Mitochondrial Manipulation

through Nutritional Practice

Michael C. Moul
Purdue University Global
HW 499 Capstone
Professor Kristin Henningsen
August 30, 2022
 Agenda
• Overall Goal: “Nutritional Manipulation
to aid in endurance training”
• Goal subsets
• Food Environment
• Primary energy producer in body
• ATP
• Aerobic vs. Anaerobic respiration
• Biosynthesis of Mitochondria
• Manipulation of athletes training
• Carbohydrate sourcing
• Fat Sourcing
• Protein sourcing (Scoles, 2019)
 Food Environments
• What is a “Food Environment”?
• A place people decide on which type of
food to consume (Alliance et al., 2015)
• Typical food environment:
• “Environments exploiting peoples
biological, psychological, social, and
economic vulnerabilities” (The Lancet,
2015)
• Prime foods and environments for (Alliance, E. P. H., & The Lancet Series on Obesity, 2015)

an Endurance Athlete:
• Foods/beverages that contribute to
healthy, affordable, sustainable practices
• Empower, “Healthy, tasty, sustainable
eating patterns” (Alliance et al., 2015)
 Primary Energy Producer
• Primary energy producer in
Skeletal Muscle
• Mitochondria
• Other locations Mitochondria
Reside
• “Brain, liver, heart, and
gastrointestinal tract” (Brand et al.,
2013)
• Energy Provided
• Process ADP into ATP (Brand et al.,
2013”)
• Functions of Breathing/Eating
(Brand et al., 2013)
• Food = Fuel (glucose, fatty acids)
• Breathing = O2 supply, CO2 (Taylor et al., 2022)
byproduct release
 ATP
• Hydrolysis
• The break down of the high
energy bond between Oxygen
and the Phosphorous (Brand
et al., 2013)
• Breaking of the Bond
• Provides energy needed for
https://www.luminultra.com/blog/what-is-atp-and-what- cellular life, aka muscle
does-it-do/
movement (Brand et al., 2013)
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Respiration

• Aerobic Respiration
• 32 net ATP
• Anaerobic Respiration
• 2 net ATP
(Anaerobic respiration…, n.d.)

(BYJU’s, 2021) (BYJU’s, 2021)

 Biosynthesis of Mitochondria
• Mitochondria: (Brand et al., 2013)
• Contain their own DNA
• Convert ADP to ATP
• Utilize pyruvate (2) derived
from glucose along with
Oxygen (O2) to produce the
net 32 ATP in Aerobic
Respiration
• Allow for sustained energy in
endurance based events

(De, 2021)
 Mitochondrial Manipulation

• Endurance exercise alone

• “Induces an increase in muscle
mitochondria” (Hawley et al., 2014)
• Endurance Training Schedule:
• Stimulus progressively increases,
thereby increasing mitochondria until
threshold met
• Manipulation of energy reserves can influence amount of (SNDRI, 2010)

mitochondria produced
• Current Research on intermittent carbohydrate restriction once weekly
demonstrates the following: “Periodic reduction in glycogen stores by
dietary carbohydrate restriction combined with short-term aerobic
exercise training (3-10wk) enhances mitochondrial biogenesis to a
greater extent than… in a glycogen-replete state” (Margolis et al., 2013).
Training Schedule Manipulation
Carbohydrate Sourcing
• Aim for fruits and vegetables,
some legumes, the more complex
carbs the better (Perlmutter,
2017)
• Avoid processed starches when
possible (Perlmutter, 2017).
• Low Carb Vs High Carb
• Use the following hand out
to understand why a Low
Carb diet proves to be a
health concern
https://nutritionstudies.org/l
ow-carb-hot-air/
 Fat Sourcing
• Grass feed animal proteins and wild caught
ocean fish
• provide DHA Omega- 3 important for
cell walls and neurons (Perlmutter,
2017)
• Nuts and seeds
• make sure to process correctly to
inhibit the actions of phylic acid from
binding key nutrients halting digestion
(Perlmutter, 2017).
(Irvine, 2022)
 Protein Sourcing
• Plant based Protein can be adequate
• Legumes and their by products such as
tempeh and tofu along with
mushrooms, grains, nuts, and seeds
(Andrews, 2022)
• Grass feed, organic animal protein in small
portions.
• Side meal, not the “main course”.
(Perlmutter, 2017)
• Try best to avoid all dairy when possible,
(Andrews, 2022)
use the handout provided in the link below
to understand the issue behind dairy.
• link:
https://nutritionstudies.org/no-whey-
man-ill-pass-on-protein-powder/
 Resources
Alliance, E. P. H., & The Lancet Series on Obesity (2015). What are 'food environments'?
EPHA. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://epha.org/what-are-food-environments/

Anaerobic respiration and fermentation (tutorial). learnbiology. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29,
2022, from https://learn-biology.com/ap-biology/module-10-cellular-respiration/anaerobic-
respiration-and-fermentation/

Andrews, R. (2022, April 22). Protein for plant-based eaters: How to choose the best sources.
Precision Nutrition. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/plant-based-protein

BYJU'S. (2021). What is aerobic respiration? – definition, diagram and steps. BYJUS.
Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://byjus.com/biology/aerobic-respiration/

De, Rudranil & Mazumder, Somnath. (2021). Mediators of mitophagy that regulate
mitochondrial quality control play crucial role in diverse pathophysiology. Cell Biology
and Toxicology. 10.1007/s10565-020-09561-1.

Irvine, H. (2022). 15 foods high in healthy fat that you should be eating | livestrong.
LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from
https://www.livestrong.com/article/13731635-foods-high-in-healthy-fat/

Obesity. Define_me. (2015). Retrieved August 29, 2022, from

https://www.thelancet.com/series/obesity-2015

Perlmutter, D. (2017). Brain maker: The power of gut microbes to heal and protect your brain -
for life. Yellow Kite.

Scoles, S. (2019). A woman endurance runner won the world's most diabolical race. Wired.
Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://www.wired.com/story/the-most-diabolical-race-
and-the-rise-of-women-endurance-stars/

SNDRI. (2010). An introduction to carbohydrate counting - james paget university hospital.

Carbohydrate Counting. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from
https://www.jpaget.nhs.uk/media/408350/Carbs-counting-information.pdf

Taylor, D. F., & Bishop, D. J. (2022). Transcription Factor Movement and Exercise-Induced Mitochondrial
Biogenesis in Human Skeletal Muscle: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives. International
Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(3), 1517. MDPI AG. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23031517