Spiritual Autophagy – Part 2

Each new year feels somewhat like a clean slate, an opportunity for life-renovation, to ruminate over the past year and consider what we’d like to change or improve in the new one. Purging the old and remaking the future inspires us with hope and motivation.

Unfortunately, it is often easier to think through life-remodeling than to execute. Simple strategies focused on helping us with new habit formation using gradual, achievable, incremental steps, and putting supports into place that can help us translate all of this into experience. Likewise, cellular autophagy—the process of eliminating old, damaged, unnecessary parts, and recycling valuable ingredients for the purpose of repair and regeneration—is a process that requires supported effort to do well.

Last month, we were introduced to autophagy, which literally means self-eating. While it initially sounds harmful, it is actually the path to regeneration and renewal. We learned that the purpose of autophagy is to break down and clear out dysfunctional cellular structures and proteins. But while it demolishes old injured components within cells, it also enables the recycling of valuable resources into new building materials that will be used for repair. Think of this as activating an internal reset button. This is extremely valuable to prevent disease, like cancer, neurodegeneration, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease,autoimmunity, and infection. It also has a very important role in weight loss. As you can imagine, a certain amount is beneficial; however, not enough or too much can compromise our health.

Autophagy is tightly regulated, but there are things we can do to optimally support balanced, healthy autophagy, such as intermittent fasting. Fasting provides the necessary signals to stimulate and trigger this self-maintenance system. I realize that going without food does not sound appealing, but taking a break from food and reducing our blood glucose and insulin levels for significant periods of time enables our body to do some updating, or some health–enhancing remodeling.

Considering the average American eats a minimum of six times a day, we will probably need to change a few things to be able to fast. First, let’s talk about the length of fasting, and then discuss how we can implement it.

Because a number of factors contribute to our individual response to fasting, researchers confirm that a 16-hour fast will trigger autophagy. Stopping eating by 5:00 p.m. and not eating again until 9:00 a.m., for example, would achieve this. But fasting for 24–48 hours intensifies this house-cleaning mechanism and may be more optimal for combating disease states.

I know some people who do a 24-hour fast once a year for internal house cleaning purposes. But it is important for you to consider the evidence, discuss the idea of fasting with your healthcare provider, and do what works for you.

Autophagy is like a rebirth of parts of the cell. It also gives us a new perspective on the born–again experience that Scripture mentions always in the context of death. “Out with the old, in with the new” is a common theme around New Year’s Day, and it fits in this context, as well. Consider Romans 6:4 in the context of our understanding of autophagy: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Just like cellular autophagy, spiritual autophagy results in renewal, re-birth, and restoration.