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What is Autophagy and How Does It Work

In science, autophagy, also known as “self-eating,” is the natural, regulated mechanism of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components, allowing the orderly breakdown and recycling of cellular components. In other words, it is a detox process your body undergoes to clean out damaged cells and regenerate new ones. This is important because damaged cells can cause harm to your body if they’re not removed, thus making autophagy crucial to the body. 

Autophagy Benefits

Autophagy has many benefits. Outside of your cells, autophagy helps to decrease inflammation in the body by removing the antigens responsible for triggering inflammatory responses. It plays a significant role in immune system performance, as it helps fight infection and increase immunity against viruses. And, autophagy removes the infected microbes in the cells and toxins caused by infections, and helps to create an immune response against the infection. So you can see how the process of autophagy helps to fight diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's disease and neurological illnesses. 

What Triggers Autophagy

Autophagy is triggered by many factors. The most common initiating factor for autophagy is a lack of nutrients. Therefore, fasting and increased stressors are a great way to trigger this process. Fasting activates the Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK), an enzyme playing a critical role in cellular energy intake and expenditure. This signals various pathways and inhibits the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) activity, which is responsible for regulating the metabolism of our cells, in turn activating autophagy. 

How to Increase Autophagy

There are many ways to increase autophagy. The first way is to maintain an autophagy diet which consists of a high-fat low-carb diet, and limiting protein to a few times a week. The diet also consists of keto, coffee, green tea and herbal supplements like the Detoxify Precleanse Herbal Supplement.

Another way to increase autophagy is intermittent fasting. This eating pattern cycles between periods of fasting and eating. Short-term fasting has been found to induce neuronal autophagy. Another way to increase autophagy is exercising. This can range from doing High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts, to Response Elaboration Training (RET) workouts. Because exercising increases autophagy, it maintains energy and reduces the amount of external energy required.

Although autophagy is important and good for the body, too much autophagy can also be very dangerous and detrimental to one’s health. Maintaining a balance is crucial. If you are healthy, it is suggested to practice autophagy two to three times a year. Make sure to consult with your doctor if you have any conditions that may put you at risk, or if you have any more questions.

After completing your autophagy regimen, following with a Detoxify herbal cleanse can help to promote continued system cleansing and extend the benefits of autophagy.