April 30, 2025 • 25 mins
In this video, we're diving deep into the world of intermittent fasting and autophagy, exploring the incredible benefits of this powerful combination. Autophagy, a natural process in which your body recycles and regenerates damaged cells, can be induced through intermittent fasting, leading to improved overall health and wellness. We'll cover the benefits of autophagy, including increased energy, improved mental clarity, and enhanced cellular health. You'll learn how to activate autophagy through intermittent fasting, and how to incorporate this practice into your daily routine. Whether you're a beginner looking to start intermittent fasting for the first time, or you're looking to take your health to the next level, this video will provide you with a comprehensive guide to getting started with autophagy and intermittent fasting.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:06 What is autophagy?
02:56 What activates autophagy?
03:31 When does a fast start?
04:58 Best fasting plan for autophagy
06:46 When does autophagy start when fasting?
08:27 Autophagy at 24 hours
09:06 When to fast and when not to
09:50 How to measure autophagy
11:59 Mistakes that stop autophagy
18:14 Autophagy and the brain
18:53 Autophagy and cancer
19:30 Autophagy for blood sugar and insulin resistance
21:55 Autophagy for autoimmunity
22:26 Other ways to activate autophagy
23:41 Fasting warning
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Intermittent fasting isn't just a weight loss trend.
The benefits go far beyond that,with one of the main ones being
autophagy. Now, you've probably heard me
talk about autophagy in previousvideos, but the basic summary of
what it is, is it's a process where our body breaks down
damaged cells and regenerates new ones.
(00:21):
And there are a few different ways to trigger autophagy or
increase it. It's always happening in the
body to some degree, but it really ramps up with
intermittent fasting. So in today's video, we're going
to break down everything you need to know about autophagy and
intermittent fasting, how you can activate it, how to increase
it, and common mistakes to avoidthat can hinder your results
(00:44):
when it comes to fasting. Hey guys, and welcome back to
the Healthy Not Complicated podcast.
My name is Kate, and I'm a nutritionist who specialises in
insulin resistance, blood sugar control, and metabolic health.
And one of the tools I use with clients is intermittent fasting.
Now, a lot of people come to intermittent fasting because
they're interested in weight loss, but they miss out on some
(01:06):
of the benefits that stem from autophagy because of a few small
mistakes. Understanding autophagy helps
you to understand that there aredeeper benefits, things like a
stronger immune system, it reduces inflammation
significantly, it can help to slow down ageing, it can help to
prevent chronic diseases and in a lot of cases improve them as
(01:28):
well. But a common misconception is
that fasting is the same as starvation, and this isn't true.
Fasting is about optimising a natural healing system your body
already has. And a lot of people nowadays, we
miss out on the benefits that come from fasting because we're
constantly eating. A lot of people nowadays, they
eat first thing in the morning, they're snacking throughout the
(01:51):
day, they eat a late night snackas well.
They only spend a very small portion of each day in a fasted
state. And by simply changing up your
meal timing, you can unlock the benefits that come from
intermittent fasting and autophagy.
So let's start out by talking about what exactly autophagy is.
I did give you like a quick couple sentence summary, but I
(02:13):
want to dive into it a little bit more.
So the translation of autophagy means self eating.
And as I said at the start of this video, it's when your body
breaks down damaged cells and recycles and renews them.
If your cells are damaged, whichcan happen to varying degrees
and is a normal thing that can happen, processes in your body
(02:36):
might not be working optimally, if that makes sense.
So when you trigger autophagy, you kind of clean this up and
your body just starts to function better.
And this matters because it's linked to longevity, cancer
prevention, brain health, and immune function.
You can think of it like your body's spring cleaning.
And autophagy is triggered by a few different things.
(03:00):
It can be triggered by exercise.It could be triggered by heat or
cold exposure in the right context.
But the main trigger for autophagy and when it really
ramps up is when your insulin levels are low.
And your insulin levels are always going to be lowest when
you're in a fasted state. And that's why fasting and
(03:21):
intermittent fasting can be so, so beneficial for a wide range
of reasons, but a lot of them stem from autophagy.
So if you aren't familiar with intermittent fasting or I guess
fasting in general, basically tobe in a fasted state means
you're not eating. So everyone is fasting overnight
(03:42):
when they're sleeping. This counts towards your fasting
window, the time when you're sleeping because you're not
eating. And as soon as you eat in the
morning, that's when you break your fast and that's when you
enter a fed state. Now it is a little bit
confusing. Generally it is considered that
your fast starts right after youfinish your meal, but obviously
(04:05):
your body has to process that meal.
