more susceptible to diseases and cancers. So in this video, I'm going to take you through what really matters about mitochondria so you understand the processes your body needs to have healthy, functional ones for the sake of your energy. I'm going to share with you the things that hurt your mitochondria, that keep them stuck in dysfunction, and proven ways to undo all of that. And by the end of this video, you should have a roadmap, a protocol that helps ensure your mitochondria are tuned up and firing on all cylinders. The protocol comes down to 4 specific phases. 1, stop the sabotage. 2, take out the trash, force adaptation, and provide your body with the raw materials needed for this whole thing to work right. And it sounds simple, but to actually make these 4 steps work, you can't just follow a checklist. It helps to understand these powerful factories running inside of you. So let me explain. Oh, and even though I'm making some bold promises here, please know that I am just a doctor on YouTube sharing my thoughts and fascination on this subject, but I am not your doctor. This video is educational only, and please talk to your own before starting anything new. So here's what mitochondria do and how they do it. See, most people think of mitochondria as the generic powerhouse of the cell, but what does that really mean? Well, I want you to think of them as high-voltage, high-powered factories that produce ATP, energy currency, like quarters you feed into a machine. Inside this factory is the electron transport chain. And hearing this might make you turn your ears off, but listen, it's important. The electron transport chain's whole purpose is to take the food that you eat and the oxygen you breathe, broken down into electrons, and physically pass these electrons down a chain to create an electrical voltage. That voltage gives the power to create your ATP, the cellular cash that pays for literally every function in your body. Now I have to back up for a second here and make sure that you understand why the structure of the factory, the physical shape of the mitochondria, is so important for your health. Because the structure can get damaged or fall apart easily, and if that happens, your factories just stall and everything goes wrong. So here we go. Mitochondria have a smooth outer membrane. This serves as the door where the cash factory takes in all the supplies it needs and distributes the cash energy out to the rest of the body. It's very important. And then there's the inner mitochondrial membrane. This is where the electron transport chain lives and makes the ATP. This inner membrane is folded up like an accordion to give your mitochondria as much surface area as possible for more electron transport chains, more factories. Another thing that lives on this inner mitochondrial membrane is a phospholipid called Cardiolipin, which helps stabilize and hold the membrane together, like scaffolding. The rest of the free space inside of the mitochondria, centered past the inner mitochondrial membrane, is where things like NAD get transported and uploaded into the factory. It's also where the DNA of our mitochondria lives. And here's where things can break down. Because mitochondrial DNA lives right next to the factory lines, It's 10 to 100 times more susceptible to damage than the rest of our DNA. While your cell's nucleus is a fortified vault where DNA is wrapped in protective shields called histones, your mitochondrial DNA is totally naked. It lacks these histone shields entirely, and it sits right next to the exhaust pipe of the electron transport chain. And as your mitochondria produce energy, they naturally leak toxic sparks called reactive oxygen species. And because mitochondrial DNA is situated just nanometers away from this process, it sits directly in a line of fire. And when those sparks hit naked DNA, they cause breaks in the DNA. And when they hit the inner mitochondrial membrane, cardiolipin can no longer hold the membrane in that folded-up shape. So the voltage drops, the membrane becomes fragile, and the cell gets poisoned from the inside out. And we do things to accelerate this all the time. We have modern medicine that throws wrenches directly into these factories. For example, the ever-so-popular statins, while lowering your cholesterol, accidentally block your body's ability to manufacture CoQ10, literally starving the electron transport chain. Certain antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin can induce severe oxidative breaks in our mitochondrial DNA. And even things like over-the-counter pain relievers can use up glutathione, your main shock absorber, for reactive oxygen species. And we can feel this when it happens enough to accumulate, and we end up with more damaged mitochondria than healthy ones. So this brings me to the first step in the protocol, which is to stop the sabotage. And I won't bore you with too many details here, but really think about how you need to avoid feeding and building your mitochondria with things that sabotage them. When we And I say we because I need a reminder too. When we consume