You’re often advised to “stop and smell the roses.” That’s because experiencing and appreciating your surroundings’ sensory inputs—rosy scents, burning sunsets, and soothing sounds—is peaceful and grounding. This mindful approach to life is enhanced by habits that help keep your senses sharp. In other words: learning how to take care of your senses helps your search for serenity.

The sections below will walk you through tips for caring for your senses, one by one. You may learn your healthy habits already form a foundation of care for your five senses that you didn’t realize existed.

Touch

The top layer of the dermis and bottom part of your epidermis house sensitive touch receptors. That’s why caring for your skin is essential to supporting your sense of touch. Try to incorporate these five skin-savvy lifestyle habits:

  1. Secure Sun Protection: You can choose sunscreen, long-sleeve shirts, a floppy hat, or a combination of all three. Use whatever works best for you to protect your skin from the searing rays of the sun.
  2. Eat Healthy to Achieve Skin Nutrition: Diet impacts your health from head to toe, inside and out. Opt for healthy, plant-focused meals and snacks to provide the nutritional skincare you need.
  3. Avoid Burn and Injury: You probably don’t need more of a reason than the pain you could experience. But avoiding injury will help maintain your sense of touch.
  4. Stay Active: Moving your body helps so many aspects of your health. And skin is certainly one. A heart-pounding workout does wonders to help your circulation, which is great for your organs—including the skin.
  5. Achieve Healthy Hydration: Drinking plenty of water is essential to maintaining your overall health, as well as supporting healthy skin. So keep sipping throughout the day—your skin will thank you.

Taste

A lot goes into building the perfect palate—including understanding the connection between taste and smell. But maintaining the foundation of an optimal, healthy sense of taste starts with just three lifestyle tips:

  1. Dish Up Variety: Trying new cuisines, seeking exotic flavors, and packing your diet with a variety of foods keeps your sense of taste sharp. Making your food pop with a variety of spices can also help you avoid over-salting or excessive sweetening your diet. With interesting, diverse flavors, you won’t hamper your palate with too much salt or sugar.
  2. Watch Your Mouth: Taste is on the tip of your tongue—and all throughout your mouth, too. Maintain solid dental hygiene (yes, that includes flossing) and check in to see what your tongue might be telling you about your health. Going to see your dentist a couple times a year is also helpful.
  3. Don’t Smoke: You know smoking is horrible for your overall health, and it especially wreaks havoc on your sense of taste. Smoke a tasty brisket, but avoid smoking cigarettes.

Smell

Your sense of smell is pretty resilient, but healthy habits can also help protect it and the connection it has to taste. Your sense of smell is also helped by maintaining a varied diet and practicing adventurous eating. Smoking is about the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to optimize your sense of smell—especially how it mixes with taste to help you fully experience flavors.

Sight

It’s time to open your eyes to five of the best lifestyle additions that will help you care for your sense of sight. And it will come as no surprise that they all revolve around keeping your eyeballs as safe and stress-free as possible.

Take a look:

  1. Eat Eye-Supporting Foods: Large, well-conducted studies have drawn a bright line between certain nutrients and supporting eye health. Your healthy, plant-forward diet will help you acquire many of the most important eye-supporting nutrients.
  2. Shade Up: Sunglasses are really cool. They’re also a fashion statement with an eye-health function. Your eyes, like your skin, need protection from the sun. The best way is to slap on some awesome shades.
  3. Consider Your Screen Time: Some sights strain your eyes more than others. The screens that dominate modern life just happen to be super stressful for our eyes. So limit screen time, or think about some glasses that help block some of the harsh blue light shining from your phone or computer.
  4. Make Friends with Your Eye Doctor: You don’t have to invite him or her over for dinner, but they are very helpful for maintaining your sense of sight. Make sure to keep your yearly optometrist appoints.
  5. Shield Your Eyes from Harm: Everything from fingers to metal fragments can hurt your eyes—and, thus, your vision. When you’re playing sports or working with potentially dangerous materials (like wood chips, screws, or chemicals), wear the proper eye protection. Donning some safety glasses or goggles might make all the difference for the health of your eyes.

Hearing

You can only beat your eardrums so much before your hearing is impacted. Instead of testing your auditory equipment, stick to a couple of obvious, but helpful, healthy hearing habits.

First, keep the volume down. Avoiding exposure to loud noises is probably the best way to help maintain good hearing. That means you may need to seek the quite comfort of hushed hobbies.

And, if you can’t avoid it, try the second habit: cover your ears. You can still rock out at a concert, work with loud machinery, or enjoy other cacophonous activities as long as you protect your eardrums.

https://www.wellsanfrancisco.com/self-care-and-the-5-senses/

https://www.towardwellbeing.com/sensory-self-care

http://blog.gantons.com/caring-for-your-5-senses-quality-of-life

https://www.homeinstead.com/care-resources/ten-things-you-can-do-now-protect-five-senses/

https://artofhealthyliving.com/how-to-take-care-of-your-senses/

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6212/950.full

Taste: it’s what makes eating so enjoyable. For all the pleasure taste brings, the mechanisms behind it are underappreciated. Food goes in the mouth, tastes good (or bad), and then it’s swallowed. The apparent simplicity makes taste a process most people take for granted.

Ask any passerby how taste works, and they’ll likely rattle off the basics: taste buds on the tongue pick up sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami flavors. And together these five components create, well, the flavor of food.

All of that is perfectly true, but there’s more to food than meets the tongue.

Think of a wine enthusiast sticking their nose into the glass before taking that first sip. Or a picky eater plugging their nose to make unpleasant foods go down easier. As any sommelier or chef can probably tell you, there’s a connection between taste and smell.

But how—and why—are taste and smell related? They’re simple questions with complicated answers. Fortunately for you, what follows digs into those questions and more. So read on to learn all about the taste-smell connection!

Taste vs. Flavor: An Important Distinction

In most situations, people use taste and flavor interchangeably. “This pasta had a nice taste” or “That pizza has great flavor.” For all intents and purposes, the phrases mean roughly the same thing. Parsing out the complex relationship between taste and smell, however, requires more exact language.

So let’s take a look at terminology. Throughout what follows, taste and flavor will refer to two distinct subjects.

  • Taste refers to the sense—the chemical process in which taste receptors respond to the molecules in food.
  • Flavor, on the other hand, is more abstract. It refers to what might casually be called taste, but is in fact a blend of taste, smell, texture, and more.

In short, taste will be used to describe an individual, isolated sense. Flavor, on the other hand, will describe the overall effect of food on a number of the senses.

What is Taste?

Each sense is a complex subject on its own, never mind putting two together. To avoid biting off more than you can chew, let’s start simple: how does the body translate the food in your mouth into the sensation of taste? Or, to put it a little more simply, how do you taste food?

Taste, also known as gustation, occurs when saliva breaks down and dissolves the food in your mouth enough for the molecules in said food to bind to taste receptors. Your taste receptors are located on the tongue, throat, and roof of the mouth. (Fun fact: Taste receptors are even found in the stomach and intestines, too!)

There are five types of taste receptors, each corresponding to one of the five basic tastes: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami. Contrary to popular belief, specific tastes aren’t restricted to certain parts of the tongue—all five types of taste receptors can be found throughout the mouth.

When a molecule—let’s say a sour one—bonds to the corresponding taste receptor (a sour taste bud), the electrical charge of the receptor cell changes. This electrical impulse is then relayed to a neuron, which sends the information to the brain. And, lo and behold, your mouth puckers up, your eyes squint, and you experience a sour taste.

It seems strange that there are only five distinct tastes. Why five? And, more specifically, why those five? As it turns out, this might be a question for evolutionary biologists.

The Evolving Role of Taste

In the early days of human evolution, taste was a matter of survival. The sense people often take for granted helped early hominids distinguish between nutritious and toxic foods.

And though humans have come a long way since then, many of those evolutionary impulses linger. Have you ever had a craving for a salty bag of kettle-cooked potato chips? What about something sweet? This may be because, on some level, your body still associates those tastes with nutrient-rich foods.

But these days, the five basic tastes are less about survival and more about enjoyment. Most people like to eat—and most people have certain preferences about what they eat. And those preferences, though they might be influenced by evolutionary factors, are based largely on flavor. And this is where smell comes in.

A Brief Overview of Smell

Remember how taste receptors can only register five distinct tastes? Well, the nose knows no such bounds. Scientists haven’t agreed on the exact number of scents humans can distinguish, but the number lies somewhere between 10,000 and 1 trillion. Either way, it’s a whole lot more than five.

