You may have heard that if you don’t eat, you’ll lose muscle mass. However, while it is true that your body needs fuel to run on in the absence of food, a certain function called “autophagy” says otherwise.
True, in extreme cases of starvation your body will resort to consuming muscle, although think about it: why would it use important muscles as a source of energy when there are so many other more readily available materials available (think body fat) as fuel? Hasn’t your body learned anything over the course of thousands of years?
Yes, in fact it has, not the least of which is how to efficiently use its survival mechanisms to preserve, rather than deplete, muscle mass.
A New Fad, or Old Wisdom?
Here’s the thing: the workings of your body have developed over the course of humankind, including when our ancestors were hunters and gatherers. This was long before we had grocery stores or even farms, which meant humans relied on wild game or foraged plants as nourishment.
However, this also meant inconsistent food supplies when hunts weren’t successful, or seasons reduced available food supplies.
This is why the body stores excess calories as fat during times of plenty so that it can get by in leaner times. (1)
In today’s world, the concept of using these fat stores through intermittent fasting is becoming increasingly popular. This makes sense, since fasting directly mimics our ancestor’s “feast-and-fast” food supply to help keep us slim-and-trim.
However, it goes even further than that.
Your Body is Smart
Enter autophagy, or your body’s natural ability to recycle its own materials. This enables it to successfully last between eating periods while not only maintaining its health but improving it.
Let’s start with the meaning of the word autophagy, which translates from ancient Greek to mean “self-eating,” or “self-devouring.” While this may sound like a bad thing, it isn’t. In fact, a more accurate term may be “self-rejuvenating,” which is exactly what autophagy does. (2)
reusable in other places. This is in addition to the inane notion that your body would store calories as fat only to then use functioning muscle as fuel instead.
Rather, when your body goes past a certain stage of hunger, it begins burning fat along with dismantling dysfunctional cells and reusing the proteins to form newer, healthier cells. At the same time, it cleans out toxins and other unwanted substances from these cells so that your body is rid of them.
In other words, your body does the equivalent of spring cleaning in which it keeps what is useful and sends the rest to the curb. (3)
The Benefits of Going Hungry
There is plenty of information on intermittent fasting (IF) now available, which is rapidly gaining popularity as a healthy eating approach. However, it is mostly assumed that the main benefit to IF is fat loss, which diets such as the 24-hour keto fast do help with.
And, while fat loss is important for those who are overweight, autophagy adds even more benefits to IF.
These include:
- Slowing the aging process by replacing old cells with new cells
- Ridding the body of toxic proteins which are attributed to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s
- Helping to regulate a healthy immune response which leads to lower risk of infection and reduced inflammation
- Reducing the risk of cancer by boosting the immune response and lowering inflammation, as well as ridding the body of toxic proteins which may cause cancer
- Boosting your metabolism by keeping your cells working in a healthy and efficient manner (4)
So clearly, there is more to IF than helping maintain a healthy BMI since it literally has the potential to save your life.
Autophagy and IF: The Connection
IF may seem like little more than the latest diet fad, although with the help of autophagy, it is much more than that.
By taking advantage of this age-old survival mechanism, you can not only be slimmer, healthier and with a lower risk for many chronic diseases, it can help improve–rather than deplete–lean muscle.
References:
- https://www.dietdoctor.com/fasting-muscle-mass
- https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-is-Autophagy.aspx
- https://www.naomiwhittel.com/the-12-important-benefits-of-autophagy
About Author
