I've discussed cellular repair in numerous blogs, but not directly. The key to cellular repair is the usual suspects:
Eat well
Digest well
Do NOT regulate your LDL with statins
Take in plenty of salt, including potassium chloride - https://www.healthrevivalpartners.com/post/salt-more-accurately-salts
And - take in foods high in phosphorus and phospholipids (coming blog)
Note: This is part 1 of several parts.
The structure of cellular membranes is critical to their function. Like at home, you buy things you need, use them to create waste, and take out the trash. This whole process takes time and energy.
Your cells are no different. Thirty + percent of the energy you use daily drives this "uphill" process called "active transport."
"Many transport processes are energetically expensive, and the cells use 20 to 60% of their energy to power the transportomes."
Cell membranes are composed of phospholipid bilayers. They are also composed of cholesterol. I have written about the need for cholesterol and the consequences of statin drugs ad nauseam.
Now it is time to discuss the phospholipid bilayer membrane and what supports it. Forming this bilayer continuously is critical to repair and recovery. If you bruise easily or heal slowly, it may be an issue with forming and reforming the cellular membrane.
Why is reforming cell membranes so important? Aren't they like the walls in your home? Once they are formed, they don't need a lot of maintenance, right?
What is the structure of cellular membranes?
You don't have to read every word, but look at the images to understand how important phospholipids and phosphorus is to human health.
The Khan Academy is a great resource on medical in scientific information. Here is their overview on cellular membranes.
The purpose of the cell membrane is to hold the cell's different components together and protect it from the environment outside the cell. The cell membrane also regulates what enters and exits the cell so that it doesn’t lose too many nutrients or take in too many ions. It also does a pretty good job of keeping harmful things out.
What’s it made up of?
The cell membrane is primarily made up of three things:
1. Phospholipids
2. Cholesterol
3. Proteins
1) Phospholipids
There are two important parts of a phospholipid: the head and the two tails. The head is a phosphate molecule that is attracted to water (hydrophilic). The two tails are made up of fatty acids (chains of carbon atoms) that aren’t compatible with, or repel, water (hydrophobic). The cell membrane is exposed to water mixed with electrolytes and other materials on the outside and the inside of the cell. When cellular membranes form, phospholipids assemble into two layers because of these hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. The phosphate heads in each layer face the aqueous or watery environment on either side, and the tails hide away from the water between the layers of heads, because they are hydrophobic. Biologists call this neat assembling characteristic “self-assembly”.
2) Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a type of steroid which is helpful in regulating molecules entering and exiting the cell. We’ll talk about this in more depth later, but for now remember it’s part of the cell membrane.
3) Proteins
The cell is made up of two different types, or “classes”, of proteins. Integral proteins are nestled into the phospholipid bilayer and stick out on either end. Integral proteins are helpful for transporting larger molecules, like glucose, across the cell membrane. They have regions, called “polar” and “nonpolar” regions, that correspond with the polarity of the phospholipid bilayer.
Polar and nonpolar refer to the concentration of electrons on a molecule. Polar means the electrons are not evenly distributed, making one side of the molecule more positively charged or negatively charged than another side. Nonpolar means the electrons are evenly distributed, so the molecule is evenly charged across the surface.
The other class of protein is called peripheral proteins, which don’t extend across the membrane. They can be attached to the ends of integral proteins, or not, and help with transport or communication.
What makes the cell membrane fluid?
The fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane is how scientists describe what the cell membrane looks and functions like, because it is made up of a bunch of different molecules that are distributed across the membrane. If you were to zoom in on the cell membrane, you would see a pattern of different types of molecules put together, also known as a mosaic. These molecules are constantly moving in two dimensions, in a fluid fashion, similar to icebergs floating in the ocean. The movement of the mosaic of molecules makes it impossible to form a completely impenetrable barrier.
There are 3 main factors that influence cell membrane fluidity:
Temperature: The temperature will affect how the phospholipids move and how close together they are found. When it’s cold they are found closer together and when it’s hot they move farther apart.
