Why feeling a little chilly can boost your energy

As we live longer and longer the challenge is to get there in good health. To achieve this, the recipe is always the same: healthy eating, physical exercise, sleep, but there are different ways to achieve this. An example would be like driving somewhere: some prefer the motorway, some the A-roads, and others the back roads. The problem is that we are often unaware of these alternative ways to reach the same destination.

Something similar happens to us with mitochondria, the microscopic structures that produce energy in almost all the cells in our bodies. "They are essential, the most important part of the cells," says Antonio Valenzuela, physiotherapist and specialist in clinical psychoneuroimmunology (the study of the connections and interactions between our emotional state, immune system and nervous system function). However, most of us neither know anything about them nor look after them properly. It does seem odd that we know so little about them because, as the expert says, "mitochondria sound strange to us, but metabolism sounds familiar to all of us," and the former are such an essential part of the latter. If we treat them well, our body will be that perfect machine that will lead us to a healthy old age. Furthermore it's not that complicated to do. Here are five ways to take better care of our mitochondria.

Staying healthy includes physical activity, "not exercise," Valenzuela advises. In other words, you don't have to be an athlete to keep your mitochondria running smoothly. "It's about staying active throughout the day. That's more important than doing sport for an hour and sitting for the rest of the day." The expert suggests that we replace the food snacks we eat during our leisure time (olives, crisps, sweets...) with what he calls "movement snacks: get up every hour, do some jumping jacks, squats or get on the exercise bike... One minute is enough!"

Ultra-processed food is not the fuel our bodies need. It is the fuel that feeds the fire that devours our health. "We have to eat like our grandparents... or rather, like our great-grandparents: real, quality food and avoiding overfeeding because this saturates the mitochondria," says Valenzuela. According to his approach, we should eat everything: vegetables, fish, meat, nuts.... "And drink water, at least two litres a day. One of the first signs that we are dehydrated is tiredness," he writes in his book 'Activate the mitochondria. The secret to a longer life'.

Another thing we need to put into practice is fasting. According to this expert, this means going at least 12 hours without a bite to eat, ideally during our night's rest. "Our genetics are programmed for this," he says. "We can delay breakfast a bit to achieve this."

A balanced diet should provide us with everything we need, but there is one nutrient we need to take special care of: we need to keep our magnesium up to an adequate level.

–With supplements?

- Possibly, or by eating foods rich in it. However, for the latter you have to make sure that they are of good quality and often they are not easy to find because intensive agriculture and poor quality soil have a negative influence.

Magnesium is present in "green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, chard, broccoli...", pure cocoa, fruits "such as avocados, raspberries, bananas...", nuts and seafood. Also beware of too much stress in your life as it sucks the life out of the body's magnesium store.

Spending hours in the sun is not a good idea, but small daily doses of sun are a delight for our mitochondria, says Valenzuela. "It's not about exposing yourself to the sun at three o'clock in the afternoon in August," he warns, but spending a few minutes at first light or before sunset. "And we can do it from home, with the window open, but not behind glass."

It is also a good idea to take cold baths. "Our mitochondria raise our metabolism and produce heat." To stimulate them it is necessary to avoid "the thermal sedentary lifestyle in which we fortunately live." It is not a matter of turning off the heating and staying cold for hours, "it is enough, for example, to go out into the street and wait a little while to feel the chill before putting on your coat."

We are of course breathing all the time, but we pay little attention to it, says Valenzuela. It is time to start breathing properly: "Through the nose and not through the mouth because oxygenation is greater and more complete." It is also a good idea to do it "deeply and using the diaphragm." "According to a study by Stanford University, just five minutes a day of practising this technique already has health benefits," says Valenzuela.