So you technically don't enter afasted state immediately.
It will happen probably 2 to 3 hours after you eat.
But of course this depends on how much you eat, the macro
nutrient breakdown of your meal,how much fibre you had or long,
how long it takes you to get into a fasted state or help you
to get into a fast stay quicker.Also your current metabolic
(04:27):
health. If you're someone who is insulin
resistant, it's going to take you longer to get in a fasted
state. And if you're someone who has
good metabolic flexibility and good metabolic health in
general, you'll be able to get into a fasted state quicker.
I get this question a lot when you're fast actually starts and
honestly it's easiest to just gofrom as soon as you finished
(04:49):
eating your last meal and just say that's when you're fast
started. It's not worth getting too
caught up in the exact numbers and the exact timing.
Now when we refer to intermittent fasting, we're
basically talking about having afasting schedule.
A common one you've probably heard of is 16/8.
So this means you're fasting for16 hours every day and then
(05:10):
you're eating all of your calorie.
All of your energy needs are coming in within an 8 hour
window. This can look like pushing your
breakfast back and not eating until noon and then stopping
eating at 8:00 PM. So that's your 8 hour feeding
window and then after you finisheating, you fast overnight and
you don't eat again till 12:00 PM the following day and that
(05:31):
gives you a 16 hour fasting window.
Now this is the fasting schedulethat I see most commonly online.
And the reason that this one is so popular is because, like I
said, it takes a couple hours for you to actually enter a
fasted state. And usually within this time
frame, your body has gone through all your stored
(05:54):
carbohydrates and tapped into some of your stored fat instead,
and your insulin level has dropped significantly.
You've been in a low insulin state for long enough that
autophagy ramps up. Some people will do like a 12/12
fasting schedule, which I also think is beneficial and is a
great starting place if you've never fasted before and if
(06:16):
you're curious about it. But skipping breakfast seems a
little extreme to you, and you don't think you'll be able to
stick to it. Start with 12 hours.
Some people fast for longer. They'll do like 18-6, which I
think can also be good. And then of course, other people
will do like one meal a day. Or they'll do alternate day
fasting where they only eat every other day and they spend a
(06:39):
whole day in a fasted state. Now all of these strategies can
be beneficial and typically autophagy start around the 14 to
16 hour mark. Well, if we want to get really
technical, it is technically happening to some degree at all
(07:00):
times. But this is when you really
start to see it increase is at about 14 to 16 hours, depending
again on your metabolic health, your metabolic flexibility, if
you're insulin resistant or not,if you have any issues with
blood sugar, if you're diabetic,taking any medication that
raises your insulin levels. I won't get too into this in
(07:21):
today's video, but if you have been prescribed insulin, it is
going to be really, really hard for you to take advantage of
autophagy because like I said, it occurs when your insulin
levels are low. So if you're injecting insulin,
then you're basically halting this.
And that's why when you're eating insulin increases.
And This is why autophagy turns off.
(07:44):
But if you want a good balance of getting the benefits of
autophagy but still meeting yourenergy needs within your feeding
window while still getting enough protein in throughout the
day, which is so, so important and a lot of people, most people
are not getting enough protein, then I think doing a 14 to 16
hour fasting window is going to be the sweet spot.
(08:07):
And especially if you do this ona consistent basis, then your
body is going to become more metabolically flexible and
you'll be able to get into a fasted state quicker.
And you'll be able to to get thebenefits of autophagy, maybe to
a lesser degree than if you're doing a longer fast each day,
but you're going to get it more consistently over time, if that
makes sense. Autophagy really, really starts
(08:30):
to ramp up when you've been fasting for 24 hours.
And for most people, I don't think this is something that you
need to do very often. Now, if you do have a lot of
weight to lose, then yeah, doingalternate day fasting can be a
very effective strategy. And yes, when you're doing this,
you're going to get you're goingto have a lot of autophagy
happening obviously on those fasting days.
(08:51):
But if you can throw in a 24 hour fast even just once a
month, like I said, this is likespring cleaning for your body
and those damaged cells, that inflammation you're
experiencing, it's going to reduce significantly.
And when it comes to fasting, it, it really shouldn't be used
as a punishment. I know a lot of people get stuck
(09:13):
in this cycle of kind of bingeing and fasting, and yeah,
they're treating it like a punishment.
