The 7 Powerful Ways to Increase Autophagy

Summary

Autophagy is a vital biological process that cleanses the body of damaged proteins and pathogens, reducing inflammation and acting as an anti-aging mechanism. To stimulate autophagy, one should fast, reduce caloric intake, particularly sugars, and engage in moderate exercise. However, it's a double-edged sword; while beneficial for healthy cells, autophagy can fuel cancer growth. Natural inhibitors of autophagy, like certain phytonutrients, may help in cancer therapy. For detailed insights, visit drberg.com.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Autophagy is a natural biological process that helps the body recycle waste and damaged cells into useful components.
• 🔄 Autophagy clears damaged proteins and organelles, which can cause inflammation, and also helps eliminate pathogens and viral antigens.
• 🆕 This process is considered an anti-aging mechanism as it not only cleans but also provides materials for new cell construction and energy.
• ⚠️ High sugar and protein intake can halt autophagy, as the body prefers using readily available nutrients over recycling.
• 🛑 Autophagy has a paradoxical role in cancer; it can prevent cancer by clearing damaged cells, but also can aid cancer growth by providing resources to cancer cells.
• 💊 Certain drugs, like hydroxy chloroquin, are being developed to inhibit autophagy as a cancer therapy, but they come with side effects.
• 🍵 Natural inhibitors of autophagy, including certain phytonutrients found in plants, are being researched as potential cancer treatments.
• 🥗 A low-sugar, moderate protein diet can help enhance autophagy by reducing the body's immediate energy sources, prompting it to recycle.
• 🏃‍♂️ Fasting and exercise are potent triggers for autophagy, as they deplete the body's energy reserves, stimulating the recycling process.
• 🚫 Dry fasting, which involves no food or water, can lead to a deeper level of autophagy, but it's more stressful and should only be attempted by those in good health.
• 🔗 Regular intermittent fasting, especially extending the fasting window, can significantly increase autophagy and its benefits.

Q & A

What is autophagy and how does it function in the body?

Autophagy is a biological process where the body 'self-eats' by recycling unusable or damaged proteins and organelles, transforming them into usable components. It also helps in eliminating pathogens and viral antigens, thus reducing inflammation.

How does autophagy contribute to anti-aging and health?

Autophagy is considered an anti-aging mechanism because it clears damaged cellular components and pathogens, reduces inflammation, and provides raw materials for new cell construction and energy when needed.

What are the factors that can inhibit autophagy?

High levels of sugar and protein intake can inhibit autophagy, as they provide the body with immediate fuel sources, reducing the need to recycle proteins and cellular components.

How does autophagy relate to cancer, and why is it considered a double-edged sword?

Autophagy can protect against cancer by clearing damaged mitochondria and preventing disease. However, in the presence of cancer, it can inadvertently support cancer growth by providing the necessary resources and fuel for the cancer cells.

What is the role of fasting in inducing autophagy?

Fasting is a potent trigger for autophagy because it depletes the body's energy reserves, forcing it to become efficient by recycling damaged proteins and cellular components.

What is the recommended fasting duration to effectively trigger autophagy?

While autophagy occurs to some degree at all times, significant autophagy is triggered by fasting for at least 18 to 72 hours, depending on the individual's diet and metabolic state.

How does the type of diet impact the onset of autophagy?

A low-sugar, low-carbohydrate diet can help to quickly deplete sugar reserves, allowing the body to tap into autophagy more rapidly. Conversely, high sugar and high protein diets can delay the onset of autophagy.

What is the significance of dry fasting in comparison to water fasting for autophagy?

Dry fasting, where no food or water is consumed, can induce a deeper state of autophagy compared to water fasting, as it adds more stress to the body, forcing a deeper cleansing process.

How can exercise influence autophagy?

Exercise, especially aerobic types, can deplete resources and stimulate autophagy. Combining exercise with fasting can compound the effects, further increasing autophagy.

What are some natural inhibitors of autophagy that could be beneficial for cancer patients?

Natural inhibitors of autophagy, such as Stony sponge, appenine, black cumin seed, thunder of God vine, and retinol, are being researched for their potential to starve cancer cells by inhibiting autophagy.

