Why Mitochondria Matter for Fatigue

Mark explains mitochondria's role converting food and oxygen into ATP and how damage causes profound fatigue.

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Many people experience a deep, lingering fatigue that isn’t fixed by a full night’s sleep, and it often stems from real imbalances inside the body. When mitochondria—the tiny engines that power our cells—are stressed by poor diet, toxins, infections, or lack of rest, the whole system can slow down. Ongoing stress can also disrupt the adrenal system, leaving some people feeling wired and anxious while others feel drained from morning to night. The encouraging news is that steady habits like nourishing whole foods, balanced blood sugar, restorative sleep, and gentle movement can help the body find its rhythm again. With the right support, energy often returns, and a sense of hope does, too.

In this episode, I dive into, along with Dr. Izabella Wentz and Dr. Elizabeth Boham, the real roots of chronic fatigue, showing how stress, lifestyle, and hidden imbalances drain our energy—and how practical, nourishing habits can help restore it.

Izabella Wentz is an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and a licensed pharmacist who has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of autoimmune thyroid disease after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2009. She is the author of three books on Hashimoto’s: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause, Hashimoto’s Food Pharmacology, and Hashimoto’s Protocol, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Dr. Elizabeth Boham is Board Certified in Family Medicine from Albany Medical School, and she is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and the Medical Director of The UltraWellness Center. Dr. Boham lectures on a variety of topics, including Women’s Health and Breast Cancer Prevention, insulin resistance, heart health, weight control and allergies. She is on the faculty for the Institute for Functional Medicine.

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Full-length episodes can be found here:
How to Reclaim Your Energy and Overcome Chronic Fatigue

Tired And Wired: How To Heal Adrenal Fatigue

Getting To The Root Causes Of Why We Are All Tired

(0:00) Introduction to the episode with Dr. Izabella Wentz

(1:34) Overview of health ingredients and functional medicine

(2:41) Factors damaging mitochondria and lab testing for fatigue

(6:27) Dietary changes and time-restricted eating benefits

(9:10) Food as medicine and the impact of common drugs on energy

(11:43) Exercise and optimizing nutrient levels for mitochondrial health

(15:42) Stress management and sleep for better mitochondrial health