Many people promote intermittent fasting as a healthy diet. Besides keeping us in shape, intermittent fasting also does something else: it promotes self-eating in cells (autophagy). Autophagy might be crucial to delay age-related diseases and live longer. But how does autophagy work? And can we use autophagy to reverse aging?

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In the 80s, a scientist named Yoshinori Ohsumi started to study autophagy. Autophagy is a process where the cell degrades often old damaged parts to get nutrients. After Ohsumis discovery, scientists found autophagy in many other organisms including humans. Autophagy is especially important in cells which have to survive for long periods of time. As we get older though, autophagy becomes less active. This, and other factors, lead to the accumulations of unwanted proteins in the cell. Over time, neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons might break out.
Scientists soon realized that autophagy could be used to live healthier and even longer. Rapamycin is a drug that has been shown to induce autophagy in animals. At the same time, rapamycin prolonges the lives of mammals. Although rapamycin has not been used to treat neurodegenerative diseases, there are first short-term studies which show the rejuvenating effects of rapamycin in humans. Other drugs have been shown to induce autophagy as well and reverse age-related signs in animals.
We can try to promote autophagy in our bodies through intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting means that we (for example) fast 16 hours a day. In this manner, intermittent fasting slightly stresses the cell and leads to a greater degree of autophagy. Intermittent fasting has been associated with multiple health benefits, especially when it comes to lowering the risk of age-related diseases. Alternative, regular aerobic exercise is also associated with lower risks to develop age-related diseases. Let's see what happens when clinical studies aiming to slow down and reverse aging are completed!

00:00-1:01 Intro
1:01-3:27 Discovery of Autophagy
3:27-6:54 How Self-Eating Cells Fight Disease
6:54-9:36 How Scientists Activate Autophagy
9:36-12:02 How We Can Activate Autophagy


References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/45257
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About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerely) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.