Autophagy - Healthy Living Association

Definition:

Autophagy (pronounced aw-taw-fa-gee) is how the body cleans out debris and damaged cells.

“Auto” means self and “phagy” means eat — so the literal definition is “self-eating.” And while that sounds bad, it’s actually the opposite.

When autophagy occurs, damaged cells get removed and replaced with newer, younger, and healthier cells. This can help slow down the aging process at the cellular level.

Autophagy is one of the main reasons why intermittent fasting diets have become so popular. Studies have shown that fasting for 12 hours or more can stimulate a higher level of autophagy.

Bottom line:

Autophagy is the process of cleaning out damaged cells, which helps slow down the aging process, and can be stimulated by intermittent fasting.

Examples of autophagy in a sentence:

“I heard that actor Terry Crews talking about autophagy in a YouTube video.”

“How the heck are you supposed to pronounce ‘autophagy’?”

“Autophagy is one of the newest frontiers in anti-aging research.”