Fasting and Autophagy

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I have tried several different systems of getting groceries, trying to make them last the entire month. A few years back, I was getting a full month's groceries at the beginning of the month, hoping it would last. I never did. We ended up getting food boxes for the last week or more. Now, getting it every couple of weeks works much better. During the time when food was low, I began to wonder about the concept of fasting. I wondered if my body wasn't actually getting some benefit from a sort of fasting regime. I started doing some research on the subject. There are several benefits to fasting, such as weight loss, cell repair, blood sugar levels, and can help to regulate certain diseases. As well as benefits, there are some drawbacks. Hunger is obvious, but fatigue and weakness are also things to be aware of. So, planning a fast during an active time of your life would not be a good idea. And how long to fast is something to consider. Autophagy is a medical term and is a natural cleansing process in the body that allows cells to essentially "eat themselves". Around the third day of fasting, the cells are starved and begin to digest and recycle their own proteins and other important molecules to be used as fuel, to regenerate new, healthy cells. This helps to clear the body of toxins and damaged cells. Pathagons or dead, or damaged components, which all contribute to aging, inflammation, and the increased risk of chronic disease. A study to support this found that the cells of long-lived individuals(people age 100 and over) showed higher rates of autophagy than younger seniors(at age 75 years old). I find this to be a great reason for fasting 3-5 days each month.