Treat your cells like royalty.
Because cellular health equals to overall health.
I was listening to a podcast episode the other day and one message has been reverberating in my mind since: the health of our cells is the truest measure of our health.
Admittedly I rarely think about my health and my life in microscopic cellular terms.
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I can promise you that when I’m about to bite into a warm, feather-light, fluffy fresh sugary donut, the first thing on my mind isn’t how my cells will feel after this glorious airy delight.
I know this goes against everything I tell you, especially on health and longevity—as the quality of our health is about the compounding impact of our decisions over our lifetimes.
But I am human, I am imperfect—and I just have to be real with you. Somedays, all I want to do is enjoy a terrific donut without any ffffs given because I simply want it. It’s that simple. But my policy is, if I am going to cause chaos to my cells, it better be worth it.
You know me, I just love to live life on the edge—haha.
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So, what if we start to think of ourselves as a living organism built of living microscopic cells?
Each one fighting to keep you alive, because we know the world isn’t built for our thriving.
Would you still view those frosted clouds of comfort the same knowing it’s doughy hollow of happiness will, without question, challenge those microscopic guardians, you rarely ever think about: your cells?
I’ll leave it to you to make your own decisions, you’re an adult after all.
Recall high school Biology.
At its very basic, each cell is a self-contained organism within itself, which can eventually mature into various specialised functions.
“As an individual unit, the cell is capable of metabolizing its own nutrients, synthesizing many types of molecules, providing its own energy, and replicating itself in order to produce succeeding generations. It can be viewed as an enclosed vessel, within which innumerable chemical reactions take place simultaneously. These reactions are under very precise control so that they contribute to the life and procreation of the cell.” — Britannica.com
The key components of a cell are largely universal: it’s nucleus, cytoplasm, organelles, and a plasma membrane—each with it’s own purpose—working together to produce energy and maintain life—in the case of human cells: our life, to be exact.
The nucleus serves as the cell's command center, the cytoplasm as the jelly-like fluid where cellular processes occur, and within it are the organelles: mitochondria act as the cell's powerhouse, while ribosomes serve as protein factories. The plasma membrane forms the outer wall, while also protecting the cell from its external environment.
From the cell's perspective, we're merely vessels—hosts to an intimate cellular ecosystem—neither of us are unique, yet the way we treat them is.
The real difference between you and I are how we treat our cells and the outcomes that result from how we choose to treat our cells.
Consider the size of a cell.
“It would require a sheet of about 10,000 human cells to cover the head of a pin, and each human organism is composed of more than 30,000,000,000,000 cells.” —Britannica.com
So, honestly, who among us thinks about the health of our cells—ever?
I admittedly almost never think about my cells, except right now. Otherwise, most days unfolds without a single thought for my cells—sorry cells—despite how essential they are.
This is the mindset shift I’ve been working on: seeing myself not simply as myself, as a individual human being, but more as a collective of cellular life.
It may strike you as a little odd, but hear me out.
