One of the most exciting and well-documented new breakthroughs in anti-aging and longevity is autophagy. This is the key process for cleansing and rejuvenating the body, replacing old cell parts and proteins with new ones. It provides essential rejuvenation, as the accumulation of junk proteins in the brain and other tissues increases the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. Fasting is important for brain vitality and good mood. Read more and get inspired in “Sannas Fastebok“!

-> NOTE! Fasting is not for everyone (see bottom of the blog). 

Autophagy is a highly regulated, orderly process of breaking down and recycling cell components (amino acids). It is highly energy efficient because cell components are reused. Your body is smart, it works in a sustainable and resource-efficient way. Your body possesses intricate and highly intelligent information for maximum function – but you need to do the right thing for it to work.

Cleanliness is a prerequisite for high performance

Autophagy is Greek for ‘eating itself’, and involves a natural purification process that cleans up at the cellular level. First described in 1962, it is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for removing old or degraded cell parts (organelles, proteins and cell membranes). The aim is to replace old cell parts and proteins with new ones – it is bodily repair at the highest level!

The result is that rejuvenation takes place, as old, poorly functioning cell components cause ageing.

Fasting provides deep cleansing and detoxification of the body because the following central processes are activated: 

• autophagy (self-purification) 
• stem cell formation 
• production of growth hormones; growth hormone (GH) 
• production of growth hormones for the brain; nerve growth factory (NGF).

The body can break down old cells to build new ones, and autophagy does just that. Stem cells are extremely important because they form new, healthy cells and they can also help repair damaged organs in the body. Growth hormone (GH) activates the body’s production of new cells, and this includes the growth of new neurons and neural pathways.

Fasting is one of the best ways to get your body to produce GH in large quantities. It meets most of the conditions required for GH production. Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute showed that after 24 hours of water fasting, GH production increased by 2,000 percent in men and 1,300 percent in women, compared to a control group that ate food.

Summary: Eating too much and too often makes us age faster and gain weight. It is very harmful to health, the psyche and longevity. When you fast, you really give your body a complete renovation and thus rejuvenation. We are not made to eat all the time, the body needs food breaks to give it the time and energy to clear out!

Fasting is in a class of its own
to strengthen self-healing
– it renews both cells and organs in the body.

• NOTE do not run out and do it right away, because the body needs to be prepared so you do not get poisoning symptoms and feel bad. Only those who have had a healthy lifestyle for several years and have detoxed / cleansed several times can go on a water fast and short time! All this is in Sannas Fastebok.

Water fasting provides autophagy

Fasting provides the biggest boost to autophagy, offering a free opportunity to clear out what is old and dysfunctional at the cellular level. Cellular components are broken down into amino acids (the building blocks of protein), which are used again to build new proteins. At the same time, fasting also activates growth hormones (GH) that help in the rebuilding process. The self-cleaning effect of autophagy is essential as the accumulation of old, junk proteins characterizes, for example, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

BUT… the real fast is to consume only water, which is called therapeutic fasting. You may drink herbal teas and coffee – but absolutely no carbohydrates or proteins, because they break the essential autophagy directly.

Because lack of nutrition is the main factor that activates autophagy.  You need to refrain from eating for at least 12 hours before autophagy is fully activated! Many people practice intermittent fasting , so giving your body a break from food for 12-18 hours a day is an excellent start. See in the picture below what happens during intermittent fasting.

Autophagy can be activated in half the time if you start by directly emptying the entire bowel using a salt water flush. But please note that I am not giving advice or recommendations here, it comes in my book in a whole.

Fasting maximizes the body’s own cleansing processes.

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Juice fasting is calorie restriction! 

Autophagy (the body’s self-cleaning) is essential for maintaining good health and vigor. But what directly shuts down autophagy is eating carbohydrates and proteins, as well as when insulin is released in the body – and it takes very little.  

I thought I had been fasting for years, but fasting with juices, bone broth, vegetable broth and the like is really just calorie restriction. Which has a number of benefits, but is not at all the same as therapeutic fasting; water fasting.  

Because calorie restriction that adds proteins and/or carbohydrates does not activate the vital autophagy or growth hormones (GH). The latter allow you to build muscle even when water fasting. When researchers compared calorie restriction with fasting, fasting was four times more effective in preserving muscle mass.

