We all want to look younger and healthier, and looking younger is mostly related to how your telomeres work, mitochondrial health, and how metabolic you are healthy.
The science and discover more about how our cells work, mitochondria, telomeres, and other factors influencing our cell health, longevity, and aging.
The unique process called “Autophagy,” also called “self-eating.” is important because our body’s detox mechanism recycles damaged cellular components, which activates some of the things such as Fasting and Exercise.
During autophagy, your cells search for dead, sick, or damaged cells for energy and use the molecules to manufacture energy or create new cell parts.
Regardless, you may wonder, is it true that autophagy makes you seem younger? And if triggering that autophagy can help to live longer and seem younger.
This article will explain autophagy and the relationship between longevity and optimum health.
Why is Autophagy Important?
Autophagy helps cells survive by removing damaged organelles and protein aggregates and promoting bioenergetic homeostasis. Also, Autophagy is more “needed” when you expose yourself to toxins such as Aluminum, Flouride, as well as oxidative fatty acids such as Linoleic Acids (Omega-6), and environmental factors such as “EMF” and “air pollution.”
Stimulating the Autophagy process is one of the most important things for detoxing – Autophagy decreases inflammation, slows aging, and fights cancer.
Plus, Autophagy inhibits tumor growth by eliminating damaged organelles/proteins this is because Autophagy suppresses p53 genes(which promotes tumor growth) and eventually prevents tissue degeneration.
Does Autophagy Make You Look Younger?
If autophagy has been proven to regenerate neural function and play a significant role in disease prevention and health maintenance, it must also affect youthfulness and longevity.
Researchers discovered that aging could be attributed to chronic inflammation in the body, especially in the cells.
According to a study, autophagy is an extremely important process during the many stages of wound healing and controlling inflammation. To be more specific, autophagy has an anti-infectious impact during the inflammatory phase, and it also positively modulates the inflammatory response.
This prevents excessive inflammation from causing harm to the tissue, which is the ultimate goal of autophagy.
Plus, Heavy metals also increase inflammation in the body, which can raise the body’s mineral requirements(Selenium, Magnesium, Iodine, Copper) and impact mitochondrial functions via blocking Mitochondrial biogenesis.
The study summarized that autophagy and apoptosis might be used as an alternative and combined method by cells exposed to toxic concentrations of heavy metals.
Another important step, Autophagy can help that trigger “Mitophagy,” it is an important cellular process responsible for programmed cell death, preserving energy, and safeguarding against the accumulation of damaged cells.
Autophagy truly is an anti-aging miracle.
How Can Activate Autophagy?
When you activate autophagy, your cells start to crave the damages old cells for energy. This will helps reduce inflammation, lower your risk of cancer, and improve your body’s ability to perform optimally.
You can activate this with particular substances and lifestyle changes, such as Fasting, Exercise, and certain supplements(Turmeric, Black Tea, Pomegranate) that can promote autophagy.
Plus, Autophagy is activated in response to DNA damage and regulates many DNA repair mechanisms.
Without enough Autophagy process, your Mitochondrial, insulin, and as well as other hormones can affect by environmental toxins.
Mild Stress, Such As Fasting And Cold Showers
Chronic stress can even kill us, but acute not. Actually, Fasting, Exercise, and Cold shower are uncomfortable things for our bodies and cells. When we experience hunger, cold, and stimulation, such as exercise, our adaptation mechanism starts to activate. We are an adaptation “machine,” the same likes cats, right? 🙂
The right kind of proper Fasting activates autophagy, a natural cleaning process used by your body to remove cellular garbage, including toxins, while also recycling damaged cells. Fasting also signals anti-aging genes such as SIRT3 and FOXO, as well as other factors such as AMPK activation. That’s why Fasting can be linked with longevity in animal studies.
Read that article for more info: Does Intermittent Fasting Increase Longevity?
You can inhibit the process of Autophagy by consuming proteins, glucose, and carbs responsible for mTOR activation and cell growth.
Fasting suppresses the mTOR pathway, leading to “catabolic” effects, especially damaging cells. However, suppressing too much “mTOR” doesn’t always the best choice, because we need to proper amount of muscle and tissue growth. (as well as white blood cells)
When mTOR is not stimulated, it instructs the cell to turn on the array of repair and maintenance processes at its disposal, including autophagy (cleaning up cellular debris), DNA repair, and activating intracellular antioxidants and heat-shock proteins (HSPs).
Fasting, Caloric restriction, and energy deprivation lower mTOR signaling, which upregulates other energy homeostasis pathways, such as AMPK and autophagy.
Other Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
- In the ketosis state, Ketones in the circulation protect against epileptic convulsions, cognitive impairment, and other neurodegenerative disorders plus, Ketones can help new brain cell production via stimulating BDNF protein release in the Hippocampus.(that helps memory formation, and emotions as well as cognition)
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factors(BDNF) also encourage trigger neurons that protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- Fasting can boost Human Growth Hormone by 1,300% in women and 2,000% in men, which leads to better fat-burning and anti-aging benefits.
