What Exactly Is Autophagy & Why Is It Important To My Health?

Autophagy is a Greek-derived term that means "self-" (auto) "eating" (phagy). While that may sound like a pretty gnarly horror flick, it's actually your body's way of clearing out old, damaged cells and proteins to make room for new, healthy ones. In other words, autophagy is the ultimate natural body cleanse.

The process has been connected to weight loss, better insulin control, and even a reduced risk of conditions like heart disease and cancer.

As you age, and as a normal response to just going through life, proteins and organelles in your body get damaged or die. If they're not cleared out, these damaged particles accumulate in your cells and jam things up. When this happens, your cells can't divide and function normally—this can cause cell death1 and age-related diseases, contribute to poor tissue and/or organ function, and even become cancerous.

Enter the process called autophagy. During autophagy, the body marks damaged parts of cells, unused proteins, and other junk in the body for removal and clears them out. This is a form of cellular cleansing and, really, the true meaning of a detox. Autophagy also helps deliver nutrients1 to cells that need them.

"Autophagy can dictate not only how well we live but perhaps how long we live," says board-certified integrative neurologist Ilene Ruhoy, M.D., Ph.D. "It is a key physiological mechanism that has been conserved throughout evolution for the distinct purpose of allowing the human species to thrive. But when the autophagic mechanisms are overwhelmed or dysfunctional, cells are unable to perform optimally and disease can occur, as well as more rapid aging."

Autophagy is absolutely essential for healthy, functioning cells and if it's never kicked on to its full potential, you can get sick. One of the most notable ways these dead proteins accumulate is seen in Alzheimer's disease2. Because they are never cleared from the body, dead proteins travel to the brain and get stuck there, causing the characteristic plaques associated with the disease.

Autophagy helps shut off inflammation5 by controlling the actions of several types of inflammatory cells, including macrophages, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and cytokines—as cited by a research review in Clinical and Translational Medicine. Because autophagy is a powerful anti-inflammatory, stimulating autophagy may help reduce the severity of several inflammation-related conditions, like Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"It is notable that most neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, are associated with the accumulation of misfolded proteins or pathologic proteins," says Ruhoy, "so impaired autophagy may contribute to these diseases, but the exact mechanism by which it does so is not completely understood."

Autophagy is essential for the proper functioning of your beta cells7, the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. Some research—including a study in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine that looked at both human and rat insulin‐producing cells (INS‐1)—connects the development of type 2 diabetes to hampered autophagy. On the other hand, stimulating autophagy may keep beta cells healthy and help improve insulin sensitivity8 and insulin signaling.

Since autophagy is really the foundation of keeping your body healthy, clean, and free from cell pollution, it's important to activate it regularly. Fortunately, most of the things that turn this powerful cellular cleansing process are actually really simple to incorporate.

Nutrient deprivation—or going without eating—is the primary trigger for autophagy. That might sound like something you don't want, but that's exactly what intermittent fasting is. And it's a physiological state that your body actually thrives on.

"The adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an enzyme that is critical for cellular bioenergetics," says Ruhoy. "During nutrient-depleted states, AMPK is activated to upregulate autophagy so your body can maintain homeostatic demands. Impairment of the AMPK pathway has been associated with aging, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and endocrine dysfunction."

While intermittent fasting is thought to be the most effective way to create a nutrient-depleted state, the keto diet—a high-fat, low-carb plan—is one way to mimic one. When you follow a keto diet, you deprive your body of glucose. This lack of glucose is an internal signal that activates AMPK10 and turns on autophagy.

If you're not willing to go full keto, there are some other dietary measures you can take to help promote autophagy, especially if you're also intermittent fasting.

Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., an immune system expert often dubbed "the Father of Functional Medicine," recommends starting with a plant-rich diet, especially with plants that are rich in phytochemicals that haven't been stripped out through food processing or modern agricultural practices.

Bland also explains that certain antioxidants, like N-acetylcysteine, ubiquinone, glutathione, and vitamins C and E, can stimulate autophagy in damaged cells. The kicker is that if you're eating a lot of antioxidant-rich foods regularly, you actually have a lower need for autophagy since antioxidants help protect your cells from damage anyway.

Autophagy has some pretty impressive benefits, but there's no magical internal switch that turns it off and on. If you really want to reap the benefits of autophagy, you have to make inducers like intermittent fasting a regular part of your life. For healthy people, doing so is virtually all reward and no risk. However, if you have diabetes, hypothyroidism, or adrenal gland dysfunction, you should talk to your doctor first.