You really shouldn't be going into a fast and especially an
extended fast for 24 hours or more if it's coming from this
place of punishment. You should be coming into it
mindfully, having good, consistent intermittent fasting
(09:35):
routine. And that's when you're really
going to get the benefits because, yeah, when you get
stuck in this cycle of bingeing and fasting, not only is that
going to be taking away from thephysical benefits, it's really
hard mentally on you as well if you are in this cycle.
All right, but how, how can you know if autophagy is happening?
Because unlike our blood sugar, unlike our blood ketones, this
(09:59):
isn't something that we can measure or outside of a lab at
least. So there are some signs you can
watch out for. So one of the main ones is if
your appetite regulates. So especially if you're first
starting out with intermittent fasting, it can feel like you're
really hungry and it can feel really hard to hit that 14 or 16
(10:20):
hour mark. But once autophagy starts to
ramp up, because it kind of goeshand in hand with low insulin
and increased ketones, your appetite starts to regulate.
So if you were hungry, if you were having cravings, as soon as
you feel those kind of shut off,this can be a sign that
autophagy is happening. And along with this, reduced
(10:41):
cravings for sugar and carbohydrates.
If you kind of feel like your mental clarity, like that fog
has lifted off your mind, that can be another sign as well.
If you do have a ketone metre, then increased ketones can also
be a sign that autophagy is happening because like I said,
all of these things tend to go hand in hand.
(11:01):
You might just get a burst of energy in general, which can be
another sign. So these are just little things
to watch out for. But like I said, it is
impossible to track outside of alab.
You just have to kind of trust that if you are doing all of the
right things, if you are consistent with your
intermittent fasting schedule, that it is happening to some
(11:22):
degree and you will start to seeadditional benefits over time.
Things like less inflammation, pain or stiffness in your
joints, clearer skin or healing of skin issues such as if you
have eczema or psoriasis. You're going to have better
appetite regulation throughout the day as well.
So if you are cravings in between meals, your digestion is
(11:43):
going to improve, your sleep quality is going to improve, and
you're going to recover faster from workouts.
Those are more of the long term benefits.
You won't be able to see those immediately, but you can look
out for the short term ones and feel confident that you're on
the right track. Now let's talk about some common
mistakes that actually stop autophagy.
(12:05):
Now when we talk about fasting, technically in its purest form,
when you're fasting you should be consuming 0 calories, 0
energy. A true fast means you're only
having 0 calorie liquid. So things such as black coffee
and tea and also maybe replenishing some electrolytes.
(12:26):
But a lot of people find it easier to stick to fasting when
they consume a low amount of calories within their fasting
window. So things like bulletproof
coffee, which is coffee that's blended with grass fed butter,
and MCTS. MCTS are an interesting one.
It stands for medium chain triglycerides.
And this is a type of fat that actually can't be stored as fat
(12:49):
in the body. It's processed differently than
other types of fat. It goes straight to your liver
and it helps to increase ketonesso you are consuming calories.
But MCT oil can actually help toenhance the benefits of fasting
and help to increase ketone production and ramp up
autophagy. And that's where it isn't so
(13:11):
black and white. And the way I think of it is
that if consuming bulletproof coffee, because a lot of people
who are doing 16-8, they'll havea bulletproof coffee in the
morning still in their fasting window.
And this helps them to push their first meal until later in
the day. The way I see it is that if this
is helping you to stay more consistent, if this is helping
(13:33):
you to meet your fasting goal, then the pros of having a
bulletproof coffee outweigh the cons.
Because like I said, over time, you were going to have these
doses of autophagy consistently.And that's going to be more
beneficial than if you try to stick to a true fast and you
aren't able to. And then you end up breaking
your fast early all the time or you end up giving up all
(13:55):
together. You can't stick to it.
So you really have to weigh the pros and cons and take a step
back. Look at the big picture.
I know a lot of people who I talk to, clients I work with,
they'll kind of beat themselves up if they have like a handful
of nuts within their fasting window or something like that.
And what I always say is zoom out.
(14:15):
At the end of the day, it's not about perfection, it's about
consistency. You don't have to be perfect in
fasting or in any area of your life in order to see results.
Because if you're perfect but you can't stick to it long term
and you're missing the point, you're not going to be able to
harness the benefits long term. Building habits is what's going
(14:36):
to lead to sustainable long termresults.
