Fullmetal Alchemist Nutrition: File.5 Sloth the 'Indolent'

Is 'too much trouble' a scream from your cells? The truth about a body with stalled mitochondria

Despite having speed that belied his massive size, Sloth constantly complained that “even dying is too much trouble.”

The feelings of “I have no motivation” or “my body feels heavy” that lurk in our daily lives may actually be caused by a “fuel shortage” in our mitochondria, the power plants within our cells.

Mitochondrial Stagnation: The Alchemy of Energy Production (ATP)

“...It’s too much trouble. ...Moving, even breathing...”

Mitochondria react the nutrients and oxygen we consume to create ATP, the energy for life's activities.

Like Sloth, feeling that even moving is a chore is proof that this energy alchemy has come to a halt.

Especially when B vitamins and iron are lacking, these power plants effectively shut down for business.

Moving Sloth's massive body should have required a vast amount of ATP, but his “indolence” could be called a cellular-level depletion where that supply could not keep up.

Iron Deficiency and the 'Heavy Body': Monopolizing the Oxygen Carriers

Sloth's constant lethargy is similar to a state of “latent anemia,” where there is a shortage of hemoglobin (iron) to carry oxygen. If oxygen does not circulate throughout the body, the body feels as heavy as lead, and you begin to feel that even climbing stairs is “too much trouble.”

What supports the “will of steel” of someone like General Armstrong is, in fact, the rich oxygen supply carried by iron-rich red meat and liver.

Muscle Maintenance and 'Protein': The Foundation Supporting an Indolent Body

Even while being indolent, Sloth was a mass of phenomenal muscle.

Muscles are “fuel-inefficient tissues” that consume energy just by existing.

When protein is lacking, the body tries to break down muscle to use as energy, which further lowers metabolism and leads to an “indolent spiral” of fatigue.

To maintain muscle and keep the fires of metabolism burning, the equivalent exchange of protein as “firewood” in every meal is essential.

Summary: A Prescription for the Reader: To You Who Find It 'Too Much Trouble' to Get Out of Bed in the Morning

“Before you blame yourself for being lazy,” please check if your mitochondria have enough fuel.

In particular, if you are temporarily masking it with coffee or sweets, your fuel efficiency will worsen even further.

First, make a conscious effort to consume lean fish, meat, and eggs to increase your power generation efficiency.

Before you burn out like Sloth, saying it's a pain to even die, let's deliver the right energy to your cells and restart your engine from the inside.