Taking just a few vitamins CAN optimize the function of ALL your body's systems. It’s true. But you have to know what to take and you have to know why these supplements work ...

That’s why, in this week’s blog, I am going to discuss one of the most important biochemical processes for long-term health and how you can keep it running at its very best with supplements and other measures.

Unfortunately, many people suffer from one or more of the 8 factors that negatively impact this biochemical process, so problems in this area are widespread though many don’t realize they are suffering.

The good news is that there are MANY things that you can do right now to optimize this critical biochemical process that may have a dramatic impact on your health. In today’s blog I will review the 8 factors that can lead to problems in this area, and outline 12 tips that will help you optimize this essential part of your biology.

But first, I'd like to tell you about two of my patients with seemingly unrelated health problems that were actually caused by a breakdown in this biochemical process. And I want to share a study done on Chinese babies who had a birth defect known as spina bifida.

You'll be amazed at how all three -- my two patients and these Chinese babies -- were affected by the exact same thing ...

"Live to 120 years old by eating as much as you want and drinking lots of red wine!"

That's the intriguing finding of a recent study from Harvard researcher David Sinclair and his group.

The only catch is that you'd have to drink about 1,500 bottles of wine a day to get those results. Of course, that would kill you pretty quickly -- before you'd have a chance to reach age 120! Still, those are important findings ...

In fact, Dr. Sinclair thinks they're so important that he started a company to produce a pharmaceutical derivative of the active compound in red wine, resveratrol.

Although his findings have merit, I think he is misguided in his attempt to find a "magic pill" that will allow you to eat whatever you want and live forever. The body is much more complex than that.

This week, I'm going to explain why a magic pill WON'T work -- and provide ten tips that really WILL help you live longer and prevent all the diseases of aging.

Are you tired and worn out?

Do you have sore muscles, fatigue, and brain fog?

If so, you might have metabolic burnout!

Imagine if you could find a way to tune up your metabolism, increase your energy levels, think clearly, and feel less achy.

Imagine if you could prevent diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.

Imagine if you could heal fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Imagine if you could get to the roots of aging, slow the whole process, and eliminate most age-related diseases.

These aren’t just fantasies.

All these things are possible—if you give yourself a metabolic tune up.

You might have heard of the rats fed high doses of resveratrol, the plant compound found in red wine. But did you know that those rats lived 30 percent longer than their peers – the equivalent of an additional 120 human years -- even though they ate a bad diet.

In fact, they became fitter and lost weight even while eating a poor-quality, standard American diet.

How could they eat high amounts of bad food and not exercise, yet still become fitter, AND live 30 percent longer than the average rat?

One word: MITOCHONDRIA -- the source of your energy.

The resveratrol protected and improved the function of the mitochondria through its effects on special master-aging genes.

So what are mitochondria and what do they have to do with having more energy, losing weight, and living to be 120 years old without any disease?

Today you will learn the answer to that question. And I will provide you with 8 tips you can start using today to give yourself a metabolic tune-up and boost your energy metabolism.

The key to more energy lies in providing your mitochondria the right environment to thrive. When you do, you can boost your energy metabolism. Doing this is the 6th of the 7 keys to UltraWellness, and it is absolutely essential if you want to obtain optimal health.

So let’s look at what mitochondria are and what they do.

"I didn’t know how bad I was feeling until I started feeling better."

That is what my patients tell me every day. They go from being ill or just okay to experiencing UltraWellness.

Most people don’t know how poorly they feel until they feel better. In fact, most of us don’t recognize that fatigue, digestive problems, aches and pains, allergies, headaches, and more aren’t just annoying symptoms. They are early clues to impending diseases that can disable and kill us.

Most heart disease starts in the womb. You can detect brain changes in teenagers that can predict the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Blood tests in children can predict who will develop diabetes later in life. Most cancers take more than 30 years to grow to the size where they can be detected.

How can we address problems that we don’t even know we have?

There is an answer. It lies in the revolution that is happening in medicine today. That revolution is called functional medicine. I call it UltraWellness, and that is what you are going to learn about today ...

Recently, I spoke on a panel for PBS TV at the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) convention in Boston.  The topic was dementia.

There was a woman with mild cognitive impairment on the panel. Her condition is sort of like pre-Alzheimer's disease.

Everyone on the panel -- including the Harvard neurologist -- agreed that memory loss is NOT a normal part of aging.

The sad part was that the panel didn't have much to offer people in the way of prevention. Their only solution was just a very bad and pretty ineffective selection of drugs with lots of side effects.

But there is another way to think about brain aging.

The brain responds to all the same insults as the rest of the body -- stress, poor diet, toxins, lack of exercise or sleep, nutritional deficiencies, and more.

So all we have to do is give the brain a tune-up and we can see miracles. 

In a minute, I will tell you about a few miracles in my practice.