Health and Fitness
Aren’t We All Cannibals, Metaphorically?
We eat ourselves, which is a good thing—remarkable benefits of autophagy.
Scary, but seriously, we are sort of like cannibals. Our body eats itself, particularly useless parts. It is a natural process. This process makes us healthier. It is complex, but I explain it in plain language.
Self-eating may sound cannibalistic, scary, and paradoxical, but it is a natural phenomenon. I have been studying this process for a long time. I also apply it to my self-improvement experiments.
This process helped me eliminate excessive skin caused by dramatic and rapid weight loss, as mentioned in a story titled How Did I Get Rid of Loose Skin After Weight Loss?
There is a scientific name for this process. It is called autophagy. My purpose is to introduce the science behind autophagy and give you practical examples of its use. I use measures measurements? from my experience. These experiments helped me improve my health conditions. I experienced a noticeable difference.
After several years of experimentation, I feel compelled about sharing to share the essential points and lessons learned. Autophagy means “self-eating”. It is a method our bodies use to clean damaged cells and generate newer and healthier cells.
Scientists have been conducting studies on autophagy for a long time. The topic has become became popular recently. The research made the most significant contribution by Yoshinori Ohsumi. He got the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 2016. He explained the morphological and molecular mechanisms of autophagy.
I don’t want to go into scientific details but briefly touch on the process at a high level. Autophagy is an evolutionary process. It is catabolic. It means that our cells degrade and recycle intra-cellular damaged organelles, misfolded and mutant proteins, and even viruses and bacteria to maintain cellular health.
This biological process removes our zombie cells. These cells are neither dead nor alive, just like in Schrodinger’s cat’s metaphor in quantum physics. The instability of these cells may cause critical health risks. They may affect our body’s homeostasis.
After this brief introduction, let me explain how we can initiate autophagy and benefit from eating ourselves.
I focus on only natural methods. One of the most efficient and natural ways to initiate autophagy is fasting. Scientists have proven that caloric restriction and fasting regimes could initiate autophagy.
I read remarkable papers from Longo & Mattson. For example, the paper titled, Fasting: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications were published in the CellMetab in 2014. Another study examined the physiological role of autophagy as an intracellular recycling system, emphasizing nutrient metabolism by Kuma & Mizushima in 2010. Autophagy studies are intense in science and medicine. They even started conducting cancer research.
I want to introduce two practical scientific methods to initiate autophagy. Fasting, in the form of one meal a day, has provided me with many benefits.
Apart from fasting and caloric restriction, another autophagy-inducing mechanism is exercise.
My essential lesson learned for actually doing exercise is making it joyful, consistent, and sustainable by building healthy habits. Movement creates good stress. It is a kind of acute stress with deliberate workouts. This kind of stress is useful because it can initiate autophagy. Good stress is healthy. It contributes to fitness, strength, and flexibility.
We need to refrain from chronic stress, which can create adverse effects on our health. One of the most important lessons for me was fully recovering before starting another intense exercise session.
I don’t overdo cardio anymore. Instead, I stick to either a moderate amount of cardio or supplement my anaerobic exercise with high-intensity interval training (HIIT), mainly on a safe trampoline. Weight training, resistance training, and calisthenics are golden opportunities for me to initiate autophagy.
By applying intermittent fasting and joyful exercises, I regularly induced autophagy. The process was reflected in several of my blood markers taken by my family physician and specialist doctors.
However, the most compelling and empirical evidence was getting rid of my excess skin after losing a substantial amount of weight. I shared my remarkable experience in this story.
After a substantial weight loss, I tried many methods over a decade to eliminate my excess skin. Nothing worked! I gratefully eliminated my disturbing excess skin in my abdominal area by learning the autophagy mechanism through eating one meal daily and supplemented with joyful exercises. My family doctor and fitness coach approved my fasting and exercise regime.
Getting rid of loose skin was joyful for me. It helped me notice the muscle definition in my abdominal area. I owe this achievement at 50 years old to a by-product of my special diet and exercise regime, which induced regular autophagy.
Autophagy also helped to beat my debilitating arthritis. When I discussed my progress, some of my health advisors thought it was most likely the autophagy process that ate the excess skin over time.
I am grateful for the natural self-eating process built into our bodies to eliminate our zombie cells, scary viruses, harmful proteins, bad bacteria, and intrusive pathogens.
Ongoing studies promise to unearth this pleasant mystery. It is a paradox to eat useless parts of our own bodies. Self-eating is like a miracle inside our bodies.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I went into details about autophagy and mitophagy in the attached articles
Here Is What Happened When I Experimentally Initiated Autophagy Decades Ago
Here’s How I Initiate Mitophagy and Make My Mitochondria Denser in 7 Steps
Here’s What Happened on One-Meal-a-Day After 15 Years.
Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers
Defeat Metabolic Syndrome and Slim Down Waistline with Three Tips
Why 442 Million People Live Diabetic and What We Can Do About it
Six Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Lower the Risks of Mental Disorders
What Can We Do About NCDs Killing 41 Million People Yearly?.
Reduce the Risks of Neonatal Disorders to Prevent Infant Mortality.
Reduce the Risks of Major Diseases with Healthy Lifestyle Habits
I also write about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
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Disclaimer: Please note that this post does not include health or professional advice. I documented my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information. If you have disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals. Health is the responsibility of individuals.
About the Author
Thank you for subscribing to my content. I share my health and well-being stories in my publication, Euphoria. If you are new to Medium, you may join by following this link. You may also join my publications as a writer requesting access via this weblink. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis. I share important life lessons from people in my professional and social circles.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. I wrote several articles on major diseases and valuable nutrients for health. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
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I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