Outlines

00:00

🔬 Autophagy: The Body's Self-Cleaning Mechanism

Autophagy is a natural biological process that constantly occurs within the body, playing a crucial role in maintaining health. It functions by 'self-eating' damaged proteins and cellular components, such as organelles, to recycle them into usable materials. This process helps in reducing inflammation, eliminating pathogens, and clearing viral antigens, which are all contributors to inflammation. Autophagy is also linked to anti-aging as it aids in the clearance of cellular debris and provides raw materials for new cell construction and energy when needed. However, it presents a paradox in the context of cancer; while it can prevent cancer by clearing damaged mitochondria, it can also support cancer growth by providing resources and fuel to cancer cells. Drugs like hydroxychloroquine are being researched as autophagy inhibitors for cancer therapy, and there's a focus on finding non-toxic inhibitors as well.

05:00

🍽 Triggering Autophagy Through Fasting and Diet

Fasting is identified as the most potent method to trigger autophagy, as it depletes the body's excess energy reserves, forcing it to become efficient by recycling damaged proteins. The duration of fasting necessary to trigger autophagy varies, with the process beginning to ramp up after about 18 hours and significantly increasing between 48 to 72 hours of fasting. The type of diet consumed before fasting also impacts the onset of autophagy, with low-sugar and low-carbohydrate diets facilitating quicker transitions into autophagy. Additionally, moderate protein intake is recommended to allow for the depletion of protein reserves, which is necessary for autophagy. The concept of 'dry fasting,' where no food or water is consumed, is introduced as a more intense method to stimulate autophagy, though it is not recommended for prolonged periods due to the added stress on the body.

10:03

🏋️‍♂️ Enhancing Autophagy with Exercise and Diet Adjustments

Consistent intermittent fasting, particularly with a duration of at least 18 hours, is recommended to enhance autophagy. Combining fasting with exercise, especially aerobic types that are low in intensity and long in duration, can further stimulate autophagy by depleting energy resources. It's also suggested to maintain a moderate protein intake and reduce carbohydrates to optimize autophagy. Certain phytonutrients, found in coffee, tea, especially green tea, berberine, adaptogens like ashwagandha, and other substances like ginger, can also trigger autophagy to some extent. For individuals with cancer, natural inhibitors of autophagy are suggested to starve cancer cells, including stony sponge, appenine, black cumin seed, thunder of God vine, and retinol. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to the speaker's newsletter for more in-depth information, acknowledging the challenges of sharing such content on platforms like YouTube due to censorship and algorithmic suppression.

Keywords

💡Autophagy

Autophagy is a cellular process in which cells digest and recycle their own components, such as damaged proteins and organelles. In the context of the video, it is described as a self-cleaning mechanism that helps maintain cellular health by removing inflammation-causing elements and pathogens. The video emphasizes the importance of autophagy for overall health and its potential role in preventing diseases, including cancer.

💡Inflammation

Inflammation is the body's response to harmful stimuli, including damaged cells and pathogens. The video discusses how autophagy helps to reduce inflammation by clearing out damaged proteins and pathogens, which are often triggers for this immune response. By doing so, autophagy contributes to the body's anti-aging and health-preserving processes.

💡Organelles

Organelles are specialized structures within cells that perform specific functions, such as mitochondria, which produce energy, and the endoplasmic reticulum, which is involved in protein synthesis. The video explains that autophagy can recycle damaged organelles, thus maintaining cellular health and function.

💡Pathogens

Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The video mentions that autophagy helps to eliminate these harmful agents from the body, which can otherwise lead to infections and inflammation.

💡Viral Antigens

Viral antigens are molecules on the surface of viruses that are recognized by the immune system, triggering an immune response. The video explains that autophagy clears viral antigens, which can cause inflammation and are part of the immune system's response to viral infections.

💡Fasting

Fasting is the act of abstaining from food for a certain period, which the video suggests can trigger autophagy by depleting the body's energy reserves. The script discusses how fasting, particularly when combined with other strategies like low-carb diets, can enhance autophagy and its health benefits.

💡Cancer Cells

Cancer cells are abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and can invade other tissues. The video presents a paradox of autophagy: while it can protect against cancer by clearing damaged cells, it can also support the growth of existing cancer cells by providing them with resources. This highlights the complex role of autophagy in health and disease.

💡Autophagy Inhibiting Drugs

These are medications that interfere with the autophagy process, potentially useful in cancer therapy to starve cancer cells by inhibiting their access to resources that autophagy would otherwise provide. The video mentions hydroxy chloroquin as an example of such a drug, although it also notes the side effects associated with drug treatments.

