THE SEMI-COMPLETE USER'S GUIDE TO... YOUR MITOCHONDRIA

You might know them as the “powerhouses of the cell,” but that’s selling mitochondria short—these microscopic MVPs play a role in almost everything that makes you healthy. With the right lifestyle adjustments, you can help them do it all.

- KEVIN DUPZYK

WHAT THEY ARE

MITOCHONDRIA ARE LIKE subcontractors that do jobs for your cells. In fact, scientists believe these organelles were once separate bacteria that formed a symbiotic relationship with an ancient ancestor of our cells. Mitochondria have their own ways of communicating and can even move between cells. And while they indeed make energy, they're also “true multitaskers,” says Stanford professor Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, whose new book, The Life Machines, looks at what mitochondria do for us now.

THEY GIVE US ENERGY

YOU'LL FIND MORE mitochondria where more energy is needed: Ceaseless heart muscle cells, for example, are 30 to 40 percent mitochondria by volume. Mitochondria process food—mainly fats and carbs—and make ATP, the fuel that drives cellular activity. ATP stores lots of energy in its molecular bonds, and your body releases that energy to contract muscles, fire signals down nerve pathways, and make DNA, among many (many) other things.

THEY FIGHT ILLNESS