Another mistake that people makewhen it comes to intermittent
fasting, or not really a mistake, but something that can
hinder your results, take away from the benefits of autophagy
is if you have chronic stress, and I know this one can be hard
to manage when you're in a constant state of stress and
(14:58):
your cortisol levels are elevated.
This can elevate your blood sugar and your insulin levels,
effectively turning autophagy off.
Now, I'm a bit weary about talking about this one because
it becomes a bit of a vicious cycle.
If you're worrying about being stressed, that often makes your
stress worse. But again, just come back to
(15:19):
habit and anything you can do, any breathing exercises or
meditation, even just going for a walk, getting outside, even
spending time with friends and family, anything that you can do
to manage your stress is going to help you to better harness
autophagy. And I guess this also kind of
comes back to worrying about consuming anything or I guess
(15:42):
sticking to a perfect fasting schedule.
Some people don't see results with fasting and they you can
tell they're just super stressedout about it.
Just take a step back, do what you can, do the little things
right? And that will add up.
Now, another mistake people makeis going into a fast dehydrated
and not replenishing electrolytes correctly.
(16:04):
And by this I don't just mean drinking water, because when
you're fasting, you actually retain less water, but also
fewer electrolytes. And to be properly hydrated,
yes, you need to have enough water in your system, but you
also need to have the correct balance of electrolytes.
Now, there are a lot of electrolyte supplements on the
(16:26):
market and most of them are honestly not that great and a
bit of a money grab. Anything that has added sugar or
artificial sweeteners, this is going to break your fast.
This is going to impact autophagy.
But on top of that, a lot of these brands also don't really
have that many electrolytes and they don't have enough sodium
(16:47):
specifically, which is really, really important when you're
fasting. If you aren't getting enough
electrolytes in during your fasting window, it's going to
make intermittent fasting very difficult.
Now, I know a lot of people whenthey first start, if they aren't
replenishing their electrolytes,they'll experience things such
as headaches, fatigue, that brain fog we spoke about
earlier. And yes, these can be signs that
(17:09):
your body hasn't transitioned into a state of autophagy yet,
but they also can be a sign thatyou aren't hydrated properly and
you are low on electrolytes. So if you're really struggling
to hit your fasting target, add in some electrical and more
often than not, that solves the problem and that makes
intermittent fasting so so much easier.
(17:31):
Now if you're looking for a highquality electrolyte supplement
that actually has a good amount of electrolytes and no added
sugar, no artificial sweeteners,none of the bad stuff and all of
the good stuff, I highly recommend sodium.
Their electrolyte blend is designed for fasting.
It helps prevent headaches, dizziness and fatigue and keeps
(17:52):
your energy stable while does its thing.
I drink it during every fast andit makes a huge difference.
You can try it for yourself by heading to healthcoach.com.
Soda, electrolytes and don't forget to use my code HTTP 15 at
checkout to save 15% off your first order.
Now let's get into autophagy forcertain health conditions
because I know this is of interest to a lot of people and
(18:14):
especially when it comes to neurodegenerative diseases such
as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Like I said before, autophagy helps to clear damaged proteins
and waste in the brain. This includes beta amyloid
plaque linked to Alzheimer's. Pretty well demonstrated in the
literature that fasting improvesmemory and cognitive
performance, and this stems fromautophagy.
(18:35):
Regularly activating autophagy helps to support how resilient
your brain is and this helps reduce the risk of age related
decline. So of course this is
particularly beneficial as we age, but really prevention
starts way, way before it gets to that point.
Now autophagy and cancer, this is another area that's been
(18:56):
pretty well researched, but I mean there still is a lot more
research to be done. Now, of course, if you are doing
this spring cleaning, if you areconsistently getting rid of
damaged cells and regenerating new ones, this helps to prevent
cancer from beginning in the 1stplace.
And if you already have cells that have cancer, then it can
(19:18):
help to get rid of them. And that's why it is so great
for cancer prevention. Like I said, there has been a
good amount of research on this area, but I'm really curious to
see even more come out in the next couple of years.
And now let's talk about fastingfor insulin resistance and type
2 diabetes, which is my area of expertise.
If you guys have been around my channel for a while, if you've
(19:39):
listened to my podcast before, you will know that this is the
area that I specialise in. When you're insulin resistant,
your insulin level at baseline is chronically high and the way
to reverse insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity
is to bring that insulin down because when your insulin is
low, this allows your cells to become more insulin sensitive.
