Network Magazine Winter 2019 | Page 29

Autophagy is the process whereby pathogens and old, damaged structures are broken down inside a cell and the parts reused. ot eating for a while – fasting – hardly seems like a massive health and nutrition breakthrough, does it? Of course, fasting is not new, but along with keto it’s the big thing’ in nutrition right now. Fasting has been a common practice throughout the ages. In fact, it’s only since agriculture emerged around 10,000 years ago, that going without food became considered as ‘not normal’. Before we tamed nature for our own nutrition purposes, eating would have been a pretty sporadic activity. Planned fasting is a common practice in almost every religion. From short fasting in Judaism’s 24-hour Yom Kippur, and Buddhism’s daily post-midday fast, to the prolonged 30-day dawn-to-dusk fasting for Muslims in Ramadan, fasting has long been an integral part of life from a spiritual perspective. Now it’s back in vogue for anybody who’s interested in striving for optimal health and longevity. N The science There really is no scientific evidence that backs up the need for humans to eat three square meals a day, plus multiple snacks, for optimal health. There is plenty of scientific evidence that periods without food can be very good for us. Research has shown that just restricting calories may indeed lengthen lifespan in animals, with the amount varying depending on the size of creature. The effect may increase lifespan by 20-30% for bigger animals, and up to double it for small creatures. The animal research is easy to do, because the experimental animals are caged and have no behavioural input into when they eat or what they eat. Unfortunately, the poor animal ends up with side effects – low body temperature (cold through reduced metabolic rate), reduced sex drive, hunger, emotional issues… So, you might live longer, but your quality of life sucks. Fasting, especially intermittent fasting, allows the same biology to happen, but without the metabolic and emotional side effects associated with severe calorie restriction. How does this happen? Until now, modern nutrition science has missed or ignored some very important facts about cell repair and regeneration. Fasting taps into these repair and regeneration mechanisms. Every single cell in our body has the ability to spring-clean and repair itself – we simply need to stop feeding these cells from time to time The science tells us that every single cell in our body has the ability to spring- clean and repair itself – we simply need to stop feeding these cells from time to time. Nature certainly has it sussed – as does the 2016 Nobel prize winner who figured it out, Yoshinori Ohsumi. This self-repair of immune cells, skin cells, brain cells – and more – is known as autophagy. Autophagy: your natural recycling machinery Like all mammals, we humans have a recycling plant in every cell in our bodies. The process is called autophagy (pronounced ‘or-toffa-gee’) – when pathogens (infectious agents), cell ‘junk’ or old and damaged structures are broken down inside a cell and the parts reused.1 Okay, so autophagy is a big word for a really simple and useful process. It is, in fact, the way that the human body is able to keep itself in optimal condition by getting rid of the old, fixing the used, and growing the new. This is just like what any decent business NETWORK WINTER 2019 | 29