The Science Of Autophagy: Why Autophagy Is The Real Way To Detox Your Body

By Douglas Tieman

Have you also heard of this trendy new term "Autophagy" but just cannot really get behind it? 

Are you looking for a scientifically accurate, but easy to understand guide to use the new concept to your advantage? 

Or are you simply interested in a healthy lifestyle, a sustainable diet form or detoxification of your body?

 

If you answered yes to at least one of the questions above, this guide is specifically written for you.

 

Currently, there are not many Autophagy-books out there and the ones who often lack scientific accuracy, the density of information or are simply too confusing and hard to understand for a layman. 

 

But what exactly is Autophagy, you might ask? 

 

Great question! 

 

Autophagos is greek and stands for "self-devouring". 

 

It is a natural regeneration process that occurs at a cellular level in the body, reducing the likelihood of contracting some diseases as well as prolonging lifespan.

 

In 2016, Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize for his discoveries into the mechanisms of Autophagy. 

 

These have led to a better understanding of diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia.

 

In this guide you'll discover:

• The 4 little-known benefits of Autophagy to extend your life and protect your health (Even if you already workout and eat quite healthy!)
• What exactly is Autophagy step by step and how to regulate it?
• Why the importance of Autophagy has been underestimated for years – with dramatic consequences!
• The 7 magical ways to activate the hidden power – in a natural and healthy way
• The biggest myth busted: a comprehensive glossary to understand all the relevant vocabulary, mechanisms and complex relationships that concern Autophagy 
• Does Autophagy have any downsides? And if yes, what are the best ways to deal with them effectively?
• The absolute worst 3 things you might be doing to hinder Autophagy (avoid these mistakes at all costs if you want to reap the full benefits!)

 

…and much, much more! 

 

By relying on the latest scientific research from international experts, this guide is able to identify the exact dietary and non-dietary actions to induce Autophagy and jumpstart your health, well-being, weight loss and much more.

 

So if you want to finally take advantage of the revolutionary new process to boost health, lose weight and much more, click "Add to Cart" now!

• Language: English
• Publisher: M & M Limitless Online Inc.
• Release date: Jul 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393063483

Book preview

Introduction

We live in a society that pushes us to be better, stronger, and healthier. From diets to magic weight loss pills, to insane exercising programs, there are one too many ways to improve our health and reap the benefits a long, well-lived life. But do these methods really work? Many dieting and exercising programs promise you miraculous results in virtually no time but are not clear on how to achieve it or involve the use of artificial, unregulated supplements that do not even have a scientific back up on their action.

What if you knew how to achieve the same results that these programs claim to deliver in a natural, easy and efficient way? This question is what brought you here: to learn how to improve your health and increase your longevity by taking advantage of autophagy, a mechanism that cleanses and keeps your body healthy since day one!

I have always strived to become a better version of myself and take care of my body, so I could live the fullest life possible. When I enrolled in a Biology major and started studying how our body balances out all the daily stress and regenerates itself, I stumbled on the process of autophagy. And I was immediately fascinated with how our body just knows how to survive in the most adverse conditions. I found out that we have plenty of mechanisms that increase our average lifespan and health as we develop, autophagy being one of them.

The most surprising discovery was to learn how this simple pathway was involved in every function in our body, from fighting off infections to improving your daily performance both at a physical and mental level. I would like to share this knowledge with you: how to harness your body’s own power and use autophagy to become the healthiest, better version of yourself.

Knowing how autophagy works and which triggers you can activate to increase its rate in the body is a sure way to guarantee a worry-free life concerning your own health. The best part is that the methods you will learn have long proven effects and can be applied, starting now!

So why wait? The secret to a better, healthier, and youthful you is in your own hands right now. You just have to sit back, and enjoy this journey: you are about to learn how powerful your body is, just like I did.

Understanding Autophagy

From the moment we wake up, to the moment we lay down to rest after a difficult day, the cells in our body are constantly at work. Immune cells fight back infections, cardiomyocytes are responsible to keep the heart beating, neurons direct the body’s response to external stimulus, intestinal cells absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, pneumocytes are responsible for exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen. While their functions are variable, every cell shares a common characteristic: they are built for survival.