But it’s not entirely clear how the body detects so many distinct scents, as there are only a few hundred types of olfactory receptors. (The brain really is miraculous.) These receptors, located in the back of the nose, are actually neurons that go directly to the brain. As molecules float into the nose, they bind to olfactory receptors that send the information to the brain via the olfactory nerve.

That’s enough about the mechanics of smell to provide background for the discussion of the connection between taste and smell. But there is another important distinction to make.

There are actually two types of smell: orthonasal olfaction and retronasal olfaction. Don’t be intimidated by the scientific terms. It’s just a fancy way of distinguishing where the smell entered the nose: orthonasal for the front (through the nostrils), retronasal for the back (through the mouth).

People often forget that the nose and mouth are linked. If you’ve ever laughed while drinking water, one of two things probably happened. You either coughed, sputtered, and spewed water out through your mouth. Or you laughed until the water came out your nose. In retronasal olfaction, molecules take the same route as the water in the aforementioned scenario: into the mouth and then up into the nasal cavity. There, they latch onto olfactory receptors.

This will come into play as you learn more about the connection between taste and smell.

When Taste and Smell Mix: All About Flavor

There’s a good chance you’ve heard that your sense of smell is responsible for a majority of a food’s perceived flavor. People love to throw around statistics, some shockingly high: this person might tell you 75 percent of taste is actually smell; another person claims it’s 90 percent. So which one is correct?

It’s complicated. And, unfortunately, a good way to measure the ratio exactly has yet to be discovered. Here’s what is known.

Smell can impact your perception of flavor in one of two ways: as a constitutive part of that flavor, or as a modulatory force. In the former case, a smell is part of the flavor itself. And in the latter, a smell alters or adjusts your perception of a taste.

One theory suggests that orthonasal olfaction (or smelling through the nostrils) acts as a modulatory force. It primes the pump, so to speak, telling your brain what to expect from your food, thus altering the food’s perceived flavor.

Think again of wine enthusiasts. Why do wine tasters stick their noses deep into each glass before taking the first sip? The practice is, in part, used to identify any imperfections in the wine. But it is also thought to enhance the flavor of wine. As you inhale the aromas of the wine and imagine their sources, you begin to anticipate the flavor. Only then, once the flavor palate of your imagination has been suitably stimulated, do you take a sip.

This process isn’t limited to wine. Pungent cheeses, sautéed onions and garlic, or a steak on the grill can all have the same effect on your nose.

OK—back to wine tasting. Once the wine is in your mouth, your other sense of smell, retronasal olfaction, kicks in. Molecules from the wine float up from your mouth and into the nasal cavity. But, of course, smell isn’t the only sense engaged at that moment. As those molecules are floating up, other compounds stay in the mouth, where they bind to taste receptors.

All of this sensory input is processed by the brain simultaneously. The information from your taste buds and your olfactory receptors blends into one indistinguishable experience. Because these two sensory experiences are so intertwined, retronasal olfaction is considered a key component of flavor.

A Look at the Numbers—Or Lack Thereof—About the Connection Between Taste and Smell

Experiencing a flavor is a difficult sensation to describe. But why? For starters, it’s rooted in experience. To understand the exact flavor you’re tasting, someone would have to eat the same food.

This is partly why it’s so difficult to assign proportions of flavor to smell and taste. Scientists understand both senses from a physiological standpoint. But flavor is, at its heart, a phenomenological (that is, based on direct experience) issue. The blending of both senses creates an experience that is hard to quantify.

If you came looking for numbers, this conclusion might be disappointing. Here’s the good news: you don’t need numbers quantifying the exact connection between taste and smell to enjoy a great meal. If it smells great, tastes great, and has great flavor, who cares what percentage of the work your nose is doing? Just dig in and enjoy some delicious, healthy food with a better understanding of how taste and smell are related.

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Exercise changes your body in many ways, some of which you can see in the mirror. The number on the scale may shift a bit and your clothes may start to fit better with each mile (or kilometer) you walk, jog, or swim. These scale and non-scale victories might be how you measure the success of your exercise routine, but have you ever considered the cellular benefits of exercise?

Your cells are the starting point for all the changes that regular exercise can bring. And there are many cellular benefits of exercise that can lead to full-body transformations. Cardiovascular and strength training exercises affect cells throughout your body. From your heart and brain to the white blood cells of your immune system, your cellular health is optimized when you exercise.

Cardio: It’s Not Just for Your Heart

Classic cardiovascular exercises send blood pumping and elevate your heart rate. You might add cardio to your training to build your stamina and endurance. But you’ll be doing more than that. Cardio can be a cellular health exercise, too.

Several cell types respond to cardiovascular exercise (cardiac cells included). Cellular health is supported by the quick, heart-pounding movements of cardio. Check out how cells all over your body respond to this fast-paced form of exercise:

Cardiac Cells

Let’s start with the cells closest to the action of cardio exercise. Cardiac make up your heart tissue. Your heart is essentially a super muscle, with an impressive compression force that pushes blood out to your entire body.

The muscle cells in your heart are highly specialized, and they don’t regenerate nearly as often as the other cells in your body (only about one percent of heart cells renew themselves every year). But there is a way to support cardiac cells and optimize their regeneration—exercise, cardio to be exact.

A 2018 study of mice helped scientists draw a link between cardio exercise and heart cell growth. Mice are frequently used as model organisms for human biology research. Mouse biology is very close to human biology and their genes work in many of the same ways human genes do.

Researchers found that mice with access to a treadmill in their enclosures chose to run approximately five kilometers every day. Their heart health was monitored and the scientists administering the experiment used DNA markers to track the growth of cardiac cells.

The results were spectacular, and favorable for the mice that had access to a treadmill. Mice who exercised made more than four times the number of new cardiac cells than their non-exercising counterparts.

This study helped cement the cellular benefits of exercise for your heart cells. So, if you have access to a treadmill (or a pair of running shoes and the open road) try putting in a few miles (or kilometers) the next time you want to focus on cellular health exercise.

Brain Cells

Anecdotally, many people believe you can train your brain like any other muscle in your body. It’s not a completely accurate statement since there are no muscle fibers in your brain. But if the goal of brain training is to strengthen the connections between neurons and build new neural networks, then exercise can definitely help whip your brain cells into shape.

Neurons, like muscle cells, can change as you exercise. Increased blood flow to the brain during exercise creates an oxygen-rich environment that your neurons thrive in. Extra oxygen and the release of neurotransmitters during exercise foster the growth of brain cells and the development of new neural pathways. You need these new neuronal connections to keep your brain “flexible” and to support your ability to learn new skills and make memories.

So, in a way, cardio exercises actually work out your brain, too. Movements that ramp up your heart rate are simultaneously stimulating your brain cells to grow and create new connections. Brain cells respond to heart-pumping exercise much like your large muscle groups respond to strength training—they grow!

Immune Cells

If you’re looking to mobilize the cells of your immune system, try to crank out a sweat session a couple times per week. Your white blood cells (WBCs) respond to exercise by increasing their circulation in the bloodstream. More WBCs in circulation means your immune system is primed and ready to take on germs that dare make an appearance.

The effects of exercise on immunity are well documented. You temporarily initiate your body’s immune response when you exercise. This allows your body to keep joint aches and soreness to a minimum after you work out.

With regular exercise you’ll experience a slight uptick in the number of WBCs that enter your bloodstream and stay in circulation. As a result, people who exercise regularly have been shown to experience fewer seasonal bugs and colds.

This phenomenon occurs only when regular, moderate exercise is performed. Consistent days of high-intensity exercise can trigger the opposite response from immune cells. “Overtraining syndrome” is the decline in immune performance that some ultra-marathoners and triathletes experience during training. Long periods of high-intensity exercises can put your body in a constant state of stress, actually hampering your immunity.

To hit the sweet spot of immune cell support, exercise moderately and consistently. A good way to identify what moderate exercise means for you is to gauge your breathing effort during your workouts. Try to aim for 70 percent of your maximum heart rate (you can calculate your max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 beats per minute). That’ll keep you in the zone for cellular health and help you stay out of range of potentially damaging exercise intensity.

Telomeres (All Cells)

Cardiovascular movement influences the health of cells more generally, too. That’s the case when it comes to the telomeres that cap the ends of each cells’ chromosomes.

Chromosomes store all the DNA cells need to replicate (make copies of themselves). These chromosomes are used over and over again for multiple replication cycles. Telomeres are repeating segments of DNA that reside at the ends of each chromosome. These telomeres act as buffers to protect the chromosome from incorrect DNA replication.

