As part of my work developing LED phototherapy devices, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring how mitochondrial function influences everything from skin regeneration to overall cellular health. The deeper I’ve gone, the more I’ve come to appreciate just how intricate and interconnected this system really is.
Mitochondria do a lot more than produce energy. They influence inflammation, drive repair processes, and even help decide when cells should be cleared out. While there are some powerful therapies available, such as NAD+ boosters, antioxidants, and red light, focusing too narrowly on any one solution can miss the bigger picture.
This is something I’ve noticed across the industry. Many therapies are developed with a very specific function in mind, which can be incredibly valuable in certain contexts. However, when we zoom out and look at mitochondrial health as a whole system — shaped by lifestyle, stress, environment, and age — we open up the potential for deeper, more sustainable results.
In this post, I want to share some of the key aspects of mitochondrial function that I believe are worth understanding, especially if you're aiming to support energy, longevity, and how we look and feel as we age.
Mitochondrial Function Is More Than Just Energy
When we think about mitochondria, most people jump straight to ATP, the body’s primary energy currency. And for good reason. Mitochondria are responsible for generating more than 90% of the energy our cells need to function. But what often gets overlooked is just how many other critical roles these organelles play, especially when it comes to how we age, heal, and stay resilient.
The Core Functions to Know
Here are the key processes that keep our mitochondrial network running smoothly:
1. ATP Production via the Electron Transport Chain (ETC)
This is the classic job of mitochondria. Through a process called oxidative phosphorylation, they generate ATP by shuttling electrons down the ETC. But this process naturally produces by-products; reactive oxygen species (ROS) which, if left unmanaged, can damage cells and drive inflammation.
As we age, both the number of mitochondria and their efficiency decline. That means fewer energy reserves for the body and more opportunity for dysfunction to set in. This drop in performance is closely linked to fatigue, slower wound healing, and visible signs of aging in the skin.
2. Mitochondrial Biogenesis
Biogenesis is the creation of new mitochondria, often in response to energy demand. When we challenge the body through exercise, cold exposure, or fasting our cells receive signals to produce more mitochondria. This is a crucial adaptive mechanism, and it’s one of the reasons why regular movement and healthy stressors are so beneficial at the cellular level.
3. Fission and Fusion
Mitochondria are dynamic. They constantly break apart (fission) and join together (fusion) to maintain their health. Fusion helps mitigate damage by mixing mitochondrial contents, while fission allows cells to isolate and remove dysfunctional parts. When this balance breaks down, mitochondrial quality control falters something often seen in metabolic diseases and neurodegeneration.
4. Oxidative Stress and Inflammation
While a small amount of ROS is normal and even helpful for signalling, chronic oxidative stress tips the system into inflammation and damage. Mitochondria sit at the heart of this process, both producing and responding to oxidative signals. Supporting redox balance through antioxidants, mitochondrial enzymes, or light therapy is key to long-term mitochondrial resilience.
5. Mitophagy and Senescent Cell Removal
Equally important as making new mitochondria is knowing when to clear out the damaged ones. Mitophagy is the process of recycling dysfunctional mitochondria, while senescent cell removal ensures that damaged cells don’t stick around and cause harm. If these waste-management systems become sluggish, the result is cellular clutter and chronic inflammation, both of which accelerate aging.
When Mitochondria Struggle, So Does Everything Else
When these core functions begin to break down—whether through age, chronic stress, nutrient deficiencies, poor sleep, or environmental toxins—the effects ripple out across nearly every system in the body.
Mitochondrial dysfunction doesn’t just mean lower energy levels. It means reduced repair capacity, higher inflammation, slower cellular turnover, and greater oxidative damage. Over time, this can create a kind of metabolic bottleneck, where the body simply can’t keep up with the load being placed on it. Recovery slows. Resilience fades. And chronic conditions ranging from fatigue and skin aging to autoimmunity, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegeneration start to take hold.
