Do athletes need to do a cell autophagy fast?
What can we do to promote cell autophagy?
Autophagy is a process that helps your cells “take out the garbage, removing damaged cells in order to generate newer, healthier cells.
So, what does autophagy have to do with fasting?
Well, fasting is one of the most effective ways of stimulating this healing
Autophagy process…keep in mind, Autophagy is different from ketosis, which is a fat-burning state, while Autophagy is a cellular detoxification, anti-aging, and healing process.
@dr.mindypelz
Does cell autophagy only happen without food -as in a water only fast?
How do you increase autophagy?
From https://www.medicinenet.com/how_long_do_you_need_to_fast_for_autophagy/article.htm
Research suggests that autophagy may increase from activities that cause stress to the cells, such as:
- Lack of nutrients due to prolonged fasting for two to three days
- Physical exercise, which can cause damage to the cells, triggering autophagy
- Certain diets like the ketogenic diet deprive the body of carbohydrates
Some foods believed to trigger autophagy include the following:
Is autophagy good or bad?
Current research does not provide a full picture of the effects of autophagy or how best to induce it. Studies show that autophagy can be both good or bad depending on the situation.
Following are some examples to show how autophagy can be good or bad:
- Cancers: Autophagy can prevent the development of cancer by getting rid of damaged cell components, but can also help tumor cells survive under stress at later stages. Inhibiting autophagy has been found to cause death in only certain types of tumor cells which depend on autophagy for survival.
- Infections: In bacterial and viral infections, autophagy has been found to be good with certain species and bad with others. Autophagy is able to kill some pathogens, but some bacteria and viruses subvert the autophagy process to replicate and spread.
- Neurodegenerative diseases: Autophagy may have a protective effect in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, by breaking down harmful proteins that accumulate in the brain. Autophagy, however, may also facilitate the generation of certain proteins inside the nerve cell which can lead to its degeneration.
- Cell death: Autophagy plays a role in cell death, but studies show that different cells react differently. Autophagy promotes cell death when treated with chemotherapy in some cancers, but helps the cell survive in some cancers.
Autophagy may be a method of treatment in many diseases in the future but requires more research to understand the many dimensions of autophagy and the specific ways it works.
The best ways to induce autophagy, and its particular benefits in weight loss are not fully understood and must not be attempted without consulting with your doctor. Prolonged fasting, calorie restriction, and diets that restrict food groups may pose higher risks for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
How long do we need to fast to do a cell autophagy?
- The cell autophagy dimmer switch… 17 hours or longer
- But what if we are active aging adults who exercise at least once a day?
How Do You Trigger Autophagy?
Triggering autophagy – The term “autophagy” is derived from a Greek word that means “self-eating.”
The term “autophagy” is derived from a Greek word that means “self-eating.”
Autophagy is a vital process that helps eliminate unwanted materials from the body to make way for new ones. It means consuming your own cells, especially the damaged ones. The understanding of autophagy is still in the preliminary stages. However, there have been promising studies that found autophagy to increase the effectiveness of cancer and Parkinson’s disease treatments. Also, autophagy delays aging.
Factors that trigger autophagy:
- Intermittent fasting:
Intermittent fasting may be done in three modes. Alternate-day fasting is the method where you eat a normal diet one day and either completely fast or have one small meal (less than 500 calories) the next day. 5:2 fasting is where you eat a normal diet 5 days a week and fast 2 days a week. Time-restricted fasting is eating normally but only within an 8-hour window each day. For example, skipping breakfast but eating lunch around noon and dinner by 8 p.m.
One research review found that autophagy induced by intermittent fasting enhances the effect of cancer treatment by alleviating the treatment’s side effects.
In a study conducted on mice, intermittent fasting was shown to improve cognitive function and the brain’s ability (neuroplasticity) to rewire itself after a brain injury.
- Eat a high-fat, low-carb diet:
Eating a diet high in fats but low in carbs causes the body to burn more fat.