(20:02):
Again. When you're insulin resistant,
your cells are not responding toinsulin correctly and they're
not taking in glucose as they should when they don't take it
in glucose as they should. The body produces more insulin
to try to deal with excess glucose and then it just becomes
a cycle. And of course, after about 10 to
15 years of being insulin resistant, that is when you will
start to see your fasting blood sugar go up.
(20:24):
And that's when you'll be diagnosed with prediabetes and
eventually type 2 diabetes, unless you make the necessary
diet and lifestyle changes that bring your insulin down and can
improve your insulin sensitivity.
And This is why intermittent fasting is so, so beneficial for
insulin resistance because as I've mentioned a few times in
this video, when you're fasting,that's when your insulin is
(20:48):
going to be lowest because the main trigger and the thing that
impacts our insulin levels the most is the food we eat.
When we eat carbohydrates, they're broken down into sugar,
and insulin is needed to take the sugar from our bloodstream
to the cells in our body to use it for energy.
So if you are constantly eating,if you're spending a long time
each day in a fed state, then your insulin is always going to
(21:11):
be high throughout the day. It won't be coming down in
between meals, and you're not going to be spending any time or
not a lot of time in a low insulin state.
But when you're intermittent fasting, that means you're
spending a good portion of your day in this fasted low insulin
state. And that is why fasting is so
beneficial for not only preventing type 2 diabetes, but
(21:34):
also for reversing it. Now, if you've just been
diagnosed with pre diabetes, I'mgoing to link to another video
up above that I posted probably last week or the week before on
steps you can take that will help you to reverse it.
So if you're curious about that,check out that video.
But yes, one of the most effective tools is intermittent
(21:55):
fasting. The other area that fasting and
autophagy is great for is if youhave an autoimmune condition.
In some autoimmune diseases, dysregulated immune cells aren't
cleared properly and autophagy can help to remove them.
As we've also mentioned today, intermittent fasting, fasting
and autophagy help to reduce inflammation.
(22:16):
And of course, if you have an autoimmune condition, you are
going to be inflamed in some way.
Extremely beneficial if you havearthritis.
Hashimoto's any autoimmune condition.
Now, we've talked a lot about fasting in today's video for
autophagy, but I also wanted to touch on some other ways that
you can boost it. And one of the ways is with
(22:36):
exercise. Now you're going to see a big
increase in autophagy if you exercise during your fasting
window. And when I say exercise, I'm
talking about low to moderate exercise.
You don't want to be doing high intensity exercise during this
time because it's going to increase cortisol.
That can increase your blood sugar.
(22:57):
That means the more insulin willbe needed and that can take away
from the benefits. So low to moderate cardio is
great or resistance training canbe good as well.
And then we have cold and heat exposure.
So this means taking advantage of things such as ice baths and
saunas. You don't have to do them both
together, but if you can do any form of cold plunging or if you
(23:21):
have access to a sauna, A sauna blanket, that's a great way to
get the benefits of fasting at home.
This can help to increase autophagy as well.
And these work because, and these work because they are
hermetic stressors that mimic some of the benefits of fasting
and one of those benefits is increased autophagy.
(23:41):
Now I really want to stress on apoint I spoke about earlier and
that is that you can overdo fasting if it's getting to a
point where it feels extremely difficult to stick to.
If it's getting to a point whereit's stressing you out, then the
cons are probably a weighing thepros and it's time to take a
step back, look at the big picture and figure out a better
(24:04):
fasting schedule that works for you.
Especially for women, it's important to make sure that you
are eating enough within your feeding window and especially
during the second half of your cycle.
During this time, your metabolism actually increases
and you're expending more energyevery day.
This is why we get hungrier right before our period.
It's not out of nowhere. It's because our metabolism is
(24:24):
actually working faster. But listen to your body.
If it's becoming extremely difficult, then you need to
reevaluate your approach. But anyways guys, I am going to
wrap this video up here. I hope you found this helpful.
I hope you learned something. Let me know in the comments if
you have any questions about intermittent fasting or
autophagy, I'd be happy to answer them.
(24:44):
I try to answer as many questions as I can, especially
right after I post the video. So if this just went live, go
ahead ask your question. I'll try to get back to you and
before you go, don't forget to check out today's sponsor Sodi.
Trust me, electrolytes can make a huge difference in how easy it
is to intermittent fast. Now if you're watching on
Spotify, I would love if you could rate and review the
(25:07):
podcast that really helps me over there.
And if you're on YouTube, give this video a thumbs up and make
sure to subscribe. Thanks guys for watching or
listening and I will see you in the next one.
