What is Autophagy?
“Auto” means self and “phagy” means to eat. The literal definition of autophagy is “self-eating,” which is precisely what occurs when your body is in this stage. Autophagy is the body’s natural way of cleaning itself of damaged cells, allowing the regeneration of new cells. While “self-eating” may sound like a dangerous, scary state for your body to be in, it’s actually considered a biohacking principle that has the potential to add life to your years.
Benefits of Autophagy:
While there are numerous proven benefits of autophagy, there are countless ongoing studies researching even more potential benefits of this self-healing state. Autophagy allows your body to repair damage, fight infection, and reduce inflammation to improve the quality of your life.Anti-Aging
Anti-aging benefits are more than just skin deep. While autophagy can help you look and feel younger, it can also remove toxic proteins from the cells that are attributed to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Many of these diseases develop because of proteins in and around the brain cells that accumulate slowly while failing to work properly. Autophagy cleans up these proteins, keeping them from accumulating and allowing only fresh, healthy cells to survive.
Fights Infections
Autophagy can trigger an immune response when necessary, forcing your body to attack infectious pathogens before they become a larger problem. Equally as important, autophagy can also facilitate the removal of toxins created by infections, which is extremely beneficial for fighting off food-borne illnesses.
Weight Loss
Perhaps one of the most popular applications of autophagy is for weight loss. Autophagy requires your body to be in a fat-burning state, meaning that during a fast, your body will burn through excess fat stores without sacrificing muscle mass*. This results in a healthier, leaner body. When practiced for long enough, autophagy can support metabolic flexibility, helping your body switch to a fat-burning state faster and more efficiently.
* Very long fasts may sacrifice muscle mass, while shorter fasts may not.
Anti-Cancer
Cancers often begin from defective cells that replicate out of control. Autophagy has the ability to detect and destroy these cells, preventing tumor growth and inhibiting the cancer's ability to spread. As autophagy may prevent the onset of cancer, it is currently being researched as a targeted therapy for cancer treatment.
Ketosis and Autophagy:
Intermittent fasting and ketogenic diets are two of the most effective ways to activate autophagy through ketosis. Your body enters ketosis when it switches fuel sources from glucose to fat. The BIOSENSE Breath Ketone Monitor can track your body’s metabolic state and let you know where you are in ketosis.
If you are just beginning a ketosis health plan, it is essential to consider the following general guidelines for interpreting your results using Biosense. It is not uncommon to remain in the 0-3 range for the first few days while your glycogen stores are depleted.
0-4 ACEs
Low Ketones
Still burning glucose as primary fuel.
Now in ketosis and burning fat for fuel.
Mental clarity and reduced inflammation, benefits galore.
Deeper ketosis, especially through fasting, driving cellular regeneration.
5+ ACEs
Weight Loss
Still burning glucose as primary fuel.
Now in ketosis and burning fat for fuel.
Mental clarity and reduced inflammation, benefits galore.
Deeper ketosis, especially through fasting, driving cellular regeneration.
11+ ACEs
Cognitive & Anti-Inflammatory
Still burning glucose as primary fuel.
Now in ketosis and burning fat for fuel.
Mental clarity and reduced inflammation, benefits galore.
Deeper ketosis, especially through fasting, driving cellular regeneration.
15+ ACEs
Health Span & Autophagy
Still burning glucose as primary fuel.
Now in ketosis and burning fat for fuel.
Mental clarity and reduced inflammation, benefits galore.
Deeper ketosis, especially through fasting, driving cellular regeneration.