When you fast, the energy comes primarily from the stored fat instead of carbohydrates. If you follow a diet, such as a keto (ketogenic) diet, which is a high-fat, low-carb diet, your body derives energy in the same way as it does during fasting triggering autophagy. However, the keto diet is to be done only under medical supervision. It is not meant for everyone and may damage heart muscles in long run.
Exercise triggers autophagy by putting the body, especially the skeletal muscles under stress.
A study observed that treadmill exercise conducted for 8 weeks on mice modulated the levels of autophagy-associated proteins and improved autophagy.
- Good sleep:
A good night’s sleep gives you the added benefit of inducing autophagy. An animal study suggests that autophagy follows the sleep-wake cycle and short interruptions of sleep seem to disrupt autophagy.
- Curcumin:
Curcumin is a naturally occurring chemical found in the popular spice, turmeric. Some animal studies suggest that its intake might trigger autopsy.
A study has found the benefit of curcumin intake in mice grappling with diabetic neuropathy by inducing autophagy.
Though much of the research show autophagy is triggered by the above factors and is beneficial, it is important to remember that much of the autophagy research is in its early stages.
Do we need to do fasting if we exercise?
Nutrient deprivation (aka, fasting) activates a cellular recycling program called autophagy. When your cells undergo autophagy, old damaged parts are broken down into their constituent proteins and lipids—then these building blocks are used to make new cellular machinery.
It’s like renovating your house. Same house, fresh interior.
In animals, autophagy has been linked to longevity. And when autophagy is impaired, multiple organ systems (including the heart) suffer.
That said, I’m not crazy about pursuing fasting to maximize autophagy.
Why? For one, we can’t reliably measure autophagy in humans. There are a few biomarkers to track, but you really need a biopsy (no thanks) to measure this phenomenon in various tissues.
Another thing I don’t like: the goal of autophagy pushes lean, healthy people towards longer fasts. And then they start to lose muscle. And feel weak. And they can’t sleep. And their libido goes down the tubes.
Folks often forget that exercise and coffee ALSO stimulate autophagy.
Fasting is ONE tool that is capable of driving some possible benefits of autophagy, but it’s not the only tool.
Chasing the phantom of autophagy isn’t a valid reason to suffer these consequences. Not in my book, anyway.
https://science.drinklmnt.com/fasting/benefits-of-fasting/
What About Fasted Training?
My views on fasted training depend on what kind of exercise we’re talking about.
If we’re talking about easy yoga or a hike in the woods—sure, go for it. Light aerobic exercise while fasting is a great way to burn fat.
Fasted strength training? I’m not crazy about that one. Restricting protein intake at any level is not optimal for muscle growth or recovery.
I’m also not crazy about longer or harder efforts (like CrossFit WODs or marathons) in a fasted state. Both fasting and hard exercise are powerful stressors, and combining them can overflow your limited stress capacity. Do situations exist where fasted training may be valuable? Sure. Some even find they log personal records while fasting—but I’d be careful training this way day in, day out.
While we’re on the topic, LMNT co-founder Luis Villaseñor wrote a fantastic article on fasted training. Check it out if you have a sec.
What are the benefits of cell autophagy?
What about pre and peri menopausal female athletes?
When is the best time to schedule a cell autophagy fast?
How long?
What to eat in eating window?
What about our exercise during a 17-24 hour fast?
Food to simulate autophagy??
Dr. Mindy Pelz on cell autophagy foods…
- Autophagy is your body’s process of reusing old and damaged cell parts. In this video, I’ll show you some yummy foods that help you stimulate autophagy.