- Fasting boosts mitochondrial function via positive adaption the stress and biosynthesis
- Autophagy and Mitophagy coming from Fasting have protection of most diseases, including cancer and dementia.
- Increase lifespan — A variety of processes contribute to this impact. Fasting improves insulin sensitivity but suppresses the excessive mTOR pathway, which is help regenerate old cells into new healthy cells.
Interestingly, when you are not available to properly use Fats For Fuels, your body use a molecule called acetyl-CoA while breaking down fats— and this is one of the compounds in your body for synthesizing the Melatonin hormone.
As we know, Melatonin has anti-cancer properties that protect our cells from environmental damage. Without metabolic flexibility, our body will be less likely to synthesize Melatonin from acetyl-CoA, cause to impair Mitochondrial efficiency and eventually impairing healthy cell function. That’s another reason why Time Restricted Eating or Intermittent Fasting is the key factor for Metabolic Flexibility.
Melatonin For Longevity And Autophagy
The hormones are far more important than any other vitamins, minerals, and the process. Because hormones can stimulate the body’s work via sending signals to the cells. The most known hormones are Insulin, Testosterone, Estrogen, and Thyroid. But, there are other important hormones secreted by Pineal Gland called:”Melatonin,” mostly undervalued by medical authorities.
I won’t explain the full details of how important melatonin is for optimum health here. I suggest to read the comprehensive article I wrote about
Here: Why Is Melatonin Important For Well-Being, Anxiety, And Depression?
As we learned about many genes that appear to increase longevity and lifespan, such as autophagy, sirtuins, and FOXO proteins, which are involved in DNA repair and protection.
For example, people who have SIRT7 deficiency impair DNA repair and induce genomic instability. But, there is some “hormones” fight sirtuin deficiency such as Melatonin.
Melatonin Is An Excellent Sirtuin Activator.
According to research, melatonin has been proven to minimize ISO-induced oxidative stress by increasing superoxide dismutase activity(also stimulated by Zinc and Selenium) and decreasing the inhibition of Krebs’ cycle enzymes.
That also means that Melatonin regulates autophagy, rises in activity SIRT1, and controls inflammation. That fact can make Melatonin a promising antioxidant as well as anti-aging properties.
How About Reserve Aging? Can Autophagy Reverse Aging?
Yes, if not, at least helps to “slow down” the aging process via the protection of cells damages coming from environments.
Uncontrollable oxidative stress may cause damage to your body’s proteins, lipids, and DNA, which not only increases the speed of aging but may also promote cancer and even death.
Autophagic activity has been shown to decline with aging. However, optimizing autophagy could assist the body get rid of old cells and reducing inflammation.
Besides autophagy, Telomeres shorten as we become older, and increasing telomere shortening causes aging. The good news is that fasting can optimize the telomeres, autophagy, and other longevity genes such as SIRT3 as well as FOXO.
Related: Longevity Lifestyle, Tips, Tricks, And Supplements
Does Exercise Speed Up Autophagy?
Improve insulin resistance (limiting processed carbs, sweets, and omega-6 seed oils), glycine consumption, optimal mineral intakes such as magnesium, zinc, copper, and iodine, sunshine, and exercise can speed up autophagy.
Glucose levels are lowered by the majority of aerobic and cardiovascular exercises, which leads to improved insulin sensitivity, suppresses the mTOR, and activates autophagy.
Does Autophagy Increase Collagen?
Collagen, the main structural protein in the human body, has a direct connection with your mitochondria as well as skin health. Collagen is not impacting Autophagy, but it’s a great source of protein without triggering mTOR(which inhibits Autophagy)
Actually, Autophagy increase the process of cell regeneration is sped up by autophagy, which also leads to an increase in the rate of collagen production.
You can consider vitamin C and copper because copper is needed to strengthen collagen, and a lack of copper may reduce the health of the arteries and the heart.
The Overwhelming Stress Of Modern Life Can Suppress Autophagy.
We are living a stressful life, and it’s hard to completely avoid it. Even if there is some kind of stressor available that you can’t even see it’s called: “Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) are invisible areas of energy, often referred to as Radiation.”
Besides, there are other things, such as Iron Overload, Fluoride, Glyphosate, and others, that can negatively affect our Autophagy process.(For example, Iron overload leads to Insulin problems that are converted into mTOR imbalance)
Another reason why people tend to have insulin problems is overconsumption of sugary and processed foods which are high in Omega-6 and Sugar.
Consuming too much sugar raises insulin levels and suppressed autophagy, which increases the release of inflammatory cytokines. Insulin problems can also cause lower Melatonin production, it also inhibits the Autophagy process. So, these of all things are related to each other.