💡Phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are compounds found in plants that have health benefits. The video discusses certain phytonutrients, such as those found in coffee, tea, and specific herbs, that can induce a stress response in the body, which may trigger autophagy. These natural compounds are presented as a healthier alternative to pharmaceutical interventions.

💡Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dietary pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. The video suggests that consistent intermittent fasting, particularly with a focus on extending the fasting window, can enhance autophagy by increasing the body's reliance on its own resources for energy.

💡Macronutrients

Macronutrients are the primary sources of energy in our diet, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The video explains that the intake of these macronutrients, particularly carbohydrates and proteins, can influence autophagy. It suggests that lower carbohydrate and moderate protein intakes can facilitate autophagy by reducing the body's immediate energy sources and prompting it to recycle its components.

Highlights

Autophagy is a biological process that recycles unusable proteins and damaged cellular components.

Autophagy helps to eliminate pathogens and viral antigens, reducing inflammation.

Autophagy is considered an anti-aging mechanism, providing new raw materials for cell rebuilding.

High sugar and protein intake can halt autophagy due to the availability of ready fuel sources.

Autophagy can have a paradoxical effect on cancer, both preventing and promoting its growth.

Autophagy inhibiting drugs, like hydroxy chloroquine, are being researched as potential anti-cancer therapies.

Non-toxic inhibitors of autophagy are being explored as alternative treatments for cancer.

Fasting is the most potent method to trigger autophagy by depleting energy reserves.

The duration of fasting required to trigger autophagy varies, with 48 to 72 hours being most effective.

A low-sugar, low-carbohydrate diet can accelerate the onset of autophagy by reducing sugar reserves.

Moderate protein intake is recommended to allow for more effective autophagy.

Dry fasting, which involves no food or water, can lead to deeper autophagy effects.

Reducing calorie intake, especially carbohydrates, can mimic fasting and stimulate autophagy.

Consistent intermittent fasting, ideally over 18 hours, is beneficial for autophagy.

Combining intermittent fasting with exercise can compound the effects of autophagy.

Certain phytonutrients, like those found in coffee, tea, and adaptogens, can trigger autophagy.

Natural inhibitors of autophagy, such as Stony sponge and black cumin seed, are being studied for cancer treatment.

For those with cancer, reducing sugar intake is crucial as it is the primary fuel for cancer cells.

Visit drberg.com for more information and to subscribe to the newsletter for full access to content.

