Fitness and Holistic Health


The body has a way of matching activity and immunity to metabolism. This is brought about through the circadian rythm. Driven by cortisol and entrained by sunlight and physical routine, this is a natural rhythm that is entrenched to all biological systems. It is governed by the major biological clock proteins  as well as organ-specific clock proteins and their negative feed-back inhibitions, which organ-specific clock proteins are different for different organs, and hence we have different times at which different organs' metabolic activities and functions peak. The clock proteins affect metabolism at the level of transcription in the nucleus.

The body has to manage the limited energy resources carefully so that each organ's and system's needs are adequately catered to. To do this, different tissues have optimal functional activities at different times.

However, the circadian rhythm is usually reprogramed when life-threatening and stressful contingencies avail, such as cellular damage and inflammation. In stress--distress--the need for stress/damage response results in the perturbation of normal physiological exigencies. Damage prevention/anti-oxidation, tissue repair and growth(cellular differentiation, proliferation) are traded for autophagy, cellular repair, and apoptosis. This stems the  accumulation of senescent cells that are the hallmark of tissue degeneration and cancer. At the same time, stem cell proliferation is favored. And this is what happens in calorie restriction and exercise, when nutritional exhaustion occurs.

Metabolism is slowed down as is activity. Protein breakdown  is favored due to damage--protein synthesis is highly energy-demanding--and the Krebs cycle is shut down. Storage of fat  is promoted as glycolysis is impaired by toxic products to enzymes. Later fat breakdown, through beta oxidation, takes over as glucose is exhausted, usually from mobilizable depots . Prolonged stress  such as in starvation, however, is not desirable as it is abortive of damage/stress response. Exercise mobilizes fat from practically every organ. Nutritional supply in prolonged stress results in unhealthy fat lay down  in the body, instead. 

As stress wanes and  balanced nutrition finally becomes available, antioxidation, cell proliferation, tissue repair and growth pick up. Short-term stress is good but prolonged stress exhausts nutritional resources and then produces irreversible damage to the body. Pulsatile stress followed by relaxation is  the preferred physiological primer of good health. Prolonged stress will damage health.
To re-establish the normal circadian rhythm, the stressor should be removed or stress alleviated by therapy. And this results in normal sleep rest, and energetic, efficient functional activity on demand.
Dr. Oliver Verbe Birnso, MD.

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