How Cell Autophagy Impacts Our Health

When Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey posted a Tweet about his 22 hour fast, it started a lot of buzz on cleansing and intermittent fasting. However Dorsey’s eating routine goes beyond fasting; it kicks off a process called autophagy. This sounds like the latest version of fasting but as the hype around it grows, so has others’ interest in cell cleaning.

Shortly after Dorsey’s post, a popular paleo lifestyle site called Mark’s Daily Apple circulated the “Definitive Guide to Autophagy”. He dubbed it as cellular pruning but it’s more appropriate to call it self eating. Not surprisingly, autophagy became the hot button topic in many blogs and articles thereafter.

In intermittent fasting, people fast for long periods of time to trigger autophagy. This programmed cleansing is aimed at disease protection. It is assumed that when external sources of food are absent, the human body engages is self eating (auto meaning self and phage is related to eating). This process recycles and destroys damaged proteins and cells, triggering newer and healthier versions to be constructed. It is thought that autophagy can be an essential practice at gaining protection from life-threatening diseases such as dementia and cancer.

Autophagy: A Closer Look

Christian de Duve was the first person to coin the term ‘autophagy’. He was a Belgian biochemist who in 1963 studied cellular processes contributing to autophagy. However it wasn’t until 2016 when biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi made significant discoveries on the mechanisms contributing to autophagy. His research helped him acquire a Nobel Prize.

Autophagy is a process that is similar to cellular house keeping. It’s a vital process for maintaining quality control. In addition, it enables cells to make better adaptations under stress. You can further state that autophagy is type of de-cluttering method that occurs on the cellular level. But in this type of cell cleaning, the human body doesn’t just throw things away it burns it up and transforms the by-product into something useful.

This begs the question, “Does fasting trigger autophagy” Many research studies examining fasting-induced autophagy claim that it does! A 2018 study examined the role of calorie restriction and autophagy. It found overwhelming evidence that autophagy is triggered in many organs and tissues in the absence of food. This would suggest that calorie restriction and fasting can in fact slow the aging process and increase lifespan.

When Is Self Eating Triggered?

This aspect requires further investigation, especially in humans. The data that is currently available is from studies with animals. Animal metabolism is definitely different from human metabolism. However, fasting researcher and nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung stated that autophagy pushes the body to take broken-down and old proteins and burn them to be utilized for energy. He further claimed that this usually occurs in the latter stages of a long fast, between the 20 and 24 hour mark.

Is Autophagy Triggered In Shorter Fasts?

Yes, it seems that self cleansing is triggered on a shorter fast as well. Self-eating occurs regularly in many species, particularly human beings, yeast, and even in mice. However certain types of stress can also accelerate autophagy such as exercise. In fact, exercise puts cleansing into overdrive.

Faulty autophagy-related genes are far simpler to study as they have been implicated in the onset of several human illnesses such as:

- neurodegenerative diseases, i.e. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

- cancer

- autoimmune diseases, i.e. arthritis

- metabolic disease, i.e. Crohn’s disease

Can Cell Cleaning Benefit Me?

On the cellular level, autophagy is already occurring. It appears to be a significant part of healthy cell function. Autophagy removes and disassembles dysfunctional and unnecessary cell components that can trigger illness. In fact, many studies have found that it can control inflammation, combat infectious diseases, and boost your immune system. Deficits in this vital cell process have been linked to schizophrenia and depression.

If autophagy makes the body’s mechanisms more efficient, then would it increase my lifespan? Although there is a connection between self eating and longevity, these are still hazy. Up until now, most studies on autophagy have focused on animals. In studies that utilized mice, autophagic responses were triggered through the use of fasting and or drugs. Nevertheless, these mice were found to be in better physical shape and lived longer.

So yes, autophagy definitely benefits you because it’s already occurring at the cellular level.

Autophagy And Cancer

If our cells are efficient at getting recycling and getting rid of old and broken cells, then can it cure cancer? Naturally, many researchers are very interested by fasting-induced self eating and how it deals with cancer. According to Dr. Valter Longo, a longevity researcher, cancer becomes weakened and confused by fasting. When a patient with cancer is given traditional drugs like chemotherapy, he or she is actually getting a double punch, i.e. accelerating illness.

On the contrary, some studies have demonstrated that autophagy can strengthen tumors and make them resist radiation. This indicates that autophagy clearly has two roles: it promotes the growth of existing tumors and suppresses the growth of future tumors. A 2016 study examined autophagy and its role in cancer. It found that self eating has dual roles in cancer. This finding has caused much controversy in how autophagy should be examined and tried in cancer treatment. There is also a growing concern that fasting too much to lose weight can be very dangerous for cancer patients.

When Autophagy Occurs, Is It Happening Everywhere?

Fasting and its effects, including autophagy occurs in all organs such as the pancreas, liver, and muscles. However this cell cleaning does not happen in the brain (for obvious reasons).

What Are The Benefits of Autophagy?

Fasting in general is good for the body. After a certain duration, it triggers autophagy at the cellular level. This process provides the following benefits:

- Gives your digestive system a break.

- Over time, intermittent fasting can help you lose unwanted weight. In fact, people who have lost staggering amounts of weight like 120 or 130 pounds didn’t require skin removal surgeries afterward. This is because the excess skin shrank and was burned away because the nutrients were required during the famine (fasting).

- It helps clear your complexion and can be effective in certain skin conditions like psoriasis.

- Recycles residual proteins

- Removes deadly proteins from cells linked to various neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

- Prompts the renewal of healthy and viable cells.

- Delivers building material and energy for cells that require repair.

Are There Autophagy Studies Conducted On People?

A 2016 study published in JAMA Oncology found that women diagnosed with breast cancer had lower chances of cancer recurrence when fasted for periods of 13 hours or more. There are other studies on the way, that are examining the effects of cell cleaning on conditions like glioblastoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Studies on fasting-induced autophagy in humans is currently underway. A 2018 study examined human disease and autophagy. It concluded that autophagy plays a pivotal role in many disorders such as cancers, viral and bacterial infections, age-related and neurodegenerative disorders.

Cell Cleansing: Final Thoughts

Autophagy appears to play a significant role in the maintenance and production of healthy cells. It continues to gain the attention of scientists and researchers worldwide and its potential impact on human health. There’s still a lot we need to learn about cell cleaning and how we can encourage naturally. However, if you would like to trigger autophagy in your own body, you may consider a routine of periodic fasting combined with healthy eating and regular exercise.

It is recommended that you consult with your doctor before attempting fasting, particularly if you’re pregnant, breast feeding, or have underlying medical conditions like diabetes.

For individuals are able to engage in periodic fasts, autophagy can boost your health and possibly increase the quality and length of your life.