ultra-processed foods and things like refined seed oils and high amounts of sugar, we're actively pouring cheap, dirty fuel into a high-powered engine. And I would never do this to my car, so why is it okay to do it to my body? And high amounts of metabolized fructose, which comes from sugary foods, jam up the electron transport chain, causing it to misfire and shoot off little sparks like crazy. And highly processed oxidized fats? Well, your body actually incorporates them directly into your mitochondrial membranes, making them more stiff and rigid than they should be and incredibly prone to breaking. And alcohol is another direct mitochondrial toxin that can poison the matrix and halt ATP production. There are also things other than food that can sabotage your mitochondria. If you're chronically stressed or sleep deprived, you'll make more inflammation than is necessary, and your mitochondria will actually turn themselves into defensive factories to battle the inflammation. So please prioritize stress management and healthy sleep. And review any medications you take with your doctor and be mindful of how much over-the-counter meds you take as well. All right, I've made you feel bad enough for today, I think. The next step in our protocol is to take out the trash. This is called mitophagy. Because mitochondria are terrible at repairing their own broken DNA, the body's ultimate survival strategy isn't to fix broken ones? We scrap them and build new ones. We have a process of clearing out and recycling damaged or senescent mitochondria, ones that have no purpose, but they sit there spitting out inflammation and taking up room where healthy mitochondria that could be producing clean energy could be. Well, here's what you need to know. We can trigger mitophagy through things that are good for us, but hard to do, like exercise. Cold exposure— saunas can even help here— and being fasted for several hours or time-restricted eating. Also, we can eat specific polyphenols. Urolithin A, for example, is a metabolite made from certain gut bacteria in our microbiome that can metabolize polyphenols called ellagitannins from things like pomegranates and walnuts. It has incredible clinical data specifically for forcing cells to trigger mitophagy and has been shown to combat symptoms of Muscular aging. But only about a third of people actually harbor the bacteria necessary that can make urolithin A, and the rest of us can't. But we can supplement it, and I think that's pretty cool. I have a link for all of the supplements that I'll be talking about today in the description. Now, as long as the process of mitophagy is working well and we're clearing out the clutter, creating space for healthy mitochondria, here's how we actually build them. Step number 3. This process is called mitochondrial biogenesis. This is critical because having high amounts of healthy mitochondria creates more energy capacity and also more fatty acid oxidation, or making fat available for burning. And building a denser mitochondrial network is quite literally one of the most effective ways to combat insulin resistance, which is the root cause of so much metabolic dysfunction from things like diabetes and PCOS and For some of us, it causes the inability to lose weight despite doing everything right. But I'm going to be straight with you. You cannot just take a pill to make this happen. You have to force the body to adapt. This tells your mitochondria to reproduce. To build new mitochondria, we have to turn on a cellular switch called AMPK. You can think of AMPK as like your body's master fuel sensor. When it senses that you have plenty of energy, it stays quiet and off. But when it senses an energy crisis or low energy, this sounds the alarm and tells yourselves, we don't have enough power to survive this, so we need to build more engines or build more mitochondria. So how do we ring that alarm? By simulating a crisis. Quite literally, the same things I told you to trigger mitophagy can trigger mitochondrial biogenesis, except for urolithinate. So these are things like exercise, fasting, or cold or hot exposure. Now, according to research, the exercise that triggers the most mitochondrial biogenesis is high-intensity interval training, short bursts of intense exercise. But hear me out. In general, the more muscle you have, the more mitochondria you have. And physically fit people literally have been shown to have up to 3 times the amount of mitochondria in their muscles than unfit people. And while you might want me to, I'm not just going to gloss over cold exposure. You can do it. When you drop into a cold plunge, you trigger a massive need for adaptation and mitochondrial biogenesis, apart from many other really cool things. And if you want a link to the cold plunge that I use, it's in the description. On a cellular level, these simulated crises— fasting, intense training, and cold exposure— activate that AMPK pathway. Now that you know how to force your body to build these new factories, you have to know that keeping them efficient comes down to 2 things: do they have the raw materials they need to function