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Foods That Promote Autophagy
- Coffee -MCT Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Berries
- Mushrooms
- Spices
- Fish
- Cruciferous vegetables
- THE STUDY Extra‐virgin olive oil ameliorates cognition and neuropathology of the 3xTg mice: role of autophagy Triple transgenic mice (3xTg) received either regular chow or a chow diet supplemented with EVOO starting at 6 months of age for 6 months, then assessed for the effect of the diet on the AD‐like neuropathology and behavioral changes. Compared with controls, mice receiving the EVOO‐rich diet had an amelioration of their behavioral deficits, and a significant increase in the steady state levels of synaptophysin, a protein marker of synaptic integrity. In addition, they had a significant reduction in insoluble Aβ peptide levels and deposition, lower amount of phosphorylated tau protein at specific epitopes, which were secondary to an activation of cell autophagy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…
Dr. Mindy Pelz on Autophagy 101
In 2016 Dr. Ohsumi changed the fasting landscape when he won a Nobel prize for his work on autophagy. Autophagy is a process that helps your cells “take out the garbage”, removing damaged cells in order to generate newer, healthier cells. It’s something a healthy body does naturally, to promote healing and overall well being.
So, what does autophagy have to do with fasting?
Well, fasting is an effective way of triggering this magical autophagy process. Keep in mind, autophagy is different from ketosis, which is a fat burning state, while autophagy is a cellular detoxification, anti-aging and healing process. While fasting is one of the best ways to stimulate autophagy, there are a few other ways as well.
Ways to stimulate autophagy
- Autophagy fasting. This is a specific style of fasting that entails approximately 17 hours of fasting, a high fat, low carb diet and limited protein. See autophagy macros below.
- HIIT training
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
- Red light therapy
- Quality sleep
- Coffee
- Cacao
- Powerphenols like circumin, berberine, green tea and citrus bergamot found in Earl Grey tea
Autophagy fasting has so many benefits, yet it doesn’t require extended hours of fasting, which makes it a great foundational fast that everyone can do.
Benefits of Autophagy
- Enhanced immune function and immune strength (while autophagy dysfunction downregulates your immune system)
- Creation of new, healthy cells
- Increased detection and clearing infections, pathogens, viruses, bacteria
- Removing toxic proteins from cells
- Help regulating a cytokine storm
- Improved cognitive function
- More energy to mitochondria
- Protecting the nervous system
The effect of fasting and autophagy on immune health is best scribed by this study: “As a healthy practice, calorie restriction in the form of intermittent fasting (IF) in several clinical settings has been reported to promote several health benefits, including priming of the immune response. This dietary restriction also activates autophagy, a cell surveillance system that boosts up immunity. With these prevailing significance in priming host defense, IF could be a potential strategy amid this outbreak to fighting off SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Autophagy Basics
Autophagy fasting entails fasting for approximately 17 hours, we’ve determined this to be the “sweet spot” of autophagy, although there is evidence that autophagy is turned on between 17-72 hours of fasting. Think of autophagy like a dimmer switch, increasing gradually the longer you fast.
Autophagy fasting is unique from other forms of fasting in that you will break your fast with good, healthy fats like avocado, MCT oil, grass fed ghee or butter. Then you will wait at least one (1) hour before opening up your eating window.
When you open your eating window, you’ll want to follow the Autophagy macros, which is:
- 50 grams of net carbs
- Under 20 grams of protein
- 60% of foods coming from good fats
It’s important to note that eating good fats should not spike your blood sugar. You’ll find that blood sugar will stay level and may even drop. This means that even though you are no longer in a fasted state, you’re still technically in a state of autophagy.
When it comes to your eating window, as long as you keep your protein under 20 grams, technically you should still be staying in a continuous autophagy-like state.
How to measure autophagy
There are a few ways to measure autophagy. The first is with a blood test, called an autophagic flux. The second way of determining autophagy is using the Glucose Ketone Index, as used by KetoMojo. The GKI is a formula that tracks the ratio of blood glucose to ketones as a single value. What you will do is divide your glucose reading by 18, then divide that number by your ketone reading.
