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• one of the main factors in mitochondria degeneration is the very thing that the mitochondria drive you towards doing to survive: eating.

• If we want to avoid chronic inflammation and the degenerative diseases it leads to, we need to practice better dietary habits.

• To keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range, you should avoid both grains and sugar as a general rule. That’s because when you eat sugar, it causes spikes in blood sugar, or glucose, levels. This can lead to diabetes, peripheral artery disease, and heart complications. And even if you don’t suffer from celiac disease, gluten and other wheat causes aging through inflammation and gastrointestinal stress; it also disrupts your thyroid function.

• Fats and proteins should make up the heart of your diet instead.

• Charred, fried, or blackened meat, for example, will increase your risk of diseases such as heart failure. Humans need some animal fats for repairing tissue and preserving muscle mass.

• restricting meat intake boosts autophagy, your body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells and generating new healthier ones; it also forces your body to burn fat for warmth.

• To reap the age-curbing benefits of these processes without depriving your body of meat, stick to organic, grass-fed meat.

• If you’re lean, eat .5 grams a day for every pound you weigh. If you’re overweight, make it .35 grams.

• We can’t get all the energy we need from protein, however.

• Fats are the most important source of energy that we can provide our bodies with if we want to live a long, healthy life.

• Avoid foods with a long shelf life contain artificial trans fats. These were developed synthetically, which means that the body isn’t able to digest them properly. As a result, eating them leads to inflammation and heightened cancer risk.

• try to eat monounsaturated fats, which are found in foods like olive oil and avocados; saturated fats like butter; and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats, contained in foods such as salmon.