If it feels like your body has lost the ability to renew and repair itself, this article is for you. Dr. Padda explains a quality-control system your cells use to recycle damaged mitochondria called mitophagy and what happens to your pain when that cleanup crew falls behind. The hopeful part: the renewal machinery isn’t gone, it’s overwhelmed, and much of what overwhelms it comes down to how and when you eat.
How your cells recycle damaged power plants
Healthy cells run an elegant recycling process called mitophagy. Its job is to patrol your mitochondria, identify the ones that have become damaged or worn out, sequester them, and break them down for parts clearing the way for healthy new mitochondria to take their place. It is quality control at the cellular level, and it is essential. As long as mitophagy is running well, your mitochondrial population stays clean and efficient, and the system renews itself.
Why 'zombie' mitochondria feed your pain
In many chronic pain patients, this cleanup process is overwhelmed or hijacked. When mitophagy can’t keep up, damaged units persist what Dr. Padda calls zombie mitochondria. These are not harmless: they accumulate more damage, leak excessive reactive oxygen species that feed the inflammatory loop, and can trigger cell-death signals. There is also a catch-22. If you cannot clear the damaged units, you cannot make room to regenerate healthy energy production. The broken power plants clog the factory floor so no new ones can be installed, and the cell sinks deeper into energy crisis and inflammation.
The eating pattern that jams the 'grow' signal
One important factor is a signaling pathway called mTOR, which acts as a grow-and-build signal. It matters, but when it is chronically overactivated it suppresses cellular cleanup, including the autophagy that mitochondrial renewal depends on. What keeps mTOR jammed on? Among other things, a constant stream of excess fuel the pattern of high glucose, constant eating, and never fasting that characterizes much of the modern diet. So the same eating pattern that drives inflammation and insulin resistance can also keep the grow signal stuck on, so your cells never get the signal to stop building and start recycling.
How we work to restart renewal at the Padda Institute
The approach Dr. Padda describes is to restore healthy cellular quality control. A key lever is the strategic, individualized use of eating patterns including appropriate periods of metabolic rest that ease chronic mTOR overactivation and re-permit autophagy and mitophagy, so cells can clear out damaged mitochondria and regenerate healthy ones. We also work to reduce the metabolic overload and inflammation that overwhelm the system. This is an investigational, practice-based approach tailored to each person, not a fixed prescription. Because the state is driven substantially by how and when you eat, it is something you have real power to change. Individual results vary.
Frequently asked questions
What is mitophagy and why does it matter for pain?
Mitophagy is your cells' recycling system for clearing out damaged or worn-out mitochondria so healthy ones can take their place. When it is overwhelmed, damaged 'zombie' mitochondria pile up, leak reactive oxygen species, and block new energy production feeding the cellular energy crisis and inflammation described in chronic pain. Restoring that cleanup is a core aim of the approach.
What are 'zombie' mitochondria?
Zombie mitochondria are damaged power plants that persist because the cell's cleanup crew (mitophagy) has fallen behind. Rather than sitting harmlessly, they accumulate more damage, leak excessive reactive oxygen species that fuel inflammation, and can trigger cell-death signals while also crowding out healthy new mitochondria.
Should I try fasting to fix this myself?
In this discussion, periods of metabolic rest are described as individualized and applied strategically, not as a one-size-fits-all fast you should start alone. Fasting can be unsafe for some people and can interact with medications. Do not start, stop, or change any medication or fasting or eating plan without consulting your physician. Individual results vary.
Where are you located and how do I book?
Padda Institute Center for Interventional Pain Management, 4477 Woodson Road, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63134. Book at painmd.tv/appointment/ or call (314) 481-5000.
Key takeaways
- Mechanism: when mitophagy is overwhelmed, damaged 'zombie' mitochondria pile up and block clean energy production.
- Evidence status: mitophagy, autophagy, and mTOR's role are described as well established, including Nobel-recognized work.
- Why timing matters: chronic mTOR overactivation from constant eating suppresses the cleanup your cells need.
- Next step: individualized eating patterns and metabolic rest may restart renewal book at painmd.tv/appointment/.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP — Board Certified in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, Interventional Pain Management, Addiction Medicine, and Obesity Medicine. Last reviewed July 2026.
This article is educational and is not a substitute for evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment by a physician. Individual results vary. Do not start, stop, or change any medication without consulting your physician.
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Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP , MD, MBA, MHP
