Autophagy literally means ‘self-eating’ and, though it might sound horrifying, the biological process is actually very cool. We are all made up of billions of cells and eventually their components start to wear out, becoming dysfunctional, diseased or just no longer able to function at their peak. But instead of simply throwing the dinged-up cells in the garbage, the body’s clever autophagic process kicks in, stripping out the still-salvageable parts and recycling them to use for energy and creation of new cells.
Autophagy can be likened to a cellular fountain of youth, delivering an impressive array of preventative benefits protecting us from dysfunction and disease:
-It controls inflammation, boosting it as needed to fight off pathogens, decreasing it as needed, so cells don’t remain in an inflamed state indefinitely, thereby suppressing chronic inflammation.
-It regulates mitochondrial function, protecting our mitochondria (the energy power houses of our cells) from oxidative stress.
-It promotes brain health and protect against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia, by removing the misshapen proteins whose accumulation is associated with the development of neurological disorders.
-It boosts
immunity, by fending off pathogens and removing illness-inducing microbes from
inside the cells, clearing toxins, and regulating inflammation.
-It prevents
metabolic dysfunction, like diabetes and obesity by promoting cellular health
and turnover.
-It supports
muscular repair and resilience (a major plus for maintaining youth), by
replacing the cells that have been worn out or ‘stressed’ by exercise, with
fresh, healthy cells.
So how can we boost it to reap maximum benefits?
With a few
food and supplement choices plus some lifestyle habits you can fuel up your
autophagy furnace and use it to the fullest:
Autophagy-Boosting Foods and Supportive Supplements
- Spices like turmeric, garlic and ginger activate autophagy, so feel free to spice up your plate.
- Drinks like green tea, ginseng tea and coffee (with or without caffeine) help induce autophagy, most likely due to their high polyphenol content.
- High Polyphenol foods like berries, plums, cherries, nuts (pecans, almonds and hazelnuts), beans (black and white), artichokes, spinach, red onions, cocoa and dark chocolate,
- Other tasty ingredients like coconut oil, certain mushrooms (chaga and reishi), cruciferous vegetables, onions, parsley, cloves, green peas, pomegranates also have an activating effect.
- Supportive
supplements like Quercetin, Curcumin, Omega-3 fish oils and Vitamin D
Autophagy-Boosting Habits
- Intermittent fasting – which, by creating a caloric deficit for up to 16 hours at a time, lightly stresses the body, which in turn helps trigger autophagy.
- Low
carb eating – or, in its most aggressive form, the ketogenic diet,
which, by radically reducing carb intake, triggers ketosis, turning fat
into a clean-burning fuel source. That’s a bit of ‘good’ cellular stress that promotes autophagy. Just
don’t go too far with it, carbs are your energy sources, so listen to your
body, it’s all about healthy balance. If you start feeling like you have
no energy then you went too far.
- Protein fasting – as in
reducing protein grams to roughly 20 per day, no more than once or twice a
week and not on days when you plan to do some strength training – save
protein fasting for your lighter effort days.
- Short bouts of intense movement – like high-intensity interval training (HIIT), resistance training, power-walking, running, etc., for about 20-30 minutes every other day. HIIT and exercise in general helps activate autophagy by lightly stressing the body and its cells, but don’t over-do it or you’ll be courting real cellular damage. Less is definitely more in this case.
- Good restorative sleep – as
in, getting at least 7-8 hours of high-quality shut-eye which will help
induce autophagy, much of which is happening while you snooze.
- Play with temperature –
Swim in a cool pool, then dip in the hot tub or sauna (or visa versa);
have a cold shower, then a sauna and back to the cold shower again; or
spend a few minutes outdoors in the cold without burying yourself in
layers of fleece. The temperature swings between cold and hot will also
lightly stress your cells and encourage autophagy.