Over time, telomeres start to shrink as more copies of each chromosome are made. Shortened telomeres lead to cellular aging and eventual death. So, it’s important to preserve the length of telomeres for as long as possible.

That’s where cardiovascular exercise comes into play. Regular cardio can slow the shortening of telomeres and moderate cellular aging. This is because cardiovascular exercise can affect the level of telomere-preserving enzymes in the cell.

The enzyme that protects telomeres from shortening is called telomerase. Exercise has been shown to elevate the amount of telomerase present in cells. And more available telomerase means telomeres are safeguarded from premature shortening.

Telomeres are at the center of the study of aging. While their role in general health and old age is not clear, one thing is certain. Exercise is great for keeping telomere caps from shrinking too soon and can positively affect the health of each of your cells.

More Cellular Health Exercises—Strength Training

Jogging through the neighborhood or riding a stationary bike exercise your cardiovascular system. But another method of exercise involves slower, more concentrated movements. It’s called strength training. Your heart rate won’t climb as high with strength training, but this form of exercise provides many benefits to your muscle cells.

Muscle Cells

Strength training in a gym setting often focuses on entire muscle groups, but the real effect of resistance exercises on muscles can be found at the cellular level. The cellular benefits of exercise for muscle cells begin rather uniquely. Injury to muscle cells during strength training is the launching point for these cellular benefits.

The cells that make up your larger muscle groups are injured (ever so slightly) when you strength train. Resistance exercises—like planks, push-ups, and squats—all create microscopic injuries to individual muscle cells. To repair themselves, muscle cells need to recruit the help of neighboring satellite cells.

Muscle fibers are surrounded by cells waiting to be called up to active duty when muscles are injured. These satellite cells fuse with injured muscle fibers and donate their organelles to help strengthen the muscle cell. Organelles from satellite cells—like mitochondria and nuclei—are valuable additions to muscle fibers. These organelles allow muscle cells to produce more energy and force during contraction.

Without exercise to trigger these micro-injuries, your muscles would never grow and strengthen in this way. Strength training is an important component of any exercise routine because it plays such a critical role in the health and growth of muscle cells.

Reap the Cellular Benefits of Exercise

Noticeable changes in your body and overall health are the reward of exercising regularly. And below the surface of it all, your cells thrive when you exercise. Think of the trillions of cells that make up your body when you are prepping for your next workout.

Shifting the focus of your workouts to the cellular level can help you appreciate how important your efforts are to even the smallest components of your body. Keep up the cardio and add in strength training so every cell in your body can experience the cellular benefits of exercise.

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A lot of the information you find on weight management carries the same scientific heft as the blank pages you’d waste printing it out. The Internet wasn’t where weight myths started, though—not by a long shot. But weight-related misconceptions flourish in the fertile ground of today’s online ecosystem.

Physical and lifestyle realities make modern-day weight-management efforts hard enough. Add in the mountain of weight misinformation burying people’s best efforts, and you have a Herculean task.

But you can manage your weight to live a healthy, happy life. It starts with knowing fact from fiction. Clearing up six of the most pervasive weight myths is a good start. Read on to see which weight-related misconceptions you can toss aside to lighten the load of advice for staying healthy.

The Scale Says It All—Body Weight is Key to Your Health

It’s correct to connect higher-than-normal body weight with a broad range of undesirable health impacts. This is especially true when the added heft comes from accumulated body fat.

And body composition is certainly an element to consider when stepping on the scale. You’ve heard that muscle weights more than fat, which is true. Same goes for bone and water, too. So, that number on the scale doesn’t tell you everything you need to know.

Weight alone is a consideration, but your body composition is an important factor in evaluating what that scale number means for your health. Instead of buying this weight myth, put context around the measurements you’re doing. Also know that your body weight is only one piece of a big, complex health puzzle.

BMI is an Essential, Accurate Measurement

Body Mass Index (BMI) is somewhat useful in evaluating where you fall on the spectrum of healthy, overweight, and obese. But calling it a standard-bearing measurement, without realizing BMI’s shortcomings, spins this statement into a popular weight-related misconception. And one that can create unnecessary negative pressure on many people.

The simplicity of BMI—putting your height and weight into an equation that reveals your number—makes it a one-size-fits-all approach. Unfortunately, weight is an issue that’s highly personalized and incredibly variable. Here are two ways BMI’s oversimplification make its elevated importance a weight myth:

  1. Body composition isn’t considered. How much fat you have compared to muscle, bone, and water is—as you read about with the last weight-related misconception—essential context when discussing weight.
  2. The approach sidelines important demographic information like sex, race, ethnicity, and age.

Waist measurements (especially when related to height) are better, more accurate indicators of health risks related to body weight. It’s time you move on from relying solely on BMI—an outdated and inaccurate measurement—to make health decisions.

High Body Weight Signals Inactivity and Lack of Athletic Ability

This weight-related misconception is a common and painful bias that springs from bad information. Since many looking to lose weight turn to exercise, there’s a harmful conflation of physical activity and body weight.

As weight myths go, this one is particularly hurtful for those stereotyped by the way their bodies look. Just because someone looks to be carrying around a few extra pounds doesn’t mean they’re lazy or lack athletic ability.

How do you fight this weight-related misconception? Remember the most important statement: Bodies of all shapes and sizes can be—and frequently are—healthy.

Exercise Saves You from Bad Dietary Decisions

You may have read about the distance you need to run to burn off a big meal. They’re shocking numbers that underline why diet and exercise are talked about in combination.

Your bad dietary decisions will follow you to the gym—and likely long after. You can burn the calories you take in if you have the time to do it. However, this idea is best considered a weight myth because it’s not possible for almost anyone to balance out a bad diet with enormous amounts of exercise.

The truth is a successful weight-management plan needs to include a healthy diet AND consistent body movement.

Skinny Always Means Healthy and Being Thin is Ideal

Thin is always in when it comes fashion or pop culture. But a skinny body signaling ideal health is a major weight myth.

Staying fit and maintaining a healthy weight are beneficial to your health—as you’ve read so many times. But fretting over clothing sizes and wanting a thin image reflected in the mirror aren’t as important. Actually, a skinny silhouette can hide a bevy of issues, including the accumulation of harmful visceral fat.

This is one of the most damaging weight-related misconceptions. That’s because the unreal, unhealthy expectations set by “thin is ideal” images are—despite body-positive progress—still too prevalent.

Some body types don’t allow for anyone to meet these false ideals—no matter how hard a person tries. And the quest to look skinny is frequently very harmful for the physical and mental health of children and adults alike.

Instead, focus on what feels right for your body and your health goals. Eat healthy. Move your body. Sleep plenty. And always keep in mind that bodies are healthy and attractive in different sizes and shapes that may not match pop culture’s obsession with skinny.

Eating Fat Makes You Gain Fat Tissue

If you understand anything about how digestion breaks down dietary nutrients, you know this is an easily debunked weight myth.

Your digestive system does too much work, and your food goes through too much transformation, for the dietary fat you eat to turn straight into fat tissue. Sure, your body can store energy that was originally fat in adipose tissue (a fancy term for fat). But there’s no guarantee fat in means fat stored.

Skipping fried foods or fat-rich, nutrient-poor dishes are good ideas. But it’s worse to avoid eating fat at all—especially beneficial, plant-based options. Loading up on a balanced diet with plenty of plants is more effective for health and weight management.

Don’t Let Weight Myths Determine Your Health Journey

There’s always new, attention-grabbing content waiting when you want to read about weight. That doesn’t mean you have to buy into the weight-related misconceptions out there.

The basics of foundational health—a balanced diet, active living, minimal stress, solid hydration, and good sleep—are typically also beneficial for managing your weight. Everything else that offers a one-size-fits-all solution should raise a red flag about the advice or information possibly pushing a weight myth.

Avoid tripping yourself up with weight-related misconceptions by focusing on the basics and remembering that all bodies can be healthy, happy bodies.

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Growing older is a natural phase of life. It follows then that as you age, your cells age, too. And in fact, cellular aging is a simple fact of biology, but one that needn’t be shrouded in mystery.

Cellular aging mechanisms are in place from the day you are born. As cells divide, multiply, and perform their designated functions, they age. And as they age, your body has in place remarkable ways to take care of aging cells and replenish them with new ones.

So, what causes cell aging anyway? Here are some of the most common triggers of cell aging:

  • DNA damage
  • Oxidative stress (from internal and external sources)
  • Decline in autophagy

It’s important to remember that your aging body and older cells aren’t something to shy away from. You aren’t only getting older; your body is signaling to the world what a wonderful life you have lived.

