The Fascinating Benefits of Autophagy and How to Get Them
Did you know your cells have their own recycling system? Your cells literally self-destruct and rebuild themselves. Cool, right? It’s called autophagy and it’s the newest buzzword in health.
The term autophagy was first coined by the scientist Christian de Duve in the 1960s. He demonstrated that our cells could encapsulate and destroy particles within themselves.
In the early 1990s, Yoshinori Ohsumi used baker’s yeast to discover how autophagy worked.
Because of these scientists and others, we now understand the amazing benefits of autophagy.
I guess I’m a little late to the party because I first came across the term “autophagy” in September 2020 when I looked into intermittent fasting. I didn’t know how to pronounce it, or what it meant, but I was intrigued.
You see, I really love words. And this one was very interesting.
What is Autophagy?
First of all, how do you say autophagy? It sounds like this: aa • taa • fuh • jee.
The emphasis is on the second syllable.
Now that we have that out of the way, what is autophagy?
Let’s break it down. (I used to love playing this game in English class.) Auto means “self” and phagy or phagein means “to eat.” So autophagy literally means “self-eating.” 1
Autophagy is an important physiological process. We have trillions of cells that make up our body. Sometimes these cells get damaged or broken. Or maybe they just get old. These damaged and broken cells can build up over time.
So what does your body do? Autophagy to the rescue!
Fun Fact: Scientists estimate we have around 37 trillion cells in the human body!
Through the process of autophagy, your damaged and broken cells are gathered up and recycled. Your cells clean out the damaged pieces to form newer, healthier cells. Your body adapts in response to the stressors it encounters. How cool is that?
How do you Activate Autophagy?
Autophagy is the result of a combination of several processes. But intermittent fasting is one of the easiest ways to activate autophagy. You can also initiate autophagy through exercise and sleep.
Let’s dive into each of these.
Intermittent Fasting
The practice of intermittent fasting (a way of eating where you switch between periods of fasting and eating) can stimulate autophagy. When your body is in a fasted state, you have a couple of hormones that come into play.
Maybe you’re already familiar with insulin. Insulin is the hormone that regulates the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood. It helps your cells absorb glucose from the bloodstream.
The other hormone is glucagon. It also regulates your blood sugar but in the opposite way. Glucagon triggers the release of glucose from your liver into your bloodstream.
So when you fast, insulin is reduced and glucagon goes up. When glucagon goes up, it stimulates the process of autophagy.
When you eat, your body releases insulin. This suppresses autophagy because it gives your cells energy. Studies on time-restricted2 eating show that when you fast for sixteen hours or more, you have better autophagy and increased insulin sensitivity. (Remember, insulin sensitivity is what you want. Insulin resistance is not.)
Exercise
Exercise is another way you can induce autophagy. One study3 found that exercise increased the capacity for autophagy. They found increased markers of autophagy in the muscle within the first two hours of recovery.
Does this mean you have to be a crazy cross-fit enthusiast to induce autophagy? The truth is, any type of endurance or high-intensity exercise burns your available glucose for fuel. Once all the glucose stores are used, your body turns to fat stores for energy. Exercise speeds up the process to help you achieve autophagy sooner.
But it’s not just cardio. Resistance training also activates autophagy. And exercising in a fasted state speeds up the autophagic response.
What does this mean? One of the best ways to speed up autophagy and burn fat is through fasted low-intensity steady-state cardio.
So, next time you’re fasting, head outside and go for a walk.
Sleep
Deep restorative sleep is critical in allowing your body to start the process of autophagy. When you’re sleeping, you’re also fasting, which allows your body to start autophagy. In fact, eating your last meal a few hours before bedtime will help you start autophagy sooner. Both melatonin and the length and depth of your sleep can affect your autophagy response.
Often, we refer to melatonin as the “sleep hormone”. It plays a central role in your body’s sleep-wake cycle or circadian rhythm. Melatonin signals the body that it’s time to rest. Melatonin4 regulates autophagy by adjusting its processes and improving the breakdown of proteins.
When your sleep cycle is disturbed or broken, it can disrupt autophagy. Scientists are studying different aspects of this, but it seems that sleep and the circadian rhythm influence how your cells are able to degrade through autophagy.
Are There Health Benefits to Autophagy?
Now that we know what autophagy is and how to activate it, why is it important? What are the health benefits of autophagy? While the science on autophagy is still new, we’ve discovered many benefits of intermittent fasting and autophagy. From longevity and anti-aging benefits to better immune function and decreased inflammation, it seems autophagy is key.
Anti-aging and Longevity
Over the past decade, research has shown that autophagy and aging5 are closely linked. Increased autophagy leads to a lengthened lifespan. Autophagy is important for our cell maintenance and health. When we age, our cells and tissues break down. Through autophagy and the recycling of damaged cells, the body is able to delay aging by creating newer, younger, healthier cells.
Decrease Inflammation
Autophagy can promote inflammation6 with an immune response when needed. This activates your immune system.
It’s true that autophagy influences the development and survival of inflammatory cells. But most of the time autophagy decreases inflammation by engulfing and suppressing the culprit of the inflammation. While more studies are needed, autophagy may be a key intervention for inflammatory diseases.
Immune Support
Autophagy is thought to have developed as a defense from different types of stress on the body. When your body encounters an invader, such as a virus, an immune response is triggered.
Autophagy can help remove the offending microbes. When you have an infection, autophagy also helps remove the toxins from your body.
Will You Take Advantage of the Benefits of Autophagy?
You may wonder when you’ll experience the positive health and wellness benefits of autophagy. We live in a microwave society where we want our expected outcome within minutes. It would be nice if we could practice intermittent fasting for only a few days and reap tons of benefits.
The truth is, our bodies are complex. There are many physiological processes that take place. And no two people are the same. We’re all unique individuals with our very own microbiome and set of specific genes.
So, how long does it take to experience the positive health benefits of autophagy?
The answer is — it depends.
Autophagy is not a one-and-done type of thing. It happens continuously in our tissues whether we are fasting or not. It’s a very important process for our overall health.
There are things we can do, like intermittent fasting and exercise, to induce autophagy. But to see perpetual health benefits, we need to consistently do what we can to help the process.
Practice intermittent fasting, exercise, sleep, eat nutritious foods, meditate, reduce stress - in general, be good to your body, and your body will be good to you.