This is why supporting mitochondria isn’t just about boosting energy. It’s about protecting long-term health and giving the body the capacity to adapt, repair, and thrive.
Lifestyle Is the Foundation
Before reaching for advanced therapies or supplements, it’s important to recognise the role of daily habits. Mitochondria are highly responsive to the environment we create inside and outside the body. The choices we make around movement, rest, nutrition, and light exposure don’t just influence how we feel day to day, they directly affect mitochondrial performance, resilience, and longevity.
No amount of biohacking can outpace poor fundamentals. And in truth, many of the most effective mitochondrial interventions are incredibly simple. Here are some of the most impactful:
Exercise: Stimulate Growth, Clear the Junk
Physical activity—especially resistance training, interval work, and even regular walking—has one of the most profound effects on mitochondrial health. Exercise promotes:
Mitochondrial biogenesis (creating new mitochondria)
Mitophagy, which helps clear out damaged mitochondria
Increased insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility
It’s a classic example of hormesis: low-level stress that prompts the body to adapt, repair, and come back stronger. Consistent movement literally tells your cells, “we need more energy capacity, let’s build.”
Sleep: Where Recovery Happens
Mitochondrial repair and detoxification are highly active during deep sleep. Poor or inconsistent sleep disrupts these cycles and increases oxidative stress, making the mitochondria more vulnerable to damage.
Deep sleep is when your body performs maintenance. Without it, damage builds up faster than the body can clear it, leading to low energy, impaired cognition, and even visible signs of aging.
Nutrition: Fuel, Cofactors, and Signalling
What you eat feeds your mitochondria but it’s not just about calories.
Mitochondria rely on a wide range of nutrients to perform their tasks: B vitamins, magnesium, CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, carnitine, and more. Many of these act as cofactors, helping enzymes within the mitochondria do their jobs efficiently.
Equally important is managing metabolic load. Constant snacking, ultra-processed foods, and high sugar intake can overload the system, increase oxidative stress, and push mitochondria into a defensive state.
Supportive strategies might include:
Whole foods rich in micronutrients
Balanced macronutrients to avoid glycaemic spikes
Occasional fasting or time-restricted eating, which may support mitophagy and metabolic reset
Light Exposure: Circadian Cues and Photobiomodulation
Natural light helps set circadian rhythm, which in turn regulates mitochondrial activity across tissues. Getting morning sunlight for as little as 10–15 minutes can improve sleep quality, mood, and energy regulation by aligning your body clock.
Meanwhile, targeted red and near-infrared (NIR) light therapy has been shown to directly support mitochondrial function by stimulating cytochrome c oxidase, a key enzyme in the ETC. This can help increase ATP production, reduce inflammation, and support tissue repair.
The Bigger Picture: Consistency Beats Complexity
These lifestyle pillars aren’t exciting headlines but they’re the terrain on which all other interventions stand. Without this base, even the best-designed therapies may underdeliver.
The good news? Mitochondria are adaptable. With consistent inputs, they can recover and regenerate. And the impact of that goes far beyond just better energy, it touches nearly every system in the body.
Targeted Therapies with a Purpose
Once the foundations are in place, targeted therapies can offer powerful support. But here’s the nuance: each therapy tends to address a specific aspect of mitochondrial function. They’re tools with a purpose but not holistic in nature.
Used strategically, they can enhance energy production, improve resilience, and even support longevity pathways. Let’s break down a few of the most talked-about therapies and what they actually do at the cellular level.
NAD+ Precursors and Infusions
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a vital coenzyme involved in redox reactions, DNA repair, and cellular stress signalling. It also supports sirtuins, which are key regulators of aging and mitochondrial biogenesis.
With age, NAD+ levels naturally decline. Supplementing with precursors like NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) or NR (nicotinamide riboside) can help restore this balance, particularly in metabolically active tissues.