And as for your cells—aging is just another period in their much more microscopic lifecycle. Show your older cells some deference and learn more about their unique aging process.

Cellular Aging—Definitions and Mechanisms

In scientific literature, aging is referred to as senescence. Cellular senescence, specifically, is the process of cellular aging. A senescent cell is generally larger than its non-senescent counterparts. Senescent cells no longer divide in an effort to protect themselves and the tissue surrounding them from inaccurate or harmful replication errors. The process by which a replicating cell transforms into a non-dividing senescent cell takes about six weeks to complete.

DNA replication is at the heart of cellular senescence. In order to maintain healthy, functional tissues and organs, the cells involved need to replicate without error. Your body has natural triggers in place to manage when older cells become senescent and no longer replicate. Aging triggers come from within the senescent cell and the environment around them.

You already read about the three common causes of cell aging, now it’s time to dive deeper into each one.

DNA Damage

New cells don’t need to worry too much about damage to their DNA. The chromosomes that store all your unique genetic information are capped with sections of repeating genetic code that signifies the end of a chromosome. These chromosome caps are called telomeres and they help maintain reliabil and accuracy during DNA replication.

But with each cycle of replication—every time a cell divides, and as the cell ages—a small percentage of the genetic code is lost, and the telomere caps shorten. As the cell ages and telomeres shorten, the cell is more likely to experience damage to its DNA or incorrect replication.

To preserve the integrity of your genetic code the telomeres at the ends of each chromosome signal when it’s time for the cell to stop replicating. Without the telomere caps, gene transcription and cell division would continue indefinitely—leading to a potentially dangerous accumulation of poorly made cells. Your cells rely on telomeres to know when it’s time to retire.

Oxidative Stress

This is another event that triggers cell aging. And oxidative stress can also halt cell replication. Reactive oxygen species in the cell’s environment are fodder for DNA replication mishaps. They can lead to mutations in cell’s genetic code that may affect the function and health of the cell over time.

When reactive oxygen species are detected in the cell’s environment, replication stops in order to preserve the integrity of the cell’s DNA. Aging cells that stop replicating in the presence of reactive oxygen species are protecting your body from incorrect cell proliferation and mistakes in gene transcription.

Decline in Autophagy

Kudos to you if you can recall the definition of this scientific term. Autophagy literally means “self-eat.” And this simple phrase perfectly describes how autophagy is used by cells. As cells age, their organelles (cell parts) and cellular equipment begin to fail. Waste can build up, and it needs to be cleared away. Autophagy is the cell’s way of destroying used and broken parts through a process of self-digestion.

Specialized organelles inside your cells collect damaged cellular material and break it down. These organelles are called lysosomes. They are full of digestive enzymes that eliminate the junk that can build up in your cells.

A cell’s ability to perform autophagy dwindles with age, creating a struggle to clean house when broken-down organelles and waste pile up. This can lead to an accumulation of proteins within the aging cell and may trigger problems with DNA replication down the line.

When a cell can no longer manage the buildup of waste within its cell membrane, it stops dividing and triggers senescence.

Apoptosis vs Cellular Senescence

If you research cell aging long enough, you’ll likely come across a phenomenon called apoptosis. This cellular process is easily confused with senescence, so let’s clear the air on the circumstances that lead to each.

Like you’ve read above, cellular senescence is the end of cell division for the aging cell. A senescent cell continues to perform its original function, but it no longer replicates—to avoid mistakes in genetic transcription. Aging cells aren’t dead cells, but they are less productive and efficient than younger, replicating cells.

Apoptosis is essentially programmed cell death. Sometimes during DNA replication, a cell can stray far from its prescribed course. Uncontrollable replication can lead to abnormal cell growth, a potentially harmful buildup of poorly manufactured cell copies. To stop this overgrowth dead in its tracks, cells have a special self-destruct protocol they can follow.

Older cells are more likely to apoptose, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all senescent cells are headed for immediate self-destruction. When apoptosis is triggered, the cell releases proteins that neatly pack up all the inner workings of the cell and cause it to lyse (pop). Apoptosis isn’t messy, and cells undergoing apoptosis don’t harm their neighboring healthy cells.

In summary, cellular senescence stops cell division and apoptosis occurs when an aging cell can’t stop dividing. Hopefully this interlude clears up some of the confusion surrounding the topic of cell aging.

Healthy Living and Cellular Aging

Aging cells are a fact of life. As your cells age, your body replaces them with young, high-performing cells to take over when older cells retire. No matter the stage of your life or your cell’s lifecycle, you can promote cellular and whole-body wellness with healthy living.

Cellular senescence is unavoidable, but you can protect healthy cells from entering retirement too early. Some activities can shorten telomeres and trigger premature cell aging. Do your best to avoid these:

These habits have been shown to elevate oxidative stress from reactive oxygen species—especially tanning and sunburn. And as you know, reactive oxygen species are one of the triggers of cellular senescence.

One way to protect your cells and support them as they age is by maintaining good cellular health habits. You know how much healthy habits help you feel your best. There are lifestyle and diet choices that can optimize cellular your health, too. Take a minute to review four key habits and learn how to keep your cells healthy.

And remember, aging bodies and aging cells are natural. This latter period of life is meant to be enjoyed. So celebrate aging bodies and aging cells with gratitude and respect for all they’ve accomplished. Pay respect to your body as you and your cells age by avoiding the triggers of cellular aging and supporting healthy cells with a diet rich in antioxidants and other cell-supporting habits.

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/telomeres-and-telomerase-cellular-aging-senescence

http://www.scielo.br/j/babt/a/JwhY4xGwV4VDqnWJKcZWp4x/?lang=en

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/aging-and-cell-division-14230076/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/cell-aging

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-33754-8_81

https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(05)00101-7

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/apoptosis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370421/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4678010/

https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-connection-between-senescence-and-apoptosis

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2018.00790/full

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Lysosome

When it comes to health and nutrition, most people focus on visible, tangible results. How many inches or centimeters did you drop from your waistband? How many reps could you bench press?

These types of external milestones can be valuable motivators. But they aren’t the end-all be-all indicators of health. For a more holistic approach to health, you have to look inside and ask: How healthy are my cells?

Every living organism is made up of cells, and the human body is no exception. Your body—and everyone else’s—contains roughly 37.2 trillion cells. And just like your body as a whole, these cells can be healthy or, well, less healthy.

Fortunately, you don’t need a degree in human biology to take charge of your body’s cellular health. Keep reading to learn why telomere length helps you measure health and how to keep your cells healthy with four lifestyle habits that support cellular health.

How Do You Even Measure Cellular Health?

Before diving into the rest of this article, let’s take a quick, crash course in cell anatomy. Each cell in the human body has, at its center, a nucleus. The nucleus contains 23 chromosome pairs (for a total of 46 chromosomes).

At either end of each chromosome is a DNA structure called a telomere. As cells age and divide, telomere length becomes shorter and shorter until the cell eventually dies. It’s a natural and inevitable process. So what do telomeres have to do with cellular health?

Well, telomeres don’t shorten at a fixed rate. They get smaller each time a cell divides, sure, but certain lifestyle decisions can shorten telomere length more rapidly. In other words, your diet, exercise habits, and other activities can prematurely age your cells.

And remember, cells are the building blocks of your body. If they prematurely age, so will you. For this reason, many studies exploring cellular health use telomere length as one way of measuring a cell’s health.

Enough about unhealthy cells, let’s talk about prevention. After all, you’re not here for a science lesson—you’re here to learn how to keep your cells healthy.

How to Keep Your Cells Healthy: 4 Cellular Health Habits

There’s a lot of conventional wisdom surrounding healthy living: Drink plenty of water, exercise for 30 minutes each day, wear sunscreen, etc. And a lot of that advice is great. What you may not know, however, is that many of those same lifestyle tips apply to cellular health.

It turns out, a lot of health-promoting activities and habits are healthy because they support health on a cellular level. Makes sense, right? When your cells feel good, you feel good.

Let’s dive into four cellular health habits that will help keep your cells thriving.

  1. Maintain a Healthy Diet

“Healthy diet” is a vague term that gets thrown around a lot without explanation. And most people only have a vague idea of what constitutes a healthy diet. Fortunately, when it comes to your cells, eating right is pretty straightforward.

