Fasting helps with weight loss and activates the body’s autophagy, allowing deep-seated cell repair and improving cell health. As a result, fasting has been found to help prevent various diseases, slow aging, and effectively treat some illnesses.

What Is Autophagy?

Autophagy is an important function that every cell possesses. As the name suggests, it means self-engulfing and is an essential cellular self-cleaning process.

Each cell contains multiple parts that keep it functioning continuously. Over time, these parts may become defective or stop performing and become waste inside an otherwise healthy cell. For example, when damaged proteins, discarded organelles, or other wastes appear inside our cells, the efficiency of normal cell operation is reduced.

Autophagy is equivalent to the body’s cellular recycling system that decomposes and recycles cell parts and waste. At the same time, it repurposes the salvageable bits and pieces into new, usable cell parts to generate energy and repair the cells, keeping the latter healthy and helping to prevent the incidence of diseases.

A 2013 study published in Ageing Research Reviews has found that with normal autophagy in place, the body is able to resist disease effectively and can even delay aging. When autophagy slows, the waste removal process from the cells becomes less reliable, which may lead to various health issues, culminating in neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders, and even cancer.

Fasting and Autophagy

How are fasting and autophagy related? When we fast, our cells sense a decrease in energy supply, signaling that they need to start cleaning up their internal “inventory,” initiating autophagy to recycle and utilize the resources already present in the cell.

Studies have shown that autophagy is a dynamic catabolic process that is strictly regulated. Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), known as the “cell energy regulator,” acts like a switch to energy-saving mode in the cell organelle. It is activated whenever it senses a low energy condition, and the cell will then reduce the synthesis of new proteins and start autophagy.

Fasting triggers the autophagy process, and cells will automatically enter self-repair mode. This helps to remove waste from our bodies and improves the health of cells.

Research has found that regular fasting can reduce weight and improve aging-related health problems, including cardiometabolic, cancer, and neurocognitive outcomes. Another study found that metabolic profiles related to lung and colorectal cancer risk were reduced after fasting during Ramadan.

Case Sharing From My Medical Practice

1. An older man with Alzheimer’s disease: After trying various treatment options, the man’s family decided he should try an intermittent fasting program of fasting for 14 to 16 hours a day, eating only between an 8 to 10-hour time span. After four months, his cognitive function improved significantly. Scans of his brain showed a decrease in the buildup of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This improvement may be closely related to the autophagy process activated during fasting, which helps clear harmful proteins from the brain.

2. A breast cancer cancer patient: This patient fasted for 48 hours before chemotherapy. The side effects from chemotherapy were significantly reduced while producing a much better effect from chemotherapy treatment. This is because, during fasting, the autophagy process helps clear damaged cell structures and promotes the regeneration of the immune system, thus enhancing the effectiveness of the treatment. However, some cancer patients suffer from cachexia or are unable to eat at all. In these cases, fasting is not appropriate.

3. A middle-aged woman with lupus erythematosus (achronic autoimmune disease): This patient found that her symptoms improved significantly after intermittent fasting, and her dependence on hormonal drugs was significantly reduced. This is because autophagy effectively cleans up waste in the body and reduces the inflammatory response.

These cases demonstrate that fasting can profoundly affect the health of our cells and even help treat diseases.

However, fasting is not for everyone. People with chronic illnesses or special health needs are advised to consult a physician or nutritionist specialized in this area before beginning any fasting program.

Two Popular Fasting Routines

Healthy adults who want to try fasting can start with short-term or intermittent fasting.

16:8 Fasting: One of the most popular intermittent fasting methods. Fast for 16 hours a day and eat within the remaining eight hours. For example, restrict yourself to eating only between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

5:20 Fasting: Eat normally for five days of the week and limit your daily caloric intake to 500 to 600 calories on the remaining two days. This approach is also effective at kick-starting autophagy while making it easier for you to stick with it.

Fasting is not about starving yourself, but rather managing your diet more intelligently so that your body has time to repair itself. During the fasting period, drink enough water and keep up with nutritional balance by choosing the right foods in your meals to ensure adequate nutritional intake.