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Autophagy Unveiled — A Guide to Cellular Health
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
Buckle up, health enthusiasts! Let’s delve into the world of anti-aging, fasting, and the ketogenic diet. Now, these terms often spark curiosity, and sometimes debate. But perhaps the answer to our questions lies in a key concept called autophagy.
What is autophagy, and why has it gained so much popularity?
We can start with the word itself, Autophagy — “auto” refers to self, while “phagy” means to eat or distract. Essentially, it is a natural cellular process involving self-destruction at a microscopic level, eliminating damaged cell components. Don’t panic, it’s a natural process! During autophagy, the body removes damaged or dysfunctional cell parts, and recycles the remaining healthy components. Here’s how I think of it: this process, akin to cellular clean-up and regeneration, mirrors the idea of upcycling in clothing; the body efficiently eliminates damaged cell parts to pave the way for the generation of newer, healthier cells.
Autophagy is the body’s natural process of breaking down and removing damaged proteins and substances in the cytoplasm, the cell’s fluid. This intricate process unfolds in five stages, each with its own set of components. Despite being a natural function, it tends to slow with age…