well, and is the physical structure healthy? And this is important— what you put into your body matters a lot. And this is also a good time to thank the sponsor of today's video, Element. If you're like me and you exercise a lot, or you sweat a lot— I don't know why I'm so sweaty this year, but I am— or if you're on a weight loss journey, lowering insulin lowers Sodium too. And most commercial sports drinks are loaded with ultra-processed sugars and liquid fructose like we just talked about. High intake of fructose literally jams up your electron transport chain. So think about it. Element is science-backed electrolytes with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium with zero sugar, zero coloring, and zero artificial. junk. I actually use it almost every day, especially before exercise, especially in the summer in Arizona. And LMNT is offering my viewers a free sample pack with any purchase. That's 8 single-serving packets free with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try out all 8 of their most popular flavors. Lately I've been using a lot of the watermelon salt. Get yours at drinkelement.com/fraisy. On to the materials you need to ensure that you build the healthiest versions of your mitochondria. If we eat healthy, unoxidized fats like wild-caught salmon, sardines, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, we keep our mitochondrial membranes fluid and flexible and healthy. And you want to bring in foods rich in polyphenols too, like berries, pecans, and walnuts, and pomegranates. These provide antioxidants that help neutralize reactive oxygen species. feces, and they feed the specific gut bacteria that can manufacture urolithin A if you harbor them. And then there are supplements. Why do we take things like omega-3s, CoQ10, and NAD? Well, these are the materials that can help tune the engine. So urolithin A— we talked about this earlier, but urolithin A helps your cells execute mitophagy, clearing out rusted, broken-down mitochondria that are just taking up space and spewing out inflammation. Omega-3s, high in EPA and DHA. These get incorporated into the outer mitochondrial membrane to maintain the fluidity of the doorway to your energy factories. CoQ10, specifically ubiquinol. This acts like a mobile shuttle that physically helps carry electrons down the factory assembly line that creates ATP. And it's also a powerful antioxidant that can neutralize the reactive oxygen species before they can harm the membrane and the DNA. Then there's ALA and acetyl carnitine. Acetyl carnitine serves as like an escort that loads up the fat and physically carries it across the membrane. And then once fat molecules are inside the mitochondria, ALA can act like a spark plug that helps convert that raw fuel into usable energy while also simultaneously acting like an antioxidant to protect In fact, there are human trials showing that supplementing with ALA and acetyl carnitine can dramatically improve nerve function. They're actually prescribed in several countries to treat peripheral neuropathy with diabetes, and I never knew that. The studies suggest that they not only can reduce nerve pain, but they can physically improve nerve conduction velocity by lowering the oxidative stress right at the nerve endings and increasing the mitochondrial energy that those nerves need to repair themselves. And then there's things like NAD+, the ever-so-popular supplement. This acts as like payroll for your cellular repair crews. When naked mitochondrial DNA takes hits from those reactive oxygen species, enzymes called PARPs rush in to fix those breaks. But PARPs don't work unless they have NAD+. So if your NAD+ levels are depleted from age, poor diet, or metabolic stress, the repair crews go on strike. Now back to our protocol. By now you should have everything you need to get your mitochondria right. If I were starting from scratch today feeling like I needed a mitochondrial reset, that's what I would do. Stop doing anything that sabotages or injures mitochondria, trigger the recycling process of mitophagy, then focus on forcing adaptation by doing things that are hard but good for you, and make sure to provide any raw materials that might help in the process. Oh, and I made a whole video recently about longevity and how social connection can improve your chances of living longer. But did you know that we also have research that shows that our mitochondria actually function better when we have good friends? Not only by downregulating inflammation, but also in how efficient our electron transport chain is. Just let that sink in. You aren't just emotionally drained when you're isolated, you're metabolically shutting down. So don't forget to look up from YouTube and high-five your best friend today, or go find one if you don't have one. I hope that was helpful for you. It took me a long time to really understand the value of what goes on inside of our cells. So I'm trying to make it easier for everybody else. I'm Dr. Ashley Frazee. If you like this video, please hit like for me and subscribe to my channel, and I hope you have the best day. Bye.