In one study, researchers explored the correlation between telomere length and an individual’s adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and other similar diets. These approaches encourage eating primarily whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. On the flip side, individuals following these diets tend to avoid high-sodium foods, sugars (especially processed sugars), and red meat.

The findings speak for themselves—for women, at least. The dietary habits mentioned above were linked to longer telomere lengths in women, but not men. This doesn’t mean men are off the hook, however. In the sample population used in the study, men tended to have worse diets in general and consumed more red meat—the adverse effects of those dietary choices likely “cancelled out” the benefits of healthy eating.

At this point, it’s established that dietary choices can impact cellular health. So, let’s take a look at why.

There are two factors at play: free radicals and antioxidants. There’s a lot to be said about both, but here’s the gist of it. Free radicals are substances that can damage and deteriorate cells. And antioxidants are the substances that protect the body from free radicals.

So where does the Mediterranean Diet come in? As the fat in red meat cooks, it oxidizes which can then introduce free radicals into the body. By reducing your red meat intake, you can help prevent damage to your cells. And when prevention doesn’t work, go for antioxidant support. Fresh fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of antioxidants. By eating plenty of produce, you can help maintain optimal cellular health.

  1. Exercise Regularly—And Yes, This Means Cardio

Sometimes even the most avid gym-goers avoid cardio. They’ll happily crank out set after set of curls, squats, and flies. But 30 minutes on the treadmill? Forget about it.

Resistance training (think traditional weight training) is a great way to improve strength and muscle definition, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to support telomere length. To reap the benefits of exercise on a cellular level, you have to include cardio in your workouts. It doesn’t matter if it’s endurance training (jogging, cycling, etc.) or high intensity interval training, just shoot for at least 30 minutes.

If you’re a cardio-phobe, don’t worry—you don’t even have to do it every day to see the benefits. In one study, participants did 45 minutes of cardio three times a week. After only six months, researchers observed longer average telomere lengths in that set of individuals than in subjects doing only resistance training or no exercise at all. That’s right! You can go for a run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, take a nice, relaxing weekend, and still support your cellular health.

  1. Don’t Underestimate Sleep

If you ask a random passerby how much sleep is the “right” amount, they’ll probably tell you eight hours per night. And, according to most guidelines, they’d be correct. The amount of sleep a person needs varies, but for most people 7-9 hours a night is sufficient.

But what happens if you sleep less than that? You’ll probably feel pretty lousy—for starters—but consistently sleeping too little can also impact your health on a cellular level.

If you’re sleeping five hours or fewer a night, there’s a good chance your cells are being adversely affected—especially if you’re a man. In one study, the duration of sleep for men was linearly linked to telomere length. Put simply, the less sleep men get, the shorter their average telomere length. And, as mentioned above, shorter telomeres can mean prematurely aged cells.

While the effect of sleep on telomere length in women is less clear cut, it’s still a good idea to tuck in for plenty of sleep each night regardless of gender!

  1. Practice Mindfulness

Nobody likes being stressed out. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and, as it turns out, bad for your cells. At this point, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that excessive stress has been linked to shorter telomere lengths in adults.

But the effect of your mind on cellular health goes a step further. Not just stress, but a wandering mind—as opposed to being present in the moment—can have a negative effect on your cells, one study suggests. This, of course, can be difficult to measure. In the study, participants self-reported the degree and type of their day-to-day mind wandering. Those who reported more negative wandering—anxious, racing, and defensive thoughts—were found to have shorter telomeres.

If mind wandering is detrimental to cellular health, this raises another question: What can you do to counteract a wandering mind and maintain cellular health?

Let’s say mind wandering is one end of the spectrum—what’s at the other end? Presence of mind. Or, in other words, being present in the moment. There are a number of meditative practices that can help stave off mind wandering and ground you in the present moment, but one of the most popular is mindfulness.

Practicing mindfulness can help you stay present and reduce your stress, protecting your cells on two fronts! A win-win for your mental state and your cellular health.

Take Charge of Your Cellular Health

A healthy body starts with healthy cells. Fortunately for you, taking charge of your cellular health isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Now that you know how to keep your cells healthy, give these lifestyle practices a try. Start implementing one (or all) of the above tips in your life to keep your cells healthy and thriving.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322845

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/practical-mindfulness/201907/how-focusing-the-present-can-keep-your-cells-healthy

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483149/

https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/endurance-but-not-resistance-training-has-anti-aging-effects.

https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20140729/healthy-habits-may-slow-cellular-signs-of-aging-study-finds#1

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/55093212

https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/187/10/2192/5038505

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2167702612460234

There are two sides to every vegetable—raw and cooked. You might happily crunch on a bag of fresh baby carrots, but gag at the thought of eating one boiled. And it turns out, cooking isn’t just a matter of taste. People often think of cooking as a way to enhance the flavor of  food—and it is. But, as you prepare your food, you may also want to think about the effect of cooking on nutrients.

With the growing popularity of raw food diets, you’ve likely heard something along these lines: Raw vegetables are the most nutritious; when you cook veggies, you lose nutrients. The same is sometimes said of meat, eggs, and just about every other food group. It’s a plausible claim, but is it true?

The short answer is sometimes. But let’s dive into the long answer. The original question presents a simple binary: Raw vs. cooked. In reality, the situation is much more complicated. There is, after all, more than one way to cook a vegetable. And various nutrients respond differently to each cooking method.

A Quick Overview of Nutrients

Broadly speaking, you’ll find two types of nutrients in food: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are the well-known trio of fats, carbs, and proteins. They’re the main components of your diet and supply the body with energy and building blocks.

Micronutrients, on the other hand, are needed in smaller amounts. (But don’t let this deceive you! Micronutrients are just as important to your health as macronutrients.) Micronutrients include vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (plant compounds). These nutrients help regulate and maintain healthy reactions within your body on a cellular level.

Most studies looking into the effect of cooking on nutrients focus on micronutrients—specifically vitamins. And for the purposes of this article, that’s largely the focus, too.

There are two types of vitamins: fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E, and K) and water soluble (vitamin C and the B vitamins). The difference is pretty straightforward. Vitamin C and the collection of B vitamins dissolve in water, whereas vitamins A, D, E, and K dissolve in fat. So what does this have to do with cooking?

Some cooking methods use water and others use fat. The solubility of a vitamin is one of the best indicators of how it will react to certain cooking methods. For instance, the quantity of vitamin C (a water soluble vitamin) in any given vegetable tends to decrease when that vegetable is boiled.

Solubility is a good starting point, but, of course, it gets more complicated. Let’s dig in.

The Effect of Cooking on Nutrients: What’s Happening on the Inside?

There’s no easy equation for choosing the best cooking method for nutrition. Not only do nutrients react differently to various types of cooking, but their reactions also vary across different types of vegetables. A boiled Brussels sprout, for example, loses some of its vitamin C. The levels of beta-carotene in chard, however, increase with cooking.

These variations are caused by the cellular structure of vegetables. Depending on where in the cell a nutrient is stored, cooking can do the following:

  • Make the nutrient more readily absorbed (as the cell wall softens)
  • Break down the nutrient itself
  • Kill off oxidizing agents that would otherwise reduce the quantity of that nutrient

Let’s revisit that initial claim: Cooking vegetables reduces their nutritional value. Clearly, this isn’t always the case. In instances where cooking softens the tissues of plant cells, certain vitamins are released, making extraction—and detection—easier. In other words, some vegetables become more vitamin-rich when cooked.

This means there are three factors to consider when looking at the effect of cooking on nutrition: the method of cooking, the vegetable being cooked, and the specific nutrient being measured.

Let’s take a look at several common vitamins to see how they respond to various cooking methods in a variety of vegetables.

Vitamin C

For most people, vitamin C brings citrus to mind—and the bright fruits are admittedly an excellent source of vitamin C. But you’re probably not cooking your oranges and lemons. The vegetables rich in vitamin C—think broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and spinach—are another story.

Boiling is one of the most popular ways to prepare broccoli and Brussels sprouts. But if you’re trying to get your daily vitamin C, you should opt for a different cooking method—one that doesn’t use water. Because vitamin C is water-soluble, it seeps out of the vegetables and into the water. And that water goes straight down the drain. (In many cases, boiling reduces the vitamin C content of vegetables by more than 50 percent!)

Vitamin C is also heat sensitive. Expose your vegetables to heat for too long and you’ll run into the same problem as boiling. So what does this mean for you and your kitchen habits?

There’s nothing wrong with boiling your broccoli—it’ll taste delicious—but if you’re trying to optimize vitamin C intake, you should choose a low heat, water-free cooking method. Think sautéing, microwaving, or, better yet, leave it raw.

