STORY AT-A-GLANCE
When the fuel from the food you eat cannot efficiently be burned and converted to energy (ATP), it’s typically diverted and stored as fat. So, the primary cause of obesity is the inability to efficiently metabolize food, typically glucose in the mitochondria, into energy
The inefficient burning of fuel (metabolizing of food) is why people who are obese typically also struggle with other health issues, such as low energy, fatigue, an inability to maintain focus, digestive problems and poor immune function
Mitochondrial dysfunction, psychological stress, oxidative stress (reductive stress), heavy metals, endotoxin, lack of sleep and certain nutritional deficiencies can flip your metabolism into fat burning, which then impedes the metabolism of glucose and converts the glucose into fat rather than energy
High energy production equates to high metabolism, so part of the solution for obesity and most other conditions is to raise your metabolic rate
A key strategy to optimize your mitochondrial energy production is to remove blocks in the electron transport chain. Endotoxin and other bacterial toxins are among the biggest culprits, as they can directly impair electron transport. Another effective blocker of mitochondrial energy production is polyunsaturated fat (PUFA)