Transcripts

so let's talk about the truth of

something called autophagy it's a

fascinating biological process that's

always happening to a certain degree and

I'm going to get into all the triggers

and how long it takes to get in

autophagy but this is what autophagy

does it self eats it eats the junk from

your body and transforms that into

usable things so it's like a very

complex junkyard with a recycling unit

right next to it and when I say junk I'm

talking about unusable damage proteins

in the body which trigger inflammation

also it recycles something called

organel what's an organel well inside

your cells you have all these different

um machines that are on an assembly line

to actually make certain stuff you have

the mitochondria you have other machines

that make certain proteins well if

there's any damage that goes on to that

Machinery well autophagy can take care

of it and autophagy helps to get rid of

pathogens right like bacteria fungus

mold and viruses all of those can also

trigger inflammation as well and it gets

rid of something else called viral

antigens now what is a viral antigen

well there's something on viruses that

signal your immune system to create a

reaction that can also cause

inflammation and it's also part of the

antibody production machine which I'm

not going to get into but what you

should know is autophagy

clears all that up so if there's

something in the background that is

stirring up inflammation in your body it

can kind of wipe that out and start from

like a ground zero level where you don't

have that anymore this is why autophagy

is considered kind of like an anti-aging

cleaning system of the body and it

doesn't just clean stuff up it provides

new raw material to build new things new

cells as well as to provide fuel when

you need it it's not now how do you get

into autophagy well you're already

probably into autophagy to some degree

the question is is it significant or not

to really create any type of significant

autophagy you need to deplete your

reserves to some degree you have to

deplete some energy Reserve in the body

and before I get into that there's two

things that will stop autophagy very

fast and the big one is sugar okay

because that's a fuel source and protein

as well but any significant amount of

calories will stop this autophagy

because think about what autophagy is

it's the recycling of proteins and other

things that are related to that and if

you have enough protein available it

doesn't necessarily have to recycle your

old proteins all right so now here's

what you need to know healthy cells and

cancer cells so this next thing I'm

going to tell you is very important uh

because autophagy it sounds like it can

really help you but there's a paradox it

can actually hurt you in relationship to

to cancer autophagy Act is a very strong

protective barrier against disease so if

you're constantly cleaning up those

damaged mitochondria you can bypass and

avoid this cancer as well as avoiding a

lot of other diseases but if you let

your body go to the point where you now

you have cancer autophagy can help the

progression of cancer it can help grow

the cancer why because well autophagy is

going to provide the resources for this

cancer it's going provide the fuel for

this cancer does that make sense and

there's multiple ways that autophagy can

support cancer and so there's one type

of uh medicine that targets this one

area and what they've done is they've

created uh autophagy inhibiting drugs to

stop that from happening and it seems to

really help as an anti-cancer therapy

and one of the drugs is called hydroxy

chloroquin but of course there are a lot

of side effects with all drugs so so

research is also looking at non-toxic

Inhibitors of autophagy so if someone

had cancer they can use those as well

and there's a lot of research on that

I'm going to put a link down below of a

research paper that I just did a deep

dive on and I'm going to list some

natural mostly plant-based Inhibitors of

autophagy if someone has cancer but

realize that when I list these natural

remedies these are not things you're

going to have to worry about to inhibit

autophagy if you don't have cancer okay

because they're very healthy things for

a healthy cell as well but very

unfortunately uh we have this

double-edged sword with a topag it can

help you if you're healthy it can hurt

you if you're not healthy and

unfortunately a lot of people wait until

they get sick or wait until they get

cancer before they do something about it

especially in the stimulation of it more

autophagy right because autophagy can be

very good if you're healthy and it can

prevent a lot of problems so this might

be one motivating factor for you to do

what I'm going to tell you to do next to

trigger more autophagy hands down the

single most potent thing to trigger

autophagy is fasting okay fasting why

because you're depleting your excess

your calories and you're forcing your

body to become very efficient by

recycling a lot of these damaged

proteins now the big question is how

many hours of fasting do you really need

to do before you start triggering a tagy

well I said before you're already in

topology to some degree it could be just

turned way down and so just like with

exercise right when you do exercise you

have two types of exercise you have

aerobic exercise okay and you have

anerobic exercise and each one of those

uses a different type of fuel so if

you're going to run up a hill you're

initially going to use your glucose

right and then if you slow down and

you're jogging eventually you're going

to start burning your fat but during

this process you're really burning

percentages of sugar and fat and so when

you're doing low intensity long

duration you're burning more fat but

you're still burning a little sugar as

well so both the metabolism for sugar

and fat are on dials they're on dimmer

switches so the dimmer switch starts to

be turned up as you start going into

like about 18 hours of fasting and it

really starts going up when you start

getting into 48 to 72 hours of fasting

but a lot of this depends on what you're

eating okay because let's say uh you are

eating a tremendous amount of sugar

right or

carbohydrates and then you're going to

go on this fast for 18 hours well you

might have to fast a lot longer because

you're going to have to burn up all this

sugar you're going to also have to tap

into your your glycogen Reserve in your

liver and deplete that as well so one

really simple strategy is to go on a low

sugar low carbohydrate diet so that way

we don't have a lot of this sugar

sitting there we're going to tap into it

and deplete it very quickly so you can

actually have the benefits of autophagy

a lot quicker now the other little tip

is we talked about protein right so if

we want a little bit more Advantage from

autophagy you wouldn't want to

necessarily do a high protein diet You'