Therefore, water fasting is what is needed to activate and maintain the magical healing properties of autophagy. 

How to do it?

But NOTE that proper preparation is needed and therefore read on first in Sannas Fastebok. It is important to:

1. Prepare yourself and your body properly (pre-fasting) 
2. Choosing the right level to start at for fasting, depending on your own
   fasting level (has whole chapter on it). 
3. Recognize that fasting is a natural and necessary part of a healthy lifestyle. And that fasting needs to be repeated at regular intervals, in order for you to have the best self-healing of your body and brain.  

Water fasting is so effective that doing it one day a week can be enough to help the body’s healing processes in the best possible way. A good friend has been doing it since the 1980s (with coffee and a little water one day a week) and at 73 years of age he has a body that 40-year-olds barely have! Mahatma Gandhi fasted one day a week, and after he was assassinated at the age of 78, the autopsy doctors described how Gandhi’s internal organs looked like those of a person half his age.  

-> The choice and responsibility for what you choose is your own. Everyone can use their own good judgment, or seek help or advice from a professional trained in diet, detox and fasting. That is why I will train Fasting Coaches, so that you can be guided by someone experienced with knowledge. This is solid research-based knowledge, but experience is extremely important. Fasting in a group is also very good for support and encouragement.  

Tea and coffee activate autophagy: Green tea, black tea and coffee in small amounts contain substances that activate autophagy, so in addition to water, you can vary these hot drinks in moderation (for the caffeine and only good quality, not smoked or fermented and preferably KRAV-grown).

• Tea, especially green tea, has been shown to activate autophagy. 
• Polyphenols found in coffee and tea can stimulate autophagy.
• The main autophagy activators are catechin, quercetin, silibinin and curcumin

Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on autophagy, so this is new knowledge at a high level. While fasting triggers self-cleaning, it also activates the release of growth hormone GH, which leads to the production of new tissue for the body. Fasting really gives our bodies a complete renovation, renewal and thus rejuvenation!  

I am therefore very happy to be able to present this in my upcoming fasting book, it will be the latest research translated into practical health handbook. It also makes me very hopeful for the future and better health for many!  

Dr. Sanna Ehdin

• Text mainly from Sannas Fastebok and read more there!
• Fasting is the shortcut to well-being – read previous blog.
• Read more about Fasting boosts your metabolism!
• Read blog on 12 reasons to start fasting
• Read about What are the different types of fasting?
• Something new is born – fasting and silence
• Break the sweet tooth with fasting
• If you want to start by trying a juice fast, read my blog on weekend fasting here!

NOTE 3 is that I refer entirely to “Sannas Fastebok” and do not recommend anything here, on the contrary, I encourage caution and first gather knowledge. Toxins and debris that the body cannot clear out accumulate at the cellular level and in fatty tissue, and therefore all cleansing should be done with care.

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ATTENTION! However, fasting is not for everyone! 

• Some people should not fast: if you are underweight and have a BMI below 18.5, if you are anemic (pale and anaemic), pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18. 
• Many people first need to change their diet for a couple of months to get a better bio-balance with helpful biochemical “inner pharmacy”.  However, everyone should be able to do a food fast (it is described in a separate chapter in Sannas Fastebok).
• Doctor Andreas Eenfeldt, the ‘Diet Doctor‘, says that those who have type 1 and 2 diabetes, take prescription medication, have gout or high uric acid can fast, but may need medical supervision.
• Always check with medical and/or health professionals if you are unsure. 

Some references:

• Gustafson C, Alan Goldhamer, dc: Water Fasting-The Clinical Effectiveness of Rebooting Your Body. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014 Jun; 13(3): 52-57.  
• Longo VD & Mattson MP. Fastingmolecular mechanisms and clinical applications. Cell Metab. 2014 4;19(2):181-92.
• Payel S et al. Epigenetic Mechanisms of Longevity and Aging – review. 2016 166.4:822-839.
• Rona Antoni et al. Effects of intermittent fasting on glucose and lipid metabolism. Proc Nutr Soc 2017 76(3):361-368.
• Saha S, et al. Autophagy in health and disease: A comprehensive review. BiomedPharmacother. 2018 Aug;104:485-495.  
• Soto C & Estrada LD, Protein misfolding and neurodegeneration. Arch Neurol 2008 65(2):184-9.