What is Autophagy
Autophagy directly translates to self-eating. Auto (Self) Phagy (eat) is the body’s way of clearing out damaged cells. It loosely translates to self-devouring, an act that has tremendous benefits to your overall health.
Your body rids itself of dysfunctional cells through autophagy and recycles parts of the cells through repairs and cleaning.
In essence, autophagy eradicates debris in your gut/body and helps the cells self-regulate back to being efficient.
Autophagy action fast tracks the body’s survival and adaptation by removing various stressors and toxins collecting in our cells.
Autophagy Benefits
Anti-aging principles stand out when it comes to autophagy; by embracing autophagy, you will rewind your body’s clock, and it will start producing younger cells.
To resolve the stress cell issue, you will be encouraged to take up autophagy to reverse the stress and aging cells and enhance your lifespan.
When you go without food for a number of days (fasting), autophagy kicks in, helps your body break down cellular materials, and reuses them to propel various body functions.
The autophagy process takes up a lot of energy and hence why fasting should be regulated.
The benefits attached to autophagy include:
- Eradicating toxic proteins from cells that if allowed to thrive can cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases
- Helps by recycling residual proteins
- Provides energy and building blocks for repairable cells
- Consistent autophagy sessions promote the regeneration of healthy cells
Currently, autophagy is receiving a lot of attention from medics and researchers across the planet for the role it plays in the prevention/treatment of cancer.
As you age, autophagy declines, and cells stop working or cause harm when they multiply, spurring the growth of cancer cells.
All types of cancers originate from defective cells, and by embracing autophagy, your body will recognize and eliminate these cells.
Several autophagy studies have been put into action today and are being used as platforms to document how best autophagy can be implemented to lower cancer risks.
Your body, through autophagy, will recognize and destroy defective cells and start repair mechanisms, thus lowering the risk of cancer.
The Best Autophagy Diets
Autophagy translates to self-eating, following, ketogenic, and intermittent fasting diets are the best autophagy triggers.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting standouts as the most effective autophagy trigger.
Ketosis
Ketosis is another autophagy diet plan that has similar benefits but without fasting.
The ketosis diet is high in fat and low in carbs. The plan allows the body to catch a break and focus on repairing and getting back to prime health.
Using the keto diet, you achieve 75 percent of your daily calories from fat and up to ten percent carbohydrates. By embracing this diet, your body starts producing ketone bodies that come with lots of protective effects.
Various studies show how ketosis can also lead to starvation-induced autophagy that has neuroprotective functions.
You will achieve low glucose levels by observing either diet since they’re linked to low insulin and high glucagon levels.
Glucagon levels initiate autophagy. Either diet (fasting/ketosis) brings forth positive stresses, triggering the cellular survival repairing mode.
Exercise is another aspect that triggers autophagy. Physical exercise induces autophagy in organs (pancreas, muscles, adipose tissue, and the liver) that are part of the metabolic regulation process.
My Take
Autophagy will continue gaining traction as more studies continue.
Although many studies need to be done to know the wholesome effects of autophagy, you can still try it out.
It would help if you stimulated autophagy by fasting and introducing consistent exercise regimes.
However, if you are pregnant, a person with diabetes, suffer from heart disease or a chronic condition, you should consult a docor before starting.