For example, if your blood sugar is 90 mg/DL, you’ll divide that by 18, then divide that by 1.0 mmol, to get a GKI of 5.
Glucose Ketone Index
<1: Therapeutic ketosis. This is the highest state of ketosis and autophagy and is difficult to attain without longer fasting.
1-3: High ketosis and autophagy.This is a therapeutic range for things like cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimers or Parkinson’s disease, diabetes or chronic inflammatory disease.
3-6: Functional ketosis. This is moderate ketosis and autophagy. This is where most people will want to be. It’s ideal for weight loss, insulin resistance, metabolic or endocrine disorders.
6-9: Low levels of ketosis and autophagy. This is great for low to moderate weight loss and overall health maintenance.
The third way to measure autophagy is using Dr. Annette Bosworth, aka Dr. Boz’s autophagy calculation, where you divide glucose by ketones. For example if your blood sugar reading was 85 mg and your ketones were 1.5 mmol, you would get 56, which according to her scale would fall into a low level of autophagy.
Dr. Boz’s scale
Below 80: low level of autophagy
Below 40: solid chance of autophagy
Below 20: best chance of autophagy
The questions I often get is, if autophagy is so great, how often should I be doing it? That depends on a couple of considerations. First, what are your goals? If you need more muscle growth, then you might want to look at protein cycling and carnivore fasting where you are stimulating something called MTor. However if your intention is repairing muscles or getting into a mode of healing, the autophagy is the fast you want.
The second thing to ask yourself is, do you need a detox? If the answer is yes, then autophagy is your fast. Autophagy will help detect and remove viruses, bacteria and promote regeneration on a cellular level. However be aware that autophagy will not detox heavy metals, synthetic chemicals, glyphosate, plastics, etc. You’ll need a deeper detox similar to what we do in the 90-Day Toxin Reset for this.
Should athletes do a cell autophagy fast?
Intense Exercise
Intense exercise is a very effective way to activate autophagy. I recommend high-intensity interval training and resistance training for the best result.
They both create an environment of stress for the body the helps to activate autophagy.
Intense exercise helps to stimulate fat burning, improve mood and mental focus, clear brain fog, and increase energy. It also helps to stimulate human growth hormone (HGH) that creates an environment that is great to activate autophagy, muscle tissue repair and preservation, and fat burning (12, 13).
To activate autophagy, aim to work out at least 5 times a week. Try a mix of high-intensity interval training and resistance training for a mix of cardiovascular fitness and strength.
https://drjockers.com/activate-autophagy/
When should you fast as an athlete?
Potential Benefits Of Fasted Training
Let’s review the interesting science I mentioned earlier. The potential benefits of fasted training include:
- Enhanced fat utilization: This effect, remember, only holds for low-intensity exercise.
- Better endurance: Multiple studies have shown that fasted cardio leads to an increase, over time, in VO2 max—a measure of endurance capacity. (VO2 max is your maximum oxygen usage during exercise). In one study, researchers from New Zealand found that both men and women had significant bumps in VO2 max after four weeks of fasted cycling.
- More growth hormone: Both fasting and exercise increase human growth hormone (HGH). Two days of fasting, in fact, has been shown to increase HGH by a factor of five. But here’s the thing – despite the name of the hormone, the purpose of HGH is really not to “grow muscle”, but rather to use stored fatty acids and glucose as energy, and in extreme cases shed aminos from your muscles and redistribute them to the organs that are necessary for life: heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc. If you lift weights fasted, at most you will tell your body to maintain some of the muscle you have, but HGH by itself and in physiological amounts won’t help you gain muscle. In fact, a good deal of evidence suggests that supplemental HGH doesn’t help adults build muscle. To gain lean muscle mass, you need the material (protein) and the stimulus (strength training).
- Anabolic signaling: One study found that fasted strength training led to increased phosphorylation in muscle tissue (a muscle growth response) during the post-exercise recovery period. To be clear, however, the participants ate a protein / carb supplement fairly soon after working out.
