The Long Game of Health: How Your Body Regenerates and Why Consistency Wins

I’m Todd Garrett, accountant by trade, cattle rancher at heart, and health nut by necessity. Driven by a commitment to better health and better food, I co-founded Born & Raised, a grass-fed, pasture-raised meat producer based in East Texas, where our animals are never raised with added hormones or antibiotics.

When I was a teenager graduating from high school many years ago, my parents advised me to leave our family farm, earn a college degree, and find a good job. I enrolled at Baylor University and quickly decided to major in accounting. After coasting along in school, I was advised by an older classmate that, in order to land a great job in the accounting industry, I needed really good grades.

Getting high marks wasn’t something I had seriously considered up to that point, and my GPA reflected it.

While my initial reaction was panic, I quickly realized that if I put in the effort and focus, I could earn the grades I needed for future success. Although I had a slow start, through hard work I ultimately earned the grades required to secure the job I wanted after college.

My health journey has been remarkably similar.

For most of my adult life, health was not a high priority. My time and resources were focused on my career and family, and there wasn’t much left to invest in myself. Eventually, I had a realization, my health was priceless, unlike many of the other things competing for my time and energy. Why wouldn’t I invest in the most valuable asset I own—my own body?

After spending time researching, I had an “aha” moment. Our bodies are in a constant state of regeneration. Even though mine was in a sub-optimal state, much like my early GPA in college, I realized that if I started investing now, I could essentially build a new body in a relatively short period of time.

So I went to work.

Today, I’m happy to report that I am well on my way toward having regenerated a new body, inside and out. And the cost incurred, both physically and spiritually, has been well worth it.

But it didn’t happen overnight.

I recently heard a quote from Jelly Roll, who has lost more than 200 pounds. He said, “The progress I made in 90 days was much less than I expected, but the progress I made in 12 months was much more than I expected.”

I can relate to that.

Rebuilding the body often feels like a slow start, but with consistent input, those gains compound over time.

When it comes to rebuilding the body, here are the major systems and the approximate time it takes for regeneration:

Fast Regeneration (Days to Weeks)

• Gut lining: Every 4–5 days, due to harsh digestive acids

• Skin cells: Every 2–4 weeks, constantly shedding and renewing

Medium Regeneration (Months to Years)

• Red blood cells: Approximately 4 months

• Liver cells: Approximately 6–12 months

• White blood cells: Ranges from 5 days to several weeks

Slow Regeneration (Years to Lifetime)

• Fat cells: Approximately 8–10 years

• Bone cells: Complete renewal takes about 10 years

• Skeletal muscle cells: 10–16 years for complete regeneration

Very Slow or No Regeneration (Lifetime)

• Brain cells (neurons): Most neurons last a lifetime, though some memory centers (like the hippocampus) can generate new ones

• Eye lens cells: Never replaced

• Tooth enamel: Never replaced

While some systems in our body, such as the gut and skin, can benefit quickly from improved habits, other systems require years of consistent, intentional health practices to see meaningful results. Stay tuned for future blogs where we’ll dive deeper into how to support and improve each of these systems.

The key takeaway is simple: small, consistent investments in your health today can compound into life-changing results over time. In upcoming blogs, we’ll also explore how grass-fed, pasture-raised meats, and the way they’re raised can support overall health and long-term wellness.

If you’re ready to be intentional about what fuels your body, visit Born & Raised at bornraisedtx.com and follow along as we continue the journey toward better health, from the ground up.