If I was ever tempted to try for Mastermind, my specialist subject would not be The Nobel Prize for Physiology. Having said that, because of my Carnivore lifestyle and fasting, I know a little of the 2016 winner, Yoshinori Ohsumi. He discovered the powerful healing of autophagy, and the wide positive impact it has on the human body.
Autophagy occurs when you have fasted for around 16-24 hours, but when you enter into a prolonged fast, eg over 24 hours, its power increases. Fasting is when we rest our digestive system by not asking it to continuously process food. (The average person now eats 5/6 times a day, snacking between meals counts as eating) It is worth saying that fasting is very different to starvation. When we fast for either religious or health benefits, we are safe, nourished and hydrated.
In basic terms, I think of autophagy like giving your house a good deep clean. You don’t just dust off the surfaces, you get down into all the nooks and crannies, and sort out all the junk hiding at the back of the cupboards. That junk either gets taken out as waste, or gets recycled. This is exactly what autophagy does.
Modern life, aging and ill health causes damage to the cells inside our bodies, these damaged cells can cause us major health issues. It is these cells, along with damaged proteins and mitochondria that are broken down during autophagy. It is this issue that some people become quite alarmed by, thinking our body will start breaking down its own muscle and healthy tissue, but it’s not the case. The body breaks down the damaged cells, which it recycles into healthy new cells and proteins. This is hugely protective from long term chronic and progressive health conditions. Fasting has been used safely for thousands of years, both therapeutically and religiously, but modern day consensus tells us that it is bad for us to not eat. Thankfully, Yoshinori Ohsumi has helped to show the world how incorrect that assumption is.
If you want to look deeper into mitochondria, have a look for Dr Isabella Cooper; and for further information on fasting, Dr Jason Fung knows all there is to know. Or if you are feeling particularly ready for a challenge, look for the 2016 Nobel Prize winning study.
