What Jaw Surgery Taught Me About Energy, Metabolism, & Mitochondria

The hidden energy crisis affecting millions—and 4 ways to recover

This week has been a bit of a struggle to write.

3 weeks ago, I traveled out of state to undergo double jaw surgery. I spent a week down in Texas recovering. I hated not feeling like my usual self.

Energy was low, and so too was motivation.

I spent that week going on (slow) hikes, doing crossword puzzles, and preparing/eating my soft-foods diet I’ll be on for 8 weeks post-surgery (ugh!). At the same time, I had just moved for the summer and finished up with classes and track. Things were in flux, to say the least.

I didn’t have much of a routine.

But sometimes, a disruption in the system can be a blessing. Looking back, that jolt (that I’m still living in) offered a revelation—one I keep having, again and again.

It has to do with energy, mitochondria, and metabolism.

But in reality, it has to do with more than that. So much more.

Mitochondria, Metabolism, and Health

It’s funny how I keep coming back to this realization that energy is everything. Both literally and figuratively.

Literally, I’ll refer to energy as your mitochondria—since they are the energy powerhouse of the cell. I’m literally speaking of the amount of energy in the cells that make up your brain and body.

Figuratively, I’ll refer to energy as how it’s usually thought of. Essentially, the opposite of being tired is being energetic.

During recovery from my surgery (and other times I’ve been sick, overworked, or worn down), I’ve come to realize how important energy is.

And because I’m blessed to be young and healthy and have always valued sleep, I’m rarely tired. So on those days (or weeks) when I am tired, I immediately know that something is off. I hate that feeling of “off” because I lose the motivation to do things I normally care about.

I feel different from my usual self.

But this makes me wonder—what if someone is chronically low-energy? Not like falling-asleep-on-their-desk-tired but simply “tired.” Day in, day out.

And what if they didn’t know it?

Because if that is their normal (the afternoon slump, caffeine as soon as they wake up, mindless scrolling or binging after work because they don’t have the energy to do anything else), how would they know any different?

Imagine you are someone who needs glasses but you’ve never had your vision tested. You assume everyone sees the world as blurry as you do, because you don’t know anything different.

Maybe that’s what it’s like to live in a sub-optimal state without knowing it. And I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

The Downward Spiral

Understanding energy is important for many reasons.

I’ve mentioned that low motivation has always been a characteristic feature of my low-energy periods. In the short-term, it’s fine. But long-term? I can easily see how things could spiral, fast.

We all have favorite things to do; activities that make us feel alive. But these can become less appealing when we’re low on motivation. Or maybe they’re still appealing, but we don’t find ourselves with the time or energy to do them.

If you’ve ever said to yourself I used to love doing that as a kid!, you know what I’m talking about.

Or maybe you’ve been through a period of sadness or hardship, and you remember spending less time doing the things you usually love—like getting coffee with friends, going for a run, or cooking for your family.

Having low energy causes you to spend less time doing things that make you feel alive. And spending less time doing things that make you feel alive makes you feel less alive. (Bear with me here).

But this is just one of the reasons we must understand energy if we want to understand health.

Another has to do with an even bigger picture: our metabolism.

Your Body's Battery: Why Metabolism Matters

Mitochondria is at the root of metabolism. Metabolism is at the root of your overall health. Let me explain.

When I say “your metabolism,” I’m referring to a complicated set of chemical processes your cells take part in to create energy.

And your brain and body run on this energy just like your phone runs on the energy of its battery.

But if things aren’t working properly—if your battery is malfunctioning—things start to go wrong.

Your phone drains within a few hours. It can’t make calls or receive texts. It’s malfunctioning. If you don’t fix the battery, your phone will die for good. You can try to free up storage, replace the SIM card, or keep it constantly plugged in. But that doesn’t address the root problem: the broken battery.

Alas, so it goes with your health.

If your metabolism is broken, your cells can’t properly produce the energy your brain and body desperately need to survive and thrive. If your metabolism is broken, no amount of pills, quick fixes, or self-care routines will create a long-lasting solution to this deep-rooted problem.

If you don’t get your phone battery fixed—and your phone is broke for good—you can always get a new one.

But if your battery is broken—and you don’t do anything to fix it—you can’t just get a new one. You can’t just get a new life. You can’t turn back the clock. Your metabolic health matters.

Let’s break this down further.

Your metabolism might be malfunctioning for many reasons. Too many to write about here. It could be due to nutritional issues like vitamin deficiencies, ultra-processed foods, or chronic over-eating; medication; lifestyle factors like chronic sleep deprivation, a sedentary lifestyle, or chronic stress; age-related changes like muscle loss; environmental toxins like chemical fragrances; or hormonal imbalances like insulin resistance.

Allow me to continue with the phone analogy and illustrate how one factor—insulin resistance—could be contributing to a malfunctioning metabolism (and chronic low energy).

How We Can Break Our Own Batteries

Insulin resistance is when your brain has trouble burning glucose for energy.

Often, it can’t burn it correctly because it is constantly flooded with too much of it. The standard Western diet is a diet high in refined carbs: sugar, flour, cereal, juice. The more sugar in your diet, the harder it becomes for your brain to properly use that sugar.

I’ve always heard that charging your phone overnight, every night is bad for the battery. (Even if that’s a myth, let’s pretend it’s true for the sake of this metaphor.)

Just like your brain, too much charge makes it harder for your phone to properly use its battery.

When your brain’s got too much glucose, it responds with inflammation and oxidative stress, and your mitochondria become damaged.

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If the body is powered by metabolism, and metabolism is powered by mitochondria, what powers mitochondria?

Your battery (the metaphorical and literal one) needs a fuel source.

Your phone battery gets its fuel when you plug it into an outlet, connecting it to an electrical current.

Your metabolic battery gets its energy from food, oxygen, water, and sunlight.

When we’re not getting the proper inputs, our energy output will suffer. And there are serious consequences of this.

How to Support Your Metabolism & Energy

Times like these, when my body is recovering from something big like jaw surgery, there aren't necessarily lifestyle changes I need to make to boost my energy and metabolism.

But I'm offered a powerful reminder of what life could be like if I lived like this forever—and what life is like for people who feel tired all the time.

If I could break down metabolic support into four pillars, it would look like this: