AUTOPHAGY
Miraculous Source of Health
What is Autophagy?
The concept of autophagy (autophagy: self-eating) is a miraculous system that gained popularity when Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016. Ohsumi, a cell biologist, conducted research on the functioning of the autophagy mechanism in our body at the cellular level and led to a paradigm shift in the scientific world with his discoveries.
Thanks to this mechanism, cells are renewed by cleaning themselves from damaged and residual parts. It can even be said that we survive thanks to the autophagy mechanism. Because with this periodical maintenance system that works for 24 hours, all our organs can continue to function in a healthy way.
How Does Autophagy Work?
The autophagy mechanism is a maintenance and repair system that works at the cellular level and is triggered by starving a person for 15-16 hours. During this period, when calories are not consumed, the lysosomes inside the cells enter a survival mode and begin to feed themselves with the old cell residues inside the cell. In other words, it collects energy by feeding on itself. With the self-renewal of cells, all tissues and organs are also renewed.
Autophagy is actually a mechanism that performs its function in our entire body, albeit at a minimum level. However, due to our eating habits, this miraculous system may not work as effectively as it should. Since autophagy is not active enough, organs cannot renew themselves, inflammation increases, aging accelerates and we become vulnerable to chronic diseases. The secret of a healthy life is understanding the autophagy mechanism and making it work.
With modern life, our eating habits have undergone a radical change. We eat more, we eat unhealthy and frequently. In addition, we sleep less, move less and have to deal with many negative problems brought by modern life.
In the past, our diet was much more compatible with the functioning of autophagy. Not so many years ago, we lived in a world where weak people existed. But today things have changed. This miraculous function of autophagy is interrupted, especially due to frequent and unhealthy eating habits. Increasing obesity in society is only a visible side of the deterioration in our health. It can be said that many deadly diseases such as increasing diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are actually caused by our lifestyle.
Intermittent Fasting Method
For autophagy to work better, calorie intake needs to be restricted and controlled. In other words, we consciously starve ourselves to activate autophagy. Studies show that autophagy is triggered with a fasting period of 15-16 hours, and its positive effects increase with the prolongation of this period, even when it is passed every other day.
Thanks to the feeding method expressed as intermittent fasting or intermittent fasting, we can make autophagy more effective. Although there are several different forms of intermittent fasting, the easiest way to adapt to daily life is to divide a 24-hour day into 16/8 or 18/6 hours. In this way, we compress our calorie intake into 6 or 8 hours of the day, and we eat nothing for the rest of the day. Unlike religious fasting, we can consume water, unsweetened tea and coffee in the intermittent fasting system.
An ideal application is as follows: We stop calorie intake after 18:00 in the evening or after 20:00 at the latest. When we wake up in the morning, we do not have breakfast and we complete our fast with the first meal at noon. Therefore, this diet makes it necessary to reduce the number of meals to two. Just like in ancient times.
Any person expends about 2000-3000 calories per day. Therefore, if you continue to eat the same calories, you will not lose weight. In addition, we need to stay away from snacks in this short period of 6 or 8 hours. (Since snacks keep blood insulin levels high, they cause insulin resistance to develop. In this case, insulin resistance can be seen as the biggest enemy of autophagy.)
What are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?
The autophagy inducing intermittent fasting method should not be seen as a new-fashioned diet program, but as a way of life most appropriate to human nature. It must become our daily routine for permanent results to occur. When combined with a healthy and balanced diet, the benefits of the long-term intermittent fasting method are innumerable. We can summarize the positive effects in the short and long term as follows:
- Weight loss and weight control in a healthy way
- Blood sugar is stabilized and insulin resistance is reduced.
- The immune system is strengthened
- Cell renewal accelerates
- The aging process slows down (Anti-aging)
- Energy level rises
- Increases brain health and mental clarity
- Prevention from chronic diseases becomes possible
When the effects of autophagy begin to appear, you witness the miraculous change taking place in your life. When combined with a healthy and balanced diet, its effects on quality of life reach incredible proportions. The good thing is that it's all free. However, a conscious will is required to achieve results in this regard.
All the information we share in this article is for awareness purposes and does not contain any treatment recommendations. It is recommended that all individuals, especially those with a chronic illness, consult their physician before applying the intermittent fasting program.
If you are interested in what is being said about it, you can find detailed information by reading Prof. Yavuz Yörükoğlu's book "The Secret of Youth, Autophagy", on autophagy and healthy nutrition. Here is an example intermittent fasting nutrition menu in this beautiful book (Yörükoğlu, 2023, 113-116):
- Lunch (First Meal, 12:00-12:30): 2 walnuts, half a glass of water on top, start the meal with a salad, chicken soup, grilled chicken breast (200-250 grams), stir-fried spinach or grilled mixed vegetables, 1 slice of whole wheat sourdough bread.
- Dinner (Last Meal, Time: 18.00-20.00): 2 walnuts, half a glass of water on top, start the meal with a salad, lentil dish, bulgur pilaf with vegetables and spices, yogurt (200-250 grams), 1 portion of fruit.
You can think of portion sizes like “artisan restaurant” portions. Salads can be eaten unlimited. Portion sizes can be 10% more in men and large people. Another menu in the form of breakfast is as follows:
- Lunch (First Meal, 12:00-12:30): 2 walnuts, 2 egg omelets, 2 slices of toasted whole wheat sourdough bread, 50 grams of cheese, 10 olives, as many cold cuts as you want, cucumber, pepper, a tablespoon of honey or jam, unsweetened tea and coffee.
- Dinner (Last Meal, Time: 18.00-20.00): 2 walnuts, water, spinach dish, bulgur pilaf, yogurt (200-250 grams), 1 slice of whole wheat sourdough bread, fruit.
Health is the Greatest Wealth
Apart from hunger, another factor that strengthens autophagy is exercise. Daily and regular sports activities increase the effects of autophagy by accelerating calorie burning. In addition to its general benefits for our health, doing sports is of remarkable importance because of its accelerating feature to autophagy.
As a result, the value of intermittent fasting, which activates autophagy, is invaluable. However, the hard part of the job lies not in fasting, but in changing the way of life we have been accustomed to. Even being able to give up snacks is unimaginable for many people. However, there are many valid reasons for making this change. Think about the increased health expenditures and the consequences of a poor quality life! It is only possible to prevent chronic diseases, rapid aging and even premature death by applying this system. Although it may sound like a joke, this is a scientific fact.
In the words of Theodor Adorno; Wrong life is not lived right. And life is unfortunately not long enough to handle many mistakes. Especially as life gets shorter as you get older. Those who suffer from illness and those who have lost their loved ones know very well that your health can slip away from you in a lifetime. Most of the time, when we are sick, we come to our minds and the most meaningful thing we say is the following sentence; Health is the greatest wealth.
Gökhan
References:
Yavuz Yörükoğlu (2023) Gençliğin Sırrı Otofaji, İnkılap Yayınları, İstanbul
Wikipedia: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otofaji (13.07.2023)
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