Look deep inside your cells, and you’ll find mitochondria, hard at work. In additional to the energy they generate, they also produce oxidative stress. While this is a normal process, sometimes it can get out of balance. In this interview with goop.com, Dr. Doni explains how to support our bodies to be able to recover from too much oxidative stress.

So often, we get the message that stress is the ultimate enemy—that to be healthy is to work to excise all stress from our lives. But the thought of doing so is typically stressful in and of itself—and potentially counterproductive: Stress is a part of normal functioning, and our bodies are designed to manage it, according to New York-based naturopathic doctor and clinical nutritionist Dr. Doni Wilson. As we age, and take on stressors both within and beyond our control, it can become too much, though—the key is learning which levers to pull to support your body as it does its thing. Below, Wilson gives us a primer on stress at the cellular level, signs of excess stress, and strategies for rebalancing.

A Q&A with Doni Wilson, N.D.

Q: What does stress mean to the body?

When people think of stress, we usually first think of psychological stress (like financial stress, relationship stress, or work stress), and we forget about physical stress—which could be an injury or an infection, or even consuming certain foods, like too much sugar.

Our bodies are built to respond to both kinds of stress, because stress is essential. So much of the time the question is, “How could we completely avoid stress?” But of course, that’s not really an optio­n; stress is all around us. While we might be able to avoid certain stressors, we’re going to be exposed to stress one way or another, and our bodies need a certain amount of it. We perform best when we have just the right amount of stress: not too little and not too much.

It’s about figuring out the right amount of stress for each individual, and then when something stressful happens—an alarm goes off or a deadline shows up—our bodies respond in the moment the way they’re built to, by increasing our cortisol and adrenaline.

Q: What is oxidative stress, and why should we care about it?

Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells, and inside of the cells are mitochondria, which take the food and nutrients we consume and turn them into energy. We use that energy to think and walk around and do all the stuff we do. Inside our cells is where oxidative stress occurs: It’s a chemical reaction that happens when our mitochondria are at work. In an engine analogy, oxidative stress is the exhaust, and too much of it would be toxic to our cells.
Just like regular stress, our bodies normally have a certain amount of oxidative stress. We’re trying to get to zero oxidative stress because oxidative stress is also protects us from injuries and infections. It’s only an issue when things get out of balance, and we have more oxidative stress than our bodies are able to recover from.

Q: What are the symptoms of too much oxidative stress?

Antioxidants help to counteract oxidative stress and keep our normal functioning in balance. (Our bodies make antioxidants, plus we can consume them in fruits and vegetables.) Fatigue is a big signal that this system is out of balance, which makes sense: If there’s too much oxidative stress and the mitochondria can’t make energy, we’re going to feel tired.

What we commonly think of as signs of aging – gray hair, wrinkles, achy joints, dark circles—are also signs of too much oxidative stress that is overriding mitochondrial functioning.

Q: How do you test for oxidative stress?

There are specialty tests for oxidative stress. The simplest is a urine test that measures what’s called 8 OHdG, which research shows is a good indicator of oxidative stress. If you see that your 8 OHdG is high, and you’re feeling tired and achy and run down, these could be symptoms of high oxidative stress, and you might work on getting more antioxidants into your system.

Q: How do you relieve your oxidative stress when it becomes too much, and are there other ways to measure what’s working or not?

AVOID CERTAIN EXPOSURES

My approach is to first try to remove the root causes by figuring out where the excess oxidative stress is coming from and looking for ways to avoid or correct those exposures. Maybe the big oxidative stressor is a lack of sleep, too much sugar in the diet, or toxin exposure. I start by talking through a patient’s environment— food, air, water quality. Where could you potentially make different choices aimed at reducing oxidative stress? Maybe that’s installing a water filter, or adding more healthy fats into your diet to help cut back on your sugar intake. There are some things you can make a choice about, and other stressors in life that you have no control over—so it’s important to make adjustments where you know you’re able to do so.

CHANGE UP YOUR DIET

Once we’ve reduced exposure, we can move on to adding in foods that are high in antioxidants, like berries. Really anything fresh and colorful – from dark greens to pomegranate – contains antioxidants. Even cauliflower has antioxidants (yes, white’s a color).

CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTS

Then I look at supplementing.* Common antioxidant supplements include vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium; these nutrients are regularly included in multivitamins.

MitoQ® 5mg Capsules 60
MitoQ Ltd, $60
Stronger antioxidant supplements include CoQ10 and glutathione. Our bodies make both CoQ10 and glutathione, and for the most part if we have a healthy diet and we’re not over-stressed, our bodies produce enough. But we know that some people, based on their genetic tendencies, make less CoQ10 or glutathione (they’re not able to recycle their CoQ10 and glutathione as effectively, which means they have lower levels available). That’s when a supplement makes the most sense.

I’ve worked with various kinds of CoQ10 in my practice over the years. As with any supplement, you want to be able to evaluate whether a given form is working or not—does the supplement get to the right part of the body to do its job? With CoQ10, after you swallow the substance, you want it to get into the cell, and more specifically, into the mitochondria. A lot of labs and companies have worked hard to figure out how to do this; now, the supplement MitoQ is thought to get into the mitochondria more effectively. I’ve been testing MitoQ on myself and with patients for almost a year, and anecdotally, patients report feeling better.

There are also tests to measure CoQ10 levels (unfortunately not a part of standard lab work), either in the blood or urine, which can show if levels are low—and, with retesting, how the body responds to a given regimen change. A lot of my patients like seeing these tangible results, along with looking out for potential changes in the way they feel—do they have more energy, has their sleep pattern shifted? In my practice, we are constantly measuring, implementing changes, re-measuring, and seeing what makes a difference.

Q: What are the most impactful lifestyle changes for addressing excess oxidative stress?

This post was originally published on goop.com on February 27, 2018. You can find the original here:

Why Your Body Needs—and Wants—Stress

*Please keep in mind that any and all supplements—nutrients, herbs, enzymes, or other—should be used with caution. My recommendation is that you seek the care of a naturopathic doctor (with a doctorate degree from a federally-accredited program) and that you have a primary care physician or practitioner whom you can contact to help you with individual dosing and protocols. If you ever experience negative symptoms after taking a product, stop taking it immediately and contact your doctor right away.