Friday, April 25, 2014

You may have billions and billions of good reasons for being unfit

Yep that's right, apparently being unfit has many benefits for the human body. Our chromosome are relatively stable for most of our lifetime, but our mitochondria is highly variable across individuals and may impact human health, so say researchers. Genomes are ever changing, not from generation to generations but even within our lifetime. Researchers are first to identify the extent to which the editing processes of RNA code can vary across a large number of individuals. As you know the mitochondria is the power station of our cells and the more power a cell needs, the more mitochondria you'll find in it. Researchers have found a correlation between mitochondrial RNA and our basal metabolic rate, the rate at which we are able to convert food into energy. They looked specifically at mutations in the RNA of the mitochondria. This means that because of this irregularity, the DNA and the level of modification of the mitochondria will result in cellular energy being produced. While this research may give the unfit a slight excuse for not getting in shape, there is still much research to be made about these correlations.

It would be pretty interesting to see exactly how much more energy it would give to an individual. Does have more fat really give us THAT much more where it could be beneficial? For now i'll stick to casually lifting weights and the occasional Pizookie my girlfriend makes, yum.

2 comments:

  1. It's interesting how there is a correlation between mitochondrial RNA and our basal metabolic rate, the rate at which we are able to convert food into energy. Although, I also agree with you on staying with my usual routine of working out methods to stay fit.

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  2. I can't see this research holding much water. Working out, eating healthy, and staying in shape is beneficial for heart health and obesity has been linked to just the opposite. Maybe a few extra pounds could be useful in long distance swims, runs, etc. because your body will pull energy for that source when all else is depleted. I can't see how being unfit would have a correlation to you're metabolic rate. If we work out and run then do we not increase that rate? Isn't this why many olympic athletes increase the calories they consume in order to have more energy when needed? Hopefully this research doesn't influence uneducated readers to stop exercising.

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