Vitamin K

To remember the role of vitamin K in the body, remember the two Bs: blood and bones. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble nutrient that helps support your body’s normal blood clotting processes and maintain healthy bones. Vitamin K is found primarily in leafy greens like spinach, chard, beet greens, and kale.

Vitamin K is less fickle than some other vitamins. Spinach, for example, retains most of its vitamin K content regardless of how you cook it. And most cooking methods will actually increase the levels of available vitamin K in chard.

If you’re trying to up your vitamin K intake, don’t give too much thought to your cooking method. Focus instead on what you’re eating your veggies with. Remember, vitamin K is fat soluble. Preparing those veggies with olive oil or another source of beneficial fats will help your body absorb the essential nutrient.

Beta-Carotene (Vitamin A)

Strictly speaking, beta-carotene is a phytonutrient (a plant compound), which the body then converts into vitamin A. This essential vitamin then helps support the immune system and optimizes healthy retinal function (hence the adage that carrots are good for the eyes).

Beta-carotene is what makes carrots orange, so it should come as no surprise that those crunchy root veggies are packed with phytonutrients. Raw carrots are an excellent source of beta-carotene, but when they’re cooked—especially boiled lightly or steamed—your body can absorb more of that important phytonutrient.

The same can be said for spinach and chard—both (slightly less) excellent sources of beta-carotene. When boiled, these leafy greens show increased levels of available beta-carotene. (This is caused, as you might have guessed, by the softening of cell walls.)

Vitamin E

Vitamin E helps support your body’s protections from threats. As a powerful antioxidant, it helps neutralize free radicals—highly reactive molecules that can be harmful to cells. Vitamin E also helps maintain your immune system. Long story short, it’s something you want to have in your body.

Root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc.) and leafy greens (spinach, chard, and the like) contain vitamin E. But that’s where the similarities end.

No matter how you cook root vegetables, their levels of vitamin E will always decrease. That’s kind of a bummer, because who likes to eat raw potato? Leafy greens, however, are the opposite. When leafy greens are cooked, the quantities of available vitamin E increase significantly. And by now you know why—the breakdown of the cell walls.

So if it’s vitamin E you’re after, skip the raw potatoes and go for cooked greens.

What About the Effect of Cooking on Nutrients in Meat?

Enough about vegetables, let’s get to the meat of the story. Cooking meat properly is notoriously difficult. At its best, meat is tender, flavorful, and free from bacteria. Prepared wrong and it’s, well, the opposite—bland and tough.

And when you take health and nutrition into account, cooking meat only becomes more complicated.

Although meat is rich in  B vitamins, exposing it to high temperatures for too long can greatly reduce the essential nutrients’ overall availability. Some of the B vitamins are lost in the juices that drip from the meat, but if you collect and serve that juice as part of the dish, you’ll have a tasty sauce and retain valuable nutrients! That’s a win-win situation.

Unfortunately, when cooking meat, your biggest concern shouldn’t be the nutrients you’re losing, but rather the substances you are creating (and then eating). When the fats and juices from meat come in contact with cooking surfaces at high temperatures, they create smoke.

That smoke can contain harmful chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which becomes part of your food. To minimize your intake of PAHs and HCAs, avoid grilling and searing your meat. Instead opt for baking or broiling—both of which can have delicious results!

To Boil or Bake: Selecting the Best Cooking Method for Nutrition

If there’s one thing to take away from this article, it’s this: when it comes to cooking and nutrition, there isn’t an easy answer. Is raw better than cooked? Sometimes. It depends on what you’re cooking, how you’re cooking it, and the nutrient you’re measuring.

To ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need, eat a variety of vegetables prepared in a variety of ways. This approach will delight your taste buds, too.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6049644/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/healthiest-way-to-cook-meat

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/food-processing-and-nutrition

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14673607/

https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/g20514153/5-veggies-that-are-healthier-cooked-than-raw/

Cells are the building blocks of life, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some cells are round and small, others are larger and web-like. No matter their look, the cells in your body are highly complex, elegant machines that make life possible.

The variety of cell shapes and sizes is essential. Your body always has a lot going on. Cells need to differentiate and specialize, channeling their energy toward specific tasks. Let’s explore the variety of cells in your body and learn more about their anatomy, function, and individual characteristics.

Go Deep Inside Your Cells

Diversity starts inside the cell— with cellular organelles. These teeny-tiny membrane assemblies fill your cell and help it perform its specific functions. There are many organelles, and you’ll read about a couple of the most important ones.

The organelles that operate inside of cells are necessary for completing designated assignments. Not every cell has every type of organelle. But all cells rely on these structures to work effectively.

Cell Membrane

The lipids that surround the cell and give it shape are organized into a two-layered barrier called a membrane. Cell membranes are made of fats and proteins. The fatty portions of the membrane keep water out of the cell, while the proteins allow nutrients and water to pass through.

Your cells need a membrane to stay organized, compact, and protect their contents from the surrounding body fluids. You can visualize a cell membrane by dropping a bit of oil into a cup of water. The micelles that form from mixing oil and water are a lot like the fatty membrane that encapsulates your cells.

Mitochondria

Mitochondria are the organelles that power the cell. It’s in and around the mitochondria that the food you eat is converted to cellular energy (or ATP as it’s known inside the cell).

Mitochondria are commonly referred to as the “powerhouses” of the cell. But these compact generators weren’t always stuck inside cells. Scientific research suggests that mitochondria were at one time their own cellular bodies. There is unique genetic information stored inside mitochondria. This material is called mitochondrial DNA.

As life evolved, it’s believed mitochondria were recruited by cells as an energy source. Now when cells divide, mitochondria replicate inside the cell along with the other organelles.

Here’s a fun fact: every cell in your body contains mitochondria except red blood cells.

Ribosomes

Cells need to be able to produce proteins. Ribosomes are the center of protein production inside the cell. They use specialized codes to read the information stored in RNA molecules (genetic directions for building proteins). Ribosomes create nucleic acids and proteins from the instructions found in RNA.

Nucleus

In the nucleus, you’ll find all the blueprints for a cell. The nucleus is the cell’s “brain.” It sends out instructions about how the cell should function, and it houses the DNA needed to replicate the cell.

This organelle is often depicted in images as the dark center of a cell. It’s densely packed with DNA that is sensitive to degradation and damage from the environment around it. A double-layered membrane surrounds the nucleus to protect the DNA stored inside.

Cell Types Explained

Now that you understand some of the crucial cellular operation centers, let’s zoom out to discuss different cell types. Hundreds of specialized cells are inside your body right now. A student of science like yourself could spend a lifetime learning about each and every cell type.

Instead of debating the minutia of each type, here are the basics about some of the most common varieties of cells in your body.

1. Skin and Epithelial Cells

The cells you can most easily see are your skin cells. That’s because the largest and outermost organ of your body is made entirely of special skin cells—also called epithelial cells. These epithelial cells that create the meshwork of your skin are the same type of cells that line your digestive tract, blood vessels, and hollow organs.

Skin cells have unique properties. These special attributes help explain the function of your epithelial cells. Here are a few ways skin cells can work in your body:

  • Skin cells come together to create tissues that can secrete mucus, sweat, and oil.
  • Epithelial cells harden through a process called keratinization to protect your body from invading pathogens and injuries.
  • They also pigment the skin. A protein (melanin) in your skin cells that influences your skin color, and whether or not you have freckles.
  • Skin cells also keep you hydrated. Those outermost skin cells protecting your softer insides are great at trapping water beneath your skin.
  • Inside your body epithelial cells secrete mucus. The lining of your esophagus, nasal passages, and intestines are all made of epithelial cells that lubricate these surfaces.

2. Blood Cells

Red and white blood cells circulate all over your body to deliver oxygen, carry away carbon dioxide waste, and play the starring role in your immune system. Their ubiquitous nature might make them seem simple, but there’s more to these blood cells than you might think.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are also called erythrocytes. They are unique because they do not have a nucleus (unlike most other cells). Because they lack a nucleus, RBCs are hollow in the center—kind of like a donut. Their unique shape makes them more efficient at exchanging and transporting oxygen molecules—their primary role in your body.

Without a nucleus and other organelle structures, RBCs cannot replicate on their own. Instead, your body generates new red blood cells in bone marrow tissue.

RBCs use a protein called hemoglobin to carry oxygen throughout your body. The hemoglobin inside RBCs gives blood its signature red color.