- Ketosis: When you fast, blood sugar and insulin levels stay low, which sends the ketosis bat signal. To maximize the fat-burning, ketogenic potential of fasted exercise, focus on low-intensity exercise. This kind of exercise may be a useful tool to help type 2 diabetics improve blood sugar levels. But I’ll add again – if you are already doing a low carb or ketogenic diet, you may not really need to train fasted – you are already getting most of its benefits in the first place.
Downsides of Fasted Training
Now for the downsides—the reasons why I don’t recommend fasted exercise. Here are the big ones:
#1: Muscle loss
If someone wants to add muscle, I don’t recommend fasted training.
Fasted training, cardio in particular, appears to hasten the rate of proteolysis—or the breakdown of protein in muscle tissue. “Carbing up” before cardio, however, can slow the rate of this breakdown by keeping glycogen stores full. But note that that is usually only for high end, performance-focused athletes. A recreational athlete, or someone who is focused on fat loss, does not need to “carb-up” at all – I’ll explain further down a strategy to circumvent this.
But what about fasted strength training?
Isn’t that best for growth hormone secretion? Well, maybe GH goes up, but you’re priming yourself for muscle loss if you pump iron without amino acids protein (that includes leucine – the master signaling amino acid) in your system. Remember, as I explained before, the purpose of growth hormone is not to “build” but rather to re-distribute energy substrates to certain tissues in your body.
If you want to gain muscle, you need to eat leucine-rich protein (like whey) in close proximity to strength training.
To be clear, you don’t need carbs to build muscle: Protein from whey itself can rise insulin, which prevents muscle catabolism. Protein and strength training work just fine—and the ketones generated on low-carb or fasting regimens have muscle-preserving properties. That’s why I’ve seen thousands of clients succeed at building muscle on low-carb diets.
#2: Less energy
Certain types of exercise—HIIT, heavy lifts, etc.—require hard effort to get maximum benefits. But when you train fasted, it’s impossible to give 100% effort. Fasting simply isn’t suited for maximal performance.
In one study, giving athletes 100 grams of carbohydrate before cycling significantly increased their time to exhaustion compared to fasted counterparts. In other words, food helped them stay on their bikes longer.
One final point. If you force yourself, day after day, to exercise in a low-energy fasted state, you will start to hate exercise. That’s the opposite of what we want.
#3: Too much stress
Fasting is a stressor. Exercise is a stressor. Even a supplement like curcumin is a stressor.
These stressors, properly applied, induce a hormetic response—a beneficial adaptation to stress. When you stress your muscle fibers by doing 5 sets of heavy squats, they repair, adapt, and come back stronger.
But you need to be careful. Your body has a limited stress capacity, and if you exceed that capacity, you could suffer.
I’ve seen this happen with several clients. Before we start working together, they’re busting 6 to 7 days a week, doing 1 to 2 hours of cardio per day, on an empty stomach. And they’re feeling horrible, sleeping poorly, and what is worse: not leaning out.
The first thing I have them do is cut back on the training load, especially on cardio. As I tell them: fat loss comes from diet, not training, and training is to build and improve health. Overtraining can boost cortisol, which can make it harder to lose weight.
I also advise them against fasted training. Exercise is already stressful. Keto can also be stressful for some people (it is after all, what some people call a “fasting-mimicking diet”). Doing it fasted adds too much additional stress to the equation.
Fasted Training: Men Vs. Women
I get this question all the time. People want to know if there are gender differences for fasted exercise.
The research seems to favor men, at least for certain fasting benefits. For instance, one study found that men, compared to women, had enhanced muscular adaptations after endurance exercise. Both genders had significant boosts in VO2 max.
Another study split twenty young women into two groups: fasting exercise and fed exercise. Both groups lost weight, but there were no significant differences in fat loss or weight loss between the groups. But when men train fasted, at least at low intensity, it seems to increase fat oxidation.