In a human adult, the average cell turnover across all tissue types is of seven to ten years, during which a single cell undergoes countless divisions, in a series of events called cell cycle or mitosis. This process is at the center of our body’s capacity for regeneration, which is extremely important in organs involved in the body’s metabolism as the liver; to repair wounds or fight off infections. (Almeida, S., Chaves, M., Delaunay, F. and Feillet, C. ; 2017)

The number of divisions a cell can perform is its lifespan. Each cell type has a limited number of divisions that can be shortened by other factors – radiation, viral infections, a reduction in telomerases – after which it enters a biochemical process called apoptosis, leading to its death. Specialized cells, like neurons or heart muscle cells, don’t have the capacity to enter mitosis as often as other cell types making them more vulnerable to cellular damage. Under these conditions, cells promote mechanisms that ensure their survival without compromising their lifespan, autophagy being the most important one. (Barnum, K. and O’Connell, M. ; 2014)

What Is Autophagy?

Describing the mechanism of autophagy is as simple as tracking down the Greek roots of its name. Auto translates as self and phagy refers to swallowing, eating, meaning the cell eats itself to better regulate its function. It was observed for the first time at the Rockefeller Institute in 1962, by Keith R. Porter, after feeding rat liver cells with glucagon, a hormone that signals cell starvation. Porter reported that each cell formed small vessels containing portions of degraded mitochondria but couldn’t determine their exact source or purpose. A more detailed description of the very same process was released on the following year, by German scientists Hruban and Spargo, recognizing autophagy as a key mechanism during cellular development. (Hruban, Z., Spargo, B.; 1963)

In normal conditions, the cell can digest its own structure and organelles into smaller, simpler molecules, and recycle them for various purposes. Autophagy acts as a housekeeping mechanism, disposing of proteins or organelles that are no longer functional to the cell, preventing their accumulation to toxic levels, although it can also be triggered as a response to stress signals in the cellular environment, such as invading pathogens, inflammation, or lack of nutrients. Whenever a cell is deprived of nutrients, autophagy is quickly activated through signaling cascades in order to provide it with enough resources – be it amino acids, glucose, lipids, or ATP – to keep functioning. (Mizushima, N.; 2007, 2011)

Three Pathways With The Same Purpose – Types Of Autophagy

Even though self-degradation occurs in nearly every organism’s cells as a survival mechanism, from yeast to humans, there are three different ways in which the cell delivers what it longer needs to the degradation vesicle – the lysosome. These can be distinguished depending on how the cell forms the lysosome, the number of steps required, and the cargo contained in the vesicles.

Most of the cellular waste is eliminated through macroautophagy, which has long been considered the default pathway and by far the most studied. During macroautophagy, cells use their own membranes to form two types of vesicles: one called autophagosome, that captures any product; and the lysosome, containing enzymes that help speed up the recycling process. Microautophagy is a more straight-forward way to achieve the same result, however, it’s not molecule-specific: any substance can be removed from the cell’s interior and directly delivered to the lysosome. Recently, studies described a subtype of microautophagy that helps the cell integrate proteins produced at the endoplasmic reticulum, proving that autophagy is not an exclusively catabolic mechanism.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have chaperone-mediated autophagy, that only targets protein into the lysosome. Each protein is assigned to a signaling molecule that is then recognized by chaperones included in degradation of vesicles membranes. In some cases, chaperones can also recognize transcription factors, proteasomes, and proteins involved in cellular transportation systems. For this to happen, proteins must present a very specific structural pattern, the KFERQ motif. Without this motif, chaperone-mediated autophagy cannot progress normally, as it’s essential for the uptake and unfolding process that occurs at the lysosome.

Lesser known types of autophagy are mitophagy (degradation of either functional or non-functional mitochondria), and lipophagy (degradation of lipids). These are looked upon as subtypes rather than actual autophagic alternatives but are equally important to the cell’s metabolism.

Mitophagy is promoted in the cell to prevent the accumulation of non-functional mitochondria after damage or stress. Damaged mitochondria can cause a spike in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are harmful to other cellular structures, and consequently, cause cell death. Similarly, lipophagy targets lipid droplets for recycling. This variation serves to avoid inflammation in tissues, resulting from lipid accumulation and was first described in mice. (Tanida, I.; 2010)

How Does Autophagy Work? – A Step By Step Breakdown

Since its first description 50 years ago, a plethora of studies focused on uncovering the molecular machinery behind autophagy. The first studies were made using yeast models and consecutively reproduced in flies, worms, mice, and even in mammalian cell lines. Across all studies, the observations were coincident. Scientists observed that beyond all its complexity, autophagy could be broken down, and thus explained, in four successive steps. (Kunz JB, Schwarz H, Mayer A; 2009)

It all starts when cells are removed from a constant supply of nutrients or were exposed to any kind of exogenous stress. At the surface of their membrane, cells express small molecules that act as sensors to their surroundings and allow them to communicate with other adjacent cells. When a cell has low energy or oxygen levels or even detects potential invaders, these sensors are triggered, inducing internal changes that lead to the formation of a lysosome. All these