White blood cells (WBCs), or leukocytes, are agents of the immune system. They search for invading pathogens and initiate and complete your body’s immune responses.

There are two main classes of WBCs—granulocytes and mononuclear leukocytes:

  • As the name suggests, granulocytes are WBCs filled with granules. Inside each granule are proteins and enzymes that can digest and destroy pathogens. Granulocytes are responsible for the creation of pus, and they play an important role in allergies.
  • Mononuclear leukocytes don’t have granules. Instead, they have one large nucleus and special organelles called lysosomes. These lysosomes act like holding cells for microbes and other potential pathogens. Mononuclear leukocytes can use these lysosomes to trap and destroy invaders through a process called endocytosis.

3. Nerve and Brain Cells

The brain is full of spidery cells that allow you to think, read, move, and remember. Brain cells are the main components of your central nervous system. They use chemical messengers called neurotransmitters to communicate between other body cells.

Two kinds of brain cells exist in your body—neurons and glia. Both are necessary for efficient electro-chemical signaling throughout the body.

Neurons are web-shaped brain cells with a central body called a soma. All neurons have branched appendages called dendrites that can receive electro-chemical messages from neighboring neurons. A neuron can transmit signals along the longest portion of its cell body, called the axon.

Glial cells look a lot like neurons, but they differ in one important way: Glia cannot transmit electrical signals like neurons can. Their purpose is to support the transmission of electro-chemical signals from neurons by acting as insulation. Glial cells make it possible for tiny electro-chemical messages to travel the entire length of the body. Their insulating role speeds up signaling across long distances.

4. Muscle Cells

Your heart, hamstrings, and every other muscle in your body are composed of muscle cells—also known as muscle fibers. These fibers wrap tightly around each other like bundles of strong, stretchy cords to create your muscles.

Individual muscle fibers contain filamentous proteins that allow the fiber to lengthen and contract. These proteins are called actin, myosin, and titin. Each has a role in the contraction-relaxation cycle of a muscle fiber.

Nerve cells from the central and peripheral nervous system send messages to muscle fibers to coordinate your movements. Some muscle movements are voluntary, like lifting your hand to wave hello. Other muscle fiber contractions are unconscious or involuntary, such as the constriction of your pupils in bright light.

There are three main types of muscle fibers and muscle tissue, and each kind of tissue utilizes muscle fibers differently:

  • Skeletal muscle cells are under conscious control. These muscle fibers attach directly to bones via tendons. Skeletal muscle fibers are long and cylindrical, like tubes that bundle together. These muscle cells are also multi-nucleate, which means they have more than one nucleus.
  • Smooth muscles are made up of smooth muscle fibers. You can find smooth muscle fibers inside of the organs of your body. Your eyes, stomach, bladder, intestines, and blood vessels are all built with smooth muscle tissue. Unlike skeletal muscle, you do not have voluntary control over smooth muscle fibers.
  • What makes cardiac muscle cells unique is their location. These muscle fibers can only be found in one place—your heart. Cardiac muscle cells are ultra-strong, elastic cells that allow your heart to pump blood in one coordinated and efficient heartbeat.

5. Fat Cells

Fat storage is a sometimes-taboo topic. But the cells that house fat are extremely valuable to your body. Adipocytes are fat cells, and when they assemble together they make up fat tissue.

Try to break out of the “fat = bad” mindset for a minute. Your body stores fat just like a bank stores money. Having fat on hand is essential when your body needs energy. And adipocytes house the fat your body wants or needs to save for later use.

Brown adipocytes are sometimes called “baby fat.” These fat cells are so named because you have lots of brown fat cells during infancy. The primary role of brown fat is thermogenesis (heat) and these adipocytes maintain body heat because they are full of mitochondria. Infants depend on brown fat reserves because they lack the ability to shiver or use other means to warm themselves.

As you age, your supply of brown fat cells shrinks, but doesn’t go away entirely. Current scientific research suggests that the mitochondria that fill brown fat cells disappear as you get older, causing the brown fat you stored in infancy to resemble white fat cells.

The main function of white fat cells is energy storage. When glucose isn’t available from your diet, a process called gluconeogenesis kicks in. Through gluconeogenesis, fat can be broken down and converted to usable glucose molecules to power the rest of the cells in your body. Fat available for gluconeogenesis comes from the white adipocytes you may be trying to burn during exercise.

Cellular Health Comes First

You are the cells in your body, and it’s important to take good care of them. No matter the cellular type, complete nutrition is the best way to help your cells thrive. Focus your eating on foods that will deliver nourishing vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients to your cells. Be picky about what you put into your body. Steer clear of over-processed and nutrient-poor foods. Instead, build your meals with the quality nutrition of whole foods—lean proteins, plant-based fats, fiber, vegetables, and fruit.

Prioritizing the health of your cells will pay dividends in your overall wellness. When your cellular health is soaring, you feel great, too. Channel your energy into supporting your cells with a diet rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Whole nutrition from quality foods can optimize the health and wellbeing of the cells that make you.

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/cells/eukaryotic-cells/a/organelles-article

https://www.britannica.com/science/red-blood-cell

https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=anatomy-of-the-skin-85-P01336

https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-fibers

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Ribosome

https://open.oregonstate.education/aandp/chapter/4-1-types-of-tissues/

https://www.umassmed.edu/guertinlab/research/adipocytes/

https://www.dana.org/article/cells-of-the-brain/

Nobody’s digestion is perfect. And finding the foods that won’t frustrate your gastrointestinal tract is often a game of trial and error. Dealing with digestive concerns like gas, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or constipation aren’t fun. These problems may be caused by the FODMAP foods you’re eating.

FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. (Saccharide is just another term for sugar.) These types of sugar can be minimized in the low-FODMAP diet some people adopt to support good digestive health.

Traditional health recommendations tell you to eat a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Research even shows a highly varied diet helps support a healthy gut and healthy microbiome. But no two people are exactly alike. Your diet may contain some normally healthy foods that your personal digestive system doesn’t work well with.

So, if you have digestive concerns, it might be worth limiting some of that variety in your diet. Low-FODMAP diets aim to eliminate or reduce the foods that most commonly feed into occasional indigestion and stomach discomfort.

What are FODMAPs?

To understand why you might be feeling the effects of FODMAPs in your diet, you first need a basic understanding of digestion in the gut. (Find a full recap of your digestive system here.)

After being broken down in your mouth and stomach, most of the food and liquid you eat is absorbed in your small intestine. Fiber and other waste products pass through the small intestine and into your large intestine.

The molecules that make it all the way into your large intestine become food for your microbiome. The sugars and carbohydrates that pass into the large intestine are fermented by bacteria. This fermentation process can create gas—and the accompanying feelings of bloating, cramping, and abdominal discomfort.

Due to individual digestive differences, you may have trouble breaking down and absorbing certain types of sugars and carbohydrates that others can absorb. This means more of the sugars pass into the large intestine, more fermentation takes place, and you’ll potentially feel more digestive discomfort.

The foods targeted by low-FODMAP diets are ones most frequently associated with poor digestion. They don’t need to be avoided by everyone, but some people do benefit from limiting or eliminating certain high-FODMAP foods.

The Chemistry of FODMAPs

As you learned above, FODMAP is an acronym for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. If you know the basic chemistry of carbohydrates, then you might be worried this is a far-reaching diet with a goal of eliminating all carbohydrates in your diet. But that’s not the case. A low-FODMAP diet only limits the intake of specific types of sugars within these carbohydrate categories.

For example, sucrose, lactose, and maltose are all disaccharides commonly found in the diet. Only fructose is limited in a low-FODMAP diet. So, you don’t need to worry about reducing all disaccharides in your diet.

These are the specific molecules targeted within each category of a low-FODMAP diet:

  • Fermentable oligosaccharides (polysaccharides): fructans and galactooligosaccharides
  • Disaccharides: lactose
  • Monosaccharides: fructose
  • Polyols: sorbitol, mannitol, and maltitol

You’ll discover your individual needs vary. For example, some fermentable oligosaccharides may need to be eliminated for a successful low-FODMAP diet, while the disaccharides and polyols foods can still be eaten, just in small amounts.

Unlike the other molecules targeted by a low-FODMAP diet, fructose isn’t limited to a threshold amount. Instead, it is limited in relationship to the amount of glucose you eat. That’s because glucose, when eaten together with fructose, helps increase the absorption of fructose in the small intestine.

When fructose is eaten alone or too much is eaten in relationship to glucose, then it will pass into the large intestine. Once in the large intestine, then fructose can cause some of the same problems as the other FODMAP molecules.