Intravenous NAD+ infusions are also gaining popularity, especially for fatigue and recovery, though the evidence base is still evolving. Like most things in this space, context and consistency matter more than hype.
Red and Near-Infrared Light Therapy
This is where I’ve spent much of my professional focus. Red (typically 630–680nm) and near-infrared (810–850nm) light penetrate into the skin and underlying tissues, where they are absorbed by mitochondrial enzymes, particularly cytochrome c oxidase in the ETC; photobiomodulation.
This interaction has been shown to:
Increase ATP production
Increase blood flow and vasodilation
Reduce oxidative stress and inflammation
Stimulate tissue repair and regeneration
LED therapy is rapidly evolving field and can be a powerful addition, especially for skin health, recovery, and cellular energy.
Antioxidants and Redox Support
Antioxidants like CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, and glutathione play a direct role in maintaining redox balance within the mitochondria. They help buffer ROS, protect mitochondrial membranes, and support overall function.
That said, more isn’t always better. High-dose antioxidant supplementation can sometimes blunt beneficial stress signals (like those from exercise) that are necessary for adaptation. Timing and balance are key here.
Senolytics: Clearing Out the Cellular Clutter
As we age, some cells become senescent; still alive, but no longer functioning properly. These cells secrete inflammatory molecules and interfere with healthy tissue function.
Senolytics are compounds that help the body identify and clear out these dysfunctional cells. Examples include fisetin, quercetin, and dasatinib, often used in pulse protocols.
By reducing the inflammatory burden and cellular "noise," senolytics may indirectly support mitochondrial health, improve tissue regeneration, and promote a more youthful internal environment.
The Takeaway: Mitochondria Can Be Dysfunctional in Different Ways
One of the most important things to understand is that mitochondrial dysfunction isn’t a single issue. It can show up in different ways; impaired ATP production, increased oxidative stress, poor mitophagy, or disrupted signalling. Each of these may need a different kind of support.
That’s where these therapies come in. When used in a targeted way, they can be incredibly effective at addressing specific breakdowns in function. But often, it’s not just one thing that’s out of balance.
Taking a more comprehensive approach, one that supports energy production, antioxidant capacity, repair processes, and cellular turnover can help ensure you're covering all the bases. Rather than chasing the next single fix, combining well-matched interventions with good lifestyle foundations gives your cells what they need to function at their best.
Over time, this integrated approach doesn’t just improve how you feel day to day, it lays the groundwork for long-term vitality, healthier aging, and greater resilience against chronic disease.
Mitochondrial Health Is a System, Not a Shortcut
Mitochondria operate as part of a complex, responsive network. When one part of the system is under stress, everything else feels it. Boosting one function in isolation won’t do much if the rest of the system is still compromised.
True mitochondrial health comes from alignment. When lifestyle, nutrients, recovery, and therapies work in sync, the results are more stable, more noticeable, and more sustainable.
Support the Whole, Not Just the Parts
Mitochondria sit at the heart of how we function, feel, and age. They produce energy, regulate inflammation, drive repair, and help keep our biology in balance. And because they’re involved in so many processes, they can also become dysfunctional in many different ways.
Good sleep, regular movement, nutrient-rich food, exposure to natural light, and thoughtful use of therapies like NAD+ or red light don’t just help us feel better, they give our cells what they need to be better.
If your goal is more energy, better skin, improved cognitive function, or healthier aging, don’t chase a single remedy. Support the whole.
References:
Pieczenik, S. R., & Neustadt, J. (2007). Mitochondrial dysfunction and molecular pathways of disease. Experimental and Molecular Pathology, 83(1), 84–92.
Hood, D. A., Memme, J. M., Oliveira, A. N., & Triolo, M. (2019). Maintenance of skeletal muscle mitochondria in health, exercise, and aging. Annual Review of Physiology, 81, 19–41.
Hamblin, M. R. (2016) Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation. AIMS Biophysics, 3(3), 337–361.