How does sleep affect mitochondria?

What you’ll learn:  

• How sleep supports mitochondrial energy production, cellular repair, and growth hormone release through ATP-driven processes 
• The role mitochondria play in regulating your circadian rhythm, melatonin production, and sleep–wake cycle 
• Why sleep deprivation increases oxidative stress and how supporting mitochondrial health may help protect energy, recovery, and overall wellbeing 

How do mitochondria support cellular repair and energy production while we sleep?

If there’s one thing that researchers agree on, it’s that sleep is essential for our ongoing health and wellbeing.

Your body goes through a detailed chain reaction process while you sleep, and this process begins with your mitochondria. For your body to grow and repair itself while you sleep, your mitochondria need to be producing ATP: a compound within your cells that helps to give your body energy. ATP controls the function of your anterior pituitary gland: the ‘master gland’ that lives at the base of your brain. When you sleep, this gland releases growth hormones that help your body grow and repair itself. 

Do mitochondria influence our circadian rhythm?

Recent research suggests that melatonin is not only found in many tissues but may also be produced within the mitochondria of numerous cell types. 
 
Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland in your brain, which helps control your body’s sleep pattern and sleep-wake cycle. The production increases with darkness to help promote healthy sleeping. 
 
A journal article from the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry explored the connection between mitochondria and our circadian rhythm (the body’s internal body clock), identifying that sleep deprivation alters the enzyme activity and protein levels within the body – which highlights the mitochondria’s involvement in the body’s sleep/wake cycle. 
 
Studies show that circadian rhythms help control the number, shape, and quality of mitochondria in cells by regulating key processes such as mitochondrial creation (biogenesis), renewal and repair (fission and fusion), and the removal of damaged mitochondria (mitophagy). 

Although more research is needed to fully understand this feedback loop, current evidence highlights the importance of supporting healthy circadian rhythms as a way to promote optimal mitochondrial function, energy production and overall cellular health. 

How does sleep deprivation affect mitochondrial function?

When we’re sleep-deprived, our bodies don’t function at their best. One study, published in Nature, points out that this extends to our mitochondria’s ability to fight cell stress. Cell stress, also known as oxidative stress, is what happens when too many free radicals escape from your mitochondria and attack your cells. According to the study, free radicals are produced while you’re awake and are eliminated when you sleep. This suggests that a lack of sleep inhibits your body’s ability to fight cell stress. As your cells are the building blocks of your body, cell stress has the potential to significantly impact your general wellbeing and energy needs. 

Another study, which investigated the effects that a 36-hour survival training with sleep deprivation had on oxidative stress in young healthy men, found that sleep deprivation impairs the body’s enzymatic antioxidant defenses. Basically, these results mean that a lack of sleep made the participants more susceptible to cell stress. The study’s researchers found that twelve hours of recovery was able to restore antioxidant defense levels in participants - putting their bodies in a better state to fight cell stress. 

By supporting mitochondrial health, MitoQ mitoquinol can support energy and sleep quality

While we still have a lot more to learn about sleep, it’s clear that sleep and mitochondrial health are interlinked. Multiple studies have found that a lack of sleep can negatively affect mitochondrial function – and that’s where MitoQ® Mitoquinol can provide some support. Several studies have concluded that MitoQ® Mitoquinol helps protect against oxidative stress by supporting your mitochondrial defense system and energy production process. The result? Foundational support for a healthy body. Your mitochondria are supported during periods of sleep deprivation, and ready to power your body’s growth and repair process while you sleep.

“After just 2 days I noticed a difference”, confirms MitoQ customer Ursula L. “in increased power output and possibly most intriguing of all is the increased quality of rest and recovery after effort. This is not a happy placebo effect: I use several state of the art sport performance wearables and they all track and confirm the impact of MitoQ. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

In another testimonial, customer, Ann L., says “I’ve been using MitoQ since a Wahls conference last July. I have tons of energy even though I get little sleep sometimes (job hours), and I just turned 70!”

In theory, a lack of sleep can result in oxidative stress. MitoQ® Mitoquinol has been shown to have benefit in alleviating oxidative stress. So, if your normal responses are impaired, MitoQ® Mitoquinol can help neutralize ROS at its source to ensure your mitochondria can perform optimally by making sure the processes regulated by mitochondria are working as well.”

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