These were small studies, though, and they may not apply generally. So I wouldn’t use gender as a major criterion for making training decisions.
That said, let’s remember that hormonally wise, men and women are different and long fasted periods are not suggested for women. In all, we suggest a more conservative approach for women, like 12 hours of fasting, or the classic 16/8 intermittent fasting protocol, and breaking the fast before training with a protein shake.
Should You Train Fasted?
Some people say you should never train fasted. Others say you should never train fed.
A more reasonable approach lies somewhere in the middle. If you want to do low-intensity exercise before breakfast, go for it. A 20 minute walk, some light yoga, an easy bike ride. There’s a chance you’ll burn more fat than you otherwise would.
But once the exercise intensity starts to ramp up, eat something first. Training fed, especially when talking about strength training, gives you more energy, prevents muscle breakdown, and reduces your overall stress burden.
For my clients, I suggest a coffee pre-workout before strength training sessions: strong Coffee mixed with 25 grams of a good quality whey protein, 10 grams of MCT’s for energy, half a gram of sodium, and in some particular cases, 5-10 grams rapidly absorbable carbs like glucose. This is a true and tried formula that will help you maximize muscle gains.
https://science.drinklmnt.com/fasting/should-you-train-fasted/
How should you fast if you are a high charging athlete?
How To Pick a Fasting Schedule
To pick a fasting schedule, I suggest using three criteria:
- Your schedule
- Your enjoyment
- Your goals
Let’s review how each can guide your decision-making framework.
Your Schedule
How would you structure your perfect day? Your answer will inform your choice of fasting schedule.
If you enjoy doing compositional work in the morning (as I do), you might skip breakfast and pursue 16/8. But if family breakfast is a sacrament, perhaps a simple overnight fast would work better.
In general, the weekly fasting schedules are more disruptive than the daily schedules. It’s tough to find a rhythm when you’re fasting every other day.
Your Enjoyment
I enjoy my fasting schedule tremendously. After 16 hours of fasting, that first meal back is a joy. Minimizing your meals can maximize your eating pleasure.
Well, up to a point, that is. Intermittent fasting shouldn’t feel like a chore. Hunger is normal, but you shouldn’t feel irritable, cold, or tired. These are signs you’re fasting too aggressively. Back off to a shorter fast.
Ideally, you should start with an overnight fast and work your way up the fasting ladder. Most folks tend to feel best in the 13 to 18-hour range. More is NOT inherently better. If you get overly hungry, just eat. There is no medal waiting for those who overdo their fast.
Your Goals
Are you fasting to lose weight? For health and longevity? To keep muscle and lose fat? It’s up to you to decide what an appropriate goal is, but typically I see the latter.
Knowing your goals helps you choose the appropriate fasting schedule. For example, more extended regimens are probably useful for weight loss, but not so great for muscle maintenance.
I view weekly regimens like 5:2 and ADF as the power tools of the fasting tool shed. They’re useful for breaking through stubborn cases of obesity and type 2 diabetes, but too forceful for regular use.
As you’ve probably noticed, I prefer daily regimens. And within those, I tend to prefer 12/12 or 16/8. They offer the benefits of intermittent fasting without acting as an excessive stressor on your body. Go beyond that, and you run the risk that your practicebecomes unenjoyable or unsustainable.
Sustainability is the key. And on that note, I’ll leave you with one last tip: when folks don’t dial in their electrolytes (specifically sodium) on a fasting regimen, they tend to feel like hell and quit. Check out my article on electrolytes and fasting to learn more. (Hint: Drink LMNT, our tasty electrolyte drink mix that won’t break your fast.)
To sum it all up, the trick is to find a schedule that slots nicely into your lifestyle. Once fasting becomes a habit, you won’t even need to think about it.
https://science.drinklmnt.com/fasting/intermittent-fasting-schedules/