Cholesterol: The cholesterol molecules are randomly distributed across the phospholipid bilayer, helping the bilayer stay fluid in different environmental conditions. The cholesterol holds the phospholipids together so that they don’t separate too far, letting unwanted substances in, or compact too tightly, restricting movement across the membrane. Without cholesterol, the phospholipids in your cells will start to get closer together when exposed to cold, making it more difficult for small molecules, like gases to squeeze in between the phospholipids like they normally do. Without cholesterol, the phospholipids start to separate from each other, leaving large gaps
3.Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids: Fatty acids are what make up the phospholipid tails. Saturated fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms that have only single bonds between them. As a result, the chains are straight and easy to pack tightly. Unsaturated fats are chains of carbon atoms that have double bonds between some of the carbons. The double bonds create kinks in the chains, making it harder for the chains to pack tightly.
These kinks play a role in membrane fluidity because they increase the space between the phospholipids, making the molecules harder to freeze at lower temperatures. In addition, the increased space allows certain small molecules, such as CO and O , to cross the membrane quickly and easily.
What can go through the cell membrane?
Phospholipids are attracted to each other, but they are also constantly in motion and bounce around a little off of each other. The spaces created by the membrane’s fluidity are incredibly small, so it is still an effective barrier. For this reason, and the ability of proteins to help with transport across the membrane, cell membranes are called semi-permeable.
There are 5 broad categories of molecules found in the cellular environment. Some of these molecules can cross the membrane and some of them need the help of other molecules or processes. One way of distinguishing between these categories of molecules is based on how they react with water. Molecules that are hydrophilic (water loving) are capable of forming bonds with water and other hydrophilic molecules. They are called polar molecules. The opposite can be said for molecules that are hydrophobic (water fearing), they are called nonpolar molecules. Here are the 5 types:
Small, nonpolar molecules (e.g. oxygen and carbon dioxide): These molecules can pass through the lipid bilayer and do so by squeezing through the phospholipid bilayers. They don't need proteins for transport and can diffuse across quickly.
Small, polar molecules (e.g. water): These molecules can also pass through the lipid bilayer without the help of proteins, but they do so with a little more difficulty than the molecule type above. Recall that the interior of the phospholipid bilayer is made up of the hydrophobic tails. So, it's not easy for water molecules to cross, and it is a somewhat slower process.
Large, nonpolar molecules (e.g. carbon rings): These rings can pass through but it is also a slow process.
Large, polar molecules (e.g. simple sugar - glucose): The size and charge of large polar molecules make it too difficult to pass through the nonpolar region of the phospholipid membrane without help from transport proteins.
Ions (e.g. ): Similarly, the charge of an ion makes it too difficult to pass through the nonpolar region of the phospholipid membrane without help from transport proteins.
Consider the following:
What happens when there is a problem with the cell membrane’s ability to uptake/export important molecules or communicate? There are many diseases associated with problems in the ability of the phospholipid bilayer to perform these functions. One of these is Alzheimer’s disease, characterized by brain shrinkage and memory loss. One idea explaining why Alzheimer’s disease occurs is the forming of plaque sticking to the phospholipid bilayer of the brain neurons. These plaques block communication between the brain neurons, eventually leading to neuron death and in turn causing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as poor short-term memory.
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No doubt phosphorous is important. Without it, we all would be close to death. Yes, it's that important. However, the mineral that tops the list in our bodies is calcium. Dr. Thomas Levy, a board-certified cardiologist, says a calcium-phosphorus ratio of 10:4 is needed. Personally, this is an insane ratio to meet. It's almost impossible, especially, since the FDA recommends 1,250mg of phosphorous from the RDI. Nobody is going to get over 2,000mg of calcium. Personally, if I did that, then it would be extremely hard to meet the 1:1 ratio of calcium-magnesium. Maybe you could dive into this a little bit Dr. Lewis and make sense of how much phosphorous we truly should be getting.