High and Low FODMAP Foods

A simple online search for “FODMAP foods” will help you find lots of lists and charts of foods to avoid or include in your diet. Below you will find a short sample list of some high-FODMAP foods (to avoid or limit), and others that are low (less likely to cause problems) in FODMAPs.

  • Fructans and galactooligosaccharides
    • High: wheat, rye, barley, onion, garlic, artichoke, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, legumes
    • Low: corn, rice, quinoa, potatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, green beans,
  • Lactose
    • High: milk, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream
    • Low: lactose-free milk, almond milk, hard cheeses
  • Fructose
    • High: pears, apples, watermelon, honeydew, papaya, star fruit, fruit juices, agave nectar
    • Low: blueberries, strawberries, oranges, pineapple, cantaloupe, kiwi
  • Polyols
    • High: apples, apricots, avocados, foods sweetened with honey, sorbitol, mannitol, or maltitol
    • Low: dark chocolate, table sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar

Implementing a FODMAP Diet

Not everyone will benefit from avoiding FODMAP foods. But if you decide to try a low-FODMAP diet, it’s best to work through the list of foods systematically. It’s unlikely that all high-FODMAP foods are causing you problems.

Where possible, keep as many foods and as much variety as you can in your diet. The three-step approach below will help you find out which foods may be causing problems for you. Then you know which foods you can continue to enjoy.

1. Elimination and Restriction

The best way to start is by restricting or eliminating as many high-FODMAP foods as possible. After sticking to this strict diet for a few weeks, hopefully your digestive system will feel better.

If symptoms still haven’t improved, you should work with your doctor or dietician to develop a personal plan for you and look at foods outside the FODMAP list.

2. Reintroducing Foods

If the FODMAP foods elimination has helped, it’s time to start reintroducing some options you eliminated from your diet. Reintroduce foods one at a time, and only in small amounts.

By testing out foods one at a time, you will learn which ones are safe for you to eat, and which ones need to be either eliminated or only eaten in very small amounts. After testing out a food, wait one or two days to feel how you tolerate it.

Take your time with the reintroduction phase. You’re going to be tired of eating a restricted diet and anxious for some freedom in your food choices. If you try too many FODMAP foods at once or don’t wait enough time between testing new foods, then you won’t know which choices are responsible when problems arise again (and they probably will).

There may be times when you need to go back to step one and spend a couple of weeks with a more restricted diet, just to let your GI system settle down again. Then you can start testing new foods again.

3. A Personalized Diet

Just like the FODMAP foods lists and charts you’ll find online, it’s probably worth making your own list. It will help you clearly define which foods to avoid, limit, and can be safely eaten.

By following this process of elimination and reintroduction, you may even find foods that aren’t on traditional low-FODMAP lists. This will also help create a very personalized diet.

A low-FODMAP diet requires patience to figure out, and it isn’t a magic solution that will solve all your digestive-health concerns. But it is a tool that can help you on a path to better digestion, while still includes a beneficial variety of healthy foods in your diet.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fodmaps-101

https://www.fodmapformula.com/how-to-make-a-fodmap/

https://alittlebityummy.com/testing-fodmaps-how-does-the-reintroduction-phase-work/

To understand cellular nutrition, you can take the better part of a decade to earn a PhD in microbiology or you can set aside about six minutes to read this story.

Opting for the doctoral route means deeper knowledge, a nice degree to frame, and many fancy words to throw around. But reading on will simply answer four key questions to provide an actionable understanding of possibly the most important topic in nutrition.

And you’ll save a few hundred thousand dollars in the process. The choice is yours.

What’s the difference between cellular and regular nutrition?

One word—scale.

Most people talk about nutrition on a system-by-system or body-wide scale. (Examples: eating fiber helps you feel full and manage your weight, protein supports healthy muscles, or you should target immune-supporting foods in your diet.) But nutrition, like your overall health, starts in the cell.

In fact, properly nourishing your cells should be—and sneakily is—the real aim of all nutrition. The disconnect is that cellular nutrition happens on a microscopic scale, and involves intricate, complicated mechanisms.

More people will follow if you talk about nutrients for brain health or heart-smart snacks than if you wade into the intricacies of how your mighty mitochondria get properly fed. And that’s OK. Any understanding of nutrition is helpful and great for public health.

Just remember, when you’re talking about nutrition in any way, you’re actually discussing cell nutrition. You’re just doing it without drowning in the complexities and verbiage of PhD-level microbiology.

Why is cellular nutrition important?

Maintaining cellular health through proper nutrition is essential to optimizing your overall wellness. That sentence sounds stuffy, but the concept is pretty simple.

You’re made up of cells of different types. If they aren’t fed what’s needed to maintain health, it’s hard to imagine your body, as a whole, feeling great. Put another way: a building made of broken bricks doesn’t stand long.

Cell nutrition is the starting point for maintaining the health of all your large body systems and overall physical wellness. And supporting cellular nutrition doesn’t require a big shift in the usual dietary advice.

You still want the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and macronutrients you find in healthy whole foods. (More on this below.) But while munching on your salad, you can think about how you’re doing it for your cells as much as your waistline.

I understand digestion, but it seems like there’s a few steps beyond the basics that help facilitate cell nutrition. So, how do nutrients from the diet eventually enter cells?

Each stage of digestion breaks your food down into smaller and smaller pieces that are more useable. After nutrient absorption happens in the small intestine and the molecules are distributed in the blood, your cells can start chowing down, too.

This part can become confusing, so let’s explore—as simply as possible—three of the main ways nutrients enter cells.

  • Route No. 1: The cell opens up a temporary mouth in its membrane and basically swallows what it wants. This process of cellular eating and drinking—usually reserved for bigger molecules—is called endocytosis.

Lipids and proteins in the cell membrane start to form up walls around the molecule trying to enter the cell. This literally looks like a mouth opening up—hence the mouth analogy. As the molecule pushes through the membrane, a bubble is formed around it. That protective coating is then broken down by special proteins in the cell and its nutrient contents are utilized for energy, growth, repair, or whatever the cells need.

  • Route No. 2: Nutrients hitch a ride on a carrier protein (such as albumin). This is like a nutrient having an usher accompany it through the membrane’s set of locked doors and into the cell. In more scientific terms, the carrier proteins latch onto the nutrient molecule and help it pass through into the intercellular space.
  • Route No.3: Hop into an express lane into the cell—formally referred to as a channel protein. As long as the nutrient molecules pass tests for size, charge, and other properties, it can enter fairly easily through the pores created by channel proteins. These entry avenues can help many more molecules per second pass through the membrane and into the cell than any other path.

No matter the route taken, once inside the cell, nutrient molecules are used for their appropriate purpose to support your health at the cellular level. The glucose from carbohydrates in your diet are broken up and used for energy. Fatty acids (lipids) and amino acids (protein parts) are used as building blocks or energy—depending on what’s needed.

What nutrients are vital for maintaining healthy cell nutrition?

Read enough about nutrition and you’ll experience informational déjà vu. That’s because the human body needs what it needs—most importantly, those nutrients labeled essential. And there are only so many ways to acquire it all.

You should be eating a varied, balanced diet full of whole fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and beneficial fats. That’s the best way to acquire the variety of essential vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids your cells need. The “essential” label comes from your body’s inability to make certain substances. So they must be found in your diet. You’ll also contribute other nutrients that can help maintain your health, too.

Now that you know the most important nutrients for cell nutrition, let’s see why they’re so crucial for maintaining health. Taking in all those essential macro- and micronutrients help fill cell nutritional needs and support four basic mechanisms for maintaining cellular and overall health.

  1. Energy: You can dive deep into cellular energy production and ATP. But, for now, all you need to know is that your cells break the bonds of nutrient molecules to unleash energy.
  2. Structure (growth and repair): Proteins, fats, and some minerals are used by cells to build or repair cellular and bodily structures.
  3. Supporting Reactions: Vitamins and minerals act as cofactors for enzymes and support key reactions and processes that keep your body running optimally.
  4. Protection: Antioxidants can come in the form of vitamins or other nutritional compounds. Either way, they help maintain cellular health by neutralizing free radicals from metabolism and environmental elements.

It’s a lot to accomplish, but you’re made of amazing cells. Your job in the big machine of health is simple: feed your cells all the important nutrients they need to maintain overall health.

The modern diet and lifestyle can make this tricky. You may want to supplement your diet to optimize cellular health. If you choose to, target products with the right forms and amounts of the essential nutrients and beneficial dietary compounds you need most.

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