Mitochondria and lifestyle

A growing obesity epidemic is threatening the health with increasing numbers of chronic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, neurological diseases, cancer and premature aging. Important causes are - together with genetic and epigenetic causes - unhealthy diet and lack of exercise, as well as today's extremely stressful lifestyle. Based on knowledge from the so-called Blue Zones - defined for National Geographic by Dan Buettner, Gianni Pes and Michel Poulin as Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Ogliastra region, Sardinia; Lima Linda California and Nicola Peninsula, Costa Rica, which have the highest concentration of centenarians (100+ year old people), we discuss the relationship between lifestyle and cellular mechanisms.
We include especially in the discussions our longstanding interest and research in fatty acid metabolism and mitochondrial cellular mechanisms, that inspire os to study mitochondrial mechanisms that control metabolic, neuroendocrine and immune-inflammatory adaptations to cellular health and stress, and thus contribute to healthy or premature aging processes. We want to communicate this knowledge to and discuss with children, teenagers and adults how health and aging works. Among adults we concentrate on high school and medical students, as well as medical doctors.