want to do a moderate amount of proteins

right because again we want to deplete

these proteins we want to fully digest

them because as soon as you eat a meal

it's going to take at least eight hours

for all those calories to be ass

simulated and go into your system but

out of all of the three

macronutrients fat okay is the least

affected with theophagy in other words

if we compare fat to Sugar Sugar is the

one that really depletes the theophagy

way more than fat but that being said if

you're like snacking even on fat which

has a good amount of calories through

the day you're not going to really turn

that dial up with autophagy you need to

actually fast and not eat anything you

can have certain nutrients nutrients

vitamins and minerals and sea salt but

not any calories this other tip I want

to mention is related to doing a dry

fast or a water fast now what what I

mean dry fast or water fast well you're

fasting you're not eating anything

except you're drinking water that's

called the water fast a dry fast is

you're not eating anything and you're

not drinking anything apparently when

you do a dry fast which means no food no

water your body goes into a much deeper

at phy the effects are roughly about

three times more than a water fast which

makes sense because you're adding more

stress to the body and you're forcing a

deeper cleansing now you have to be in

pretty good shape to do a prolong dry

fast where you're not drinking water for

sometimes a few days which I'm not

really promoting but that being said

what if you were just to shift when you

drank water to actually have more fast

without water like for example on your

last meal right you drink water but then

you don't drink right before bed and

then all night long you're fasting

without water you're doing dry fasting

and you get a little bit more benefit

from that because if you fasted from

last night's dinner all the way until

maybe noon or 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock and

then you had your first drink of water

that may produce more results and let's

say you're still drinking two and a half

liters of fluid but you drink that

between let's say 12:00 noon or 1:00 or

2:00 and then 6:00 okay so that's

fasting number two cutting down your

calories and not overeating does mimic

fasting to a certain degree if you were

to consume let's say 500 calories and

not on a regular basis just occasionally

that could help you increase your

autophagy especially if you're going to

go into an actual fasting period of time

why because you're not eating a lot of

calories and you're going to use those

up pretty quickly and then you're going

to go into tagy much faster especially

if those lowered amount of calories were

lower amount of carbs and lower amount

of protein adds in maybe a huge salad

with a little bit of protein all right

number three I kind of already talked

about fasting but I'm just in this point

I want to bring up just doing consistent

intermittent fasting with a minimum of

18 hours um but if you could push to 20

hours that would be a lot better and

then combining that with number four

which is exercise exercise depletes your

resources it stimulates

autophagy and believe it or not aerobic

exercise right lower intensity longer

duration uh will stimulate more

autophagy than high intensity resistant

training but I recommend to do both of

them because if you look at a

long-distance Runner they probably go

through a lot of autophagy but they're

very very thin they don't have as much

muscle versus uh someone that does

weight training or resistant types

training developing those muscles are

very very healthy for many reasons so

autophagy and building up muscles don't

really mix too well so I would highly

recommend to do a combination of both

but the point is that let's say you're

doing intermittent fasting and you

actually do a workout okay during the

fast that can compound things and make

things better because you're tapping out

your resources you're using up your

resources when you're fasting because

you're not eating anything and you're

increasing your metabolism and you're

using up your ATP causing an increase in

autophagy and just as a side note we

mentioned with water and everything I

don't know if you know this but when you

actually burn fat your body does release

water okay yeah you get water from

burning fat so your body is not

completely starving without water now

number five and I've already mentioned

this before I just want to emphasize it

to really build up autophagy you want to

reduce your carbs as low as possible

okay we you know why we want to reduce

those carbs and number six I already

talked about this but I want to

emphasize it you don't necessarily want

to go too high with your protein go

lower with the amount of protein and I'm

not talking about low protein diet I'm

talking about a moderate amount of

protein and then number seven uh there's

certain phytonutrients that create a

hermetic or a stress response to the

body that can trigger autophagy to a

certain degree uh the certain pH

nutrients in coffee tea especially green

tea berberine adaptogens like

ashwagandha certain mushrooms Ginger

things like that now before we end off I

want to switch gears and talk a little

bit about cancer if someone has cancer

whatever program that they do they

probably also want to add a few of these

items I'm going to talk about that are

researched and I'll put the link down

below of things that can inhibit

autophagy so that way we can starve off

the cancer even more in addition to not

feeding the thing that cancer just loves

the most which is sugar now I want to

list some of the natural Inhibitors of

autophagy all right number one Stony

sponge okay you probably have a sponge

right now in your kitchen right well

apparently the Stony sponge has certain

properties that can inhibit autophagy

appenine that's a

phytochemical that is in certain foods

you can look that up it's in a lot of

different foods her cumin which is in

turmeric okay that's one black cumin

seed that's another one the next one is

thunder of GodVine and then retinol

which is the active form of vitamin A

all of those are being researched right

now for their natural inhibition of

autophagy which is one strategy for

cancer like 54% are being researched by

drug companies right now finding ways to

extract and then you know put them in

certain compounds where they can patent

them but I will say this one last thing

about drug companies is as much as I

can't stand them if they could at least

come up with remedies or treatments that

have low side effects that would be a

great thing now because of the censoring

and the suppressing of the algorithms on

YouTube it's becoming more difficult to

find my content and there's a lot of

content that I cannot put on YouTube

unfortunately so to make sure you have

full access of all my information go to

drberg.com And subscribe to my

newsletter by clicking the link down

below in the description I will see you

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