Autophagy can be translated from the Greek auto meaning “self,” and phagy meaning “to eat.” So essentially it means that your body is eating itself. As strange as this may seem it appears from numerous studies that Autophagy is an incredible way to clear out all the bad stuff in our body and rejuvenate many processes.
In the state of Autophagy our body realizes there isn’t much food around and starts rummaging through our cells looking for anything we don’t need such as malfunctioning mitochondria, defective proteins, and stuff that isn’t working anymore, and it clears out all the junk. Dead and diseased tissues are broken down and recycled to build new materials and renew our cells. It can regulate cell mitochondria, encourage the growth of brain and nerve cells and prevent damage to healthy tissues.
Damaged cells are what can trigger inflammatory pathways and contribute to various diseases so the benefit of our own bodies being able to do this is incredible! Think about it as a key preventative for such diseases as cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and infections.
Autophagy has been observed as a natural process in yeast, mold, plants, worms, flies and mammals as well as in humans. It can take anywhere from 48-72 hours to get into autophagy and there are three main ways of activating it:
Exercising can bring on autophagy as your cells become stressed, but this is a good stress that can benefit multiple organs, muscle and tissue. Exercising creates mild damage to your muscles and tissues that your body then repairs, and by so doing makes your body stronger. Cardio exercise induces autophagy in skeletal muscles, ideally, you will combine a mixture of different activities so you can work aerobically and also build lean muscle mass. When designing your activity or exercise regime it really has to be something you enjoy. Even a game of badminton twice a week or a Zumba class will burn calories and get you moving.
Eat a keto diet will cause autophagy to happen. When your carb intake drops and glucose levels drop to almost zero, the body switches into ketosis. Ketosis can be achieved without a total fast as it’s essentially a straightforward energy switch from glucose and “normal” fats, all you need to do to achieve it is to remove carbohydrates from the diet, limit proteins, and increase high-fat, whole foods like coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, grass-fed butter, ghee, grass-fed meat, fermented cheeses, avocado, seeds and nuts.
When glucose levels reach almost zero your body will make the switch. Eating high protein and very low carb is not something I recommend because it disregards the benefits of vegetables which should always be included for fibre, vitamins and antioxidants, and all health benefits including maintaining a healthy gut.
Intermittent fasting such as alternate day fasting or reducing your eating window to 6 to 8 hours a day. Intermittent Fasting is the kind of fast I recommend the most. Deep fasting (in all its forms) can be hugely beneficial, but if you go back to putting processed or high GI foods in your gut as soon as you resume eating, any benefits will be undone. When you fast intermittently for several days per week (eat all your meals within a max of 10 hours or less) you are encouraging ongoing restoration and healing and Autophagy. This approach can become part of a lifestyle choice and very soon becomes second nature.
I feel great and notice a difference in mental energy, and I definitely sleep better. For me this is now a way of life. I should add that I am not neurotic about it, if I am invited out for an evening meal I don’t say no if it’s going to take me over my 10 hours! I simply follow the intermittent fasting principle naturally as many days as it fits into my schedule. Because it works. It’s also a great way to deal with cravings as when your blood sugar is stabilised, physical cravings reduce or disappear. Intermittent fasting allows you to reconnect with authentic as opposed to “fake hunger” signals and your emotional relationship with food is greatly improved as well as your health.
My interactive 14-day Colour Fast Re-Set programme is designed to take you into low level ketosis so that you make the switch from being a sugar burner to being a fat burner.
JUST 14-days to experience incredible results! Balance blood sugar and hormone levels, boost your immunity, vitality and energy, cleanse your body AND your mind.
Most coaching programmes are either mind based designed to motivate you, or physically based as with personal fitness training. This inspirational programme brings together the best of everything, making it a magical formula, 3 weeks of great nutrition, mind changing techniques AND personal coaching for REAL transformation!
Although it is quite a strict regime, you can keep elements of it as you move into a more relaxed way of eating. Watching your food windows i.e. when you feast and when you famine, as well as getting the balance of nutrients right, i.e. minimising PINKS and maximising your GREENS to improve liver function and gut health, plus having plenty of good quality BLUES to give you all the good fats and proteins you need, is the key to permanent weight loss, and improved health.
Will you join us?
Preparation Week commences Monday 4th May
14 Day Colour Fast Reset commences Monday 11th May