THE BENEFITS OF AUTOPHAGY

 

The Importance of Autophagy

Autophagy is probably the single most important metabolic process to slow the aging process and promote a healthy, high-performing body and brain. You don’t win a Nobel Prize in medicine unless you’re working on something that legitimately has the potential to change humanity.

Yoshinori Ohsumi, who was awarded this Nobel Prize in 2016, and other prominent scientists, have described autophagy as the process by which cells degrade and then recycle unneeded or dysfunctional proteins and organelles, reuse some of them and discard the “garbish” out of the body.

If allowed to accumulate, dysfunctional structures eventually lead to dysfunctional cells that either die, persist as dysfunctional cells (contributing to poor tissue/organ function) or become cancerous. Needless to say, all of these outcomes are in opposition to a youthful, vibrant, high-performing body and brain.

In the brain, an increase of autophagy is strongly neuroprotective while disruption of autophagy causes neurodegeneration. In the liver, more autophagy increases fat usage and insulin sensitivity, while disruption of autophagy leads to pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The list goes on, but the point is: autophagy is important.

Fasting Maximizes Autophagy

 Fasting has been shown to be, far and away, the most effective way to stimulate autophagy in both the body and brain. Despite this, there’s not a clear consensus on exactly how long to fast to maximize autophagy.

A few studies looked at the level of autophagy occurring in both the liver and brain and there were some clear patterns when looking at the data of each.

The level of autophagy activity can be measured by simply counting the number of autophagosomes (the cellular organelles that degrade dysfunctional proteins), as these will increase in number when autophagy is stimulated.

One study looking at liver cells found that the number of autophagosomes increased 300% after 24 hours of fasting, and a further 30% after 48 hours of fasting. Studies looking at autophagosomes in brain cells had similar findings.

In addition to looking at the number of autophagosomes in a cell, the brain study looked at a handful of metabolic markers that are indicative of autophagy being stimulated. Almost of these markers peaked between 24 and 36 hours, explaining why the increase in autophagosomes between 24 and 48 hours is substantially less than between hours 0 and 24.

This tells us that while there is certainly value in fasting longer, there also seems to be an element of diminishing returns once a fast passes the 36-hour mark.

Fasting, the anti-aging intervention

Intermittent fasting causes the breakdown and clearance of damaged cell parts by increasing autophagy…aging is just the accumulation of cellular damage. 

As we age, we can no longer recycle damage as readily; cell constituent turnover decreases.

Thus, the accumulation of damage characterizes aging, and if the aging organism is characterized as being less able to clear damage, then increasing the rate of clearance is the obvious way to slow aging. One of the best ways to increase clearance of damage, and hence to slow aging, is through intermittent fasting.

Nutrient deprivation is the key activator of autophagy. Remember that glucagon is kind of the opposite hormone to insulin. If insulin goes up, glucagon goes down. If insulin goes down, glucagon goes up. As we eat, insulin goes up and glucagon goes down. When we don’t eat (fast) insulin goes down and glucagon goes up. This increase in glucagon stimulates the process of autophagy. In fact, fasting (raises glucagon) provides the greatest known boost to autophagy.

This is, in essence, a form of cellular cleansing. The body identifies old and substandard cellular components and marks them for destruction. It is thought that the accumulation of all this junk may be responsible for many of the effects of aging and the development of a large number of diseases.

Fasting is actually far more beneficial than just stimulating autophagy. It does two good things. By stimulating autophagy, we are clearing out all our old, junky proteins and cellular parts. At the same time, fasting also stimulates growth hormone, which tells our body to start producing some new snazzy parts for the body. We are really giving our bodies a complete renovation. You need to get rid of the old stuff before you can create the new stuff. 

So the process of destruction (removal) is just as important as the process of creation. Fasting may actually reverse the entire aging process by getting rid of old cellular junk and replacing it with new parts.

The consequences of accumulating old junk can be seen in two main diseases – Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and cancer. Alzheimer’s Disease involves the accumulation of abnormal protein – either amyloid-beta or Tau protein which gums up the brain system. It would make sense that a process like autophagy that has the ability to clear out old protein could prevent the development of AD.

What turns off autophagy? Eating. Glucose, insulin (or decreased glucagon) and proteins all turn off this self-cleaning process. And it doesn’t take much. Even a small amount of amino acid (leucine) could stop autophagy cold. So this process of autophagy is unique to fasting – something not found in simple caloric restriction or dieting.

The conclusion of all this points to the need to include fasting on a regular basis in our schedule, and not just to burn fat and lose weight. These might be the motivation factors and things we can measure but if we want to live healthier and longer, we need to utilise fasting as an instrument to renew ourselves on the inside.

The SpeedFasting Plan

The problem we always face with any weight-loss or dieting program is it is not easy to follow and it never lasts. We always seem to put back what we lose, and more, after the diet is over. So the question arises: Is there a weight loss program that works effectively and quickly which doesn't require calorie counting and extreme changes to our diets?

The answer is simply: YES! It is called SpeedFasting and incorporates a method that has been around for thousands of years and can show significant results in weeks not months.

Not only that, it forces the body to start regenerating itself and repairing some of the damage that excess fat has and can cause. It can then transition into a program that is totally simple to maintain and builds on the first successes one experiences with the SpeedFast Plan.

This Plan is incorporated in a new book available on Amazon and is a must-read for everyone who is really serious about burning off excess fat and regaining perfect health.

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The SpeedFast Plan

offers ALL these benefits:

• Eliminates dangerous fat
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• Improves cardio health
• Lowers blood pressure
• Improves cholesterol
• Decreases blood sugars
• Slows aging (autophagy)
• Reduces inflammation
• Protects against diseases
• Increases growth regulation
• Alzheimers protection
• Improves skin collagen
• Eliminates diabetes 2
• Protects against cancer
• Improves mental clarity
• Increases energy levels
• Improves insulin sensitivity
• Controls your appetite
• Reveals your six-pack
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