Bye.
Intermittent fasting isn't just a weight loss trend.
The benefits go far beyond that,with one of the main ones being
autophagy. Now, you've probably heard me
talk about autophagy in previousvideos, but the basic summary of
what it is, is it's a process where our body breaks down
damaged cells and regenerates new ones.
(00:21):
And there are a few different ways to trigger autophagy or
increase it. It's always happening in the
body to some degree, but it really ramps up with
intermittent fasting. So in today's video, we're going
to break down everything you need to know about autophagy and
intermittent fasting, how you can activate it, how to increase
it, and common mistakes to avoidthat can hinder your results
(00:44):
when it comes to fasting. Hey guys, and welcome back to
the Healthy Not Complicated podcast.
My name is Kate, and I'm a nutritionist who specialises in
insulin resistance, blood sugar control, and metabolic health.
And one of the tools I use with clients is intermittent fasting.
Now, a lot of people come to intermittent fasting because
they're interested in weight loss, but they miss out on some
(01:06):
of the benefits that stem from autophagy because of a few small
mistakes. Understanding autophagy helps
you to understand that there aredeeper benefits, things like a
stronger immune system, it reduces inflammation
significantly, it can help to slow down ageing, it can help to
prevent chronic diseases and in a lot of cases improve them as
(01:28):
well. But a common misconception is
that fasting is the same as starvation, and this isn't true.
Fasting is about optimising a natural healing system your body
already has. And a lot of people nowadays, we
miss out on the benefits that come from fasting because we're
constantly eating. A lot of people nowadays, they
eat first thing in the morning, they're snacking throughout the
(01:51):
day, they eat a late night snackas well.
They only spend a very small portion of each day in a fasted
state. And by simply changing up your
meal timing, you can unlock the benefits that come from
intermittent fasting and autophagy.
So let's start out by talking about what exactly autophagy is.
I did give you like a quick couple sentence summary, but I
(02:13):
want to dive into it a little bit more.
So the translation of autophagy means self eating.
And as I said at the start of this video, it's when your body
breaks down damaged cells and recycles and renews them.
If your cells are damaged, whichcan happen to varying degrees
and is a normal thing that can happen, processes in your body
(02:36):
might not be working optimally, if that makes sense.
So when you trigger autophagy, you kind of clean this up and
your body just starts to function better.
And this matters because it's linked to longevity, cancer
prevention, brain health, and immune function.
You can think of it like your body's spring cleaning.
And autophagy is triggered by a few different things.
(03:00):
It can be triggered by exercise.It could be triggered by heat or
cold exposure in the right context.
But the main trigger for autophagy and when it really
ramps up is when your insulin levels are low.
And your insulin levels are always going to be lowest when
you're in a fasted state. And that's why fasting and
(03:21):
intermittent fasting can be so, so beneficial for a wide range
of reasons, but a lot of them stem from autophagy.
So if you aren't familiar with intermittent fasting or I guess
fasting in general, basically tobe in a fasted state means
you're not eating. So everyone is fasting overnight
(03:42):
when they're sleeping. This counts towards your fasting
window, the time when you're sleeping because you're not
eating. And as soon as you eat in the
morning, that's when you break your fast and that's when you
enter a fed state. Now it is a little bit
confusing. Generally it is considered that
your fast starts right after youfinish your meal, but obviously
(04:05):
your body has to process that meal.
So you technically don't enter afasted state immediately.
It will happen probably 2 to 3 hours after you eat.
But of course this depends on how much you eat, the macro
nutrient breakdown of your meal,how much fibre you had or long,
how long it takes you to get into a fasted state or help you
to get into a fast stay quicker.Also your current metabolic
(04:27):
health. If you're someone who is insulin
resistant, it's going to take you longer to get in a fasted
state. And if you're someone who has
good metabolic flexibility and good metabolic health in
general, you'll be able to get into a fasted state quicker.
I get this question a lot when you're fast actually starts and
honestly it's easiest to just gofrom as soon as you finished
(04:49):
eating your last meal and just say that's when you're fast
started. It's not worth getting too
caught up in the exact numbers and the exact timing.
Now when we refer to intermittent fasting, we're
basically talking about having afasting schedule.
A common one you've probably heard of is 16/8.
So this means you're fasting for16 hours every day and then
(05:10):
you're eating all of your calorie.
All of your energy needs are coming in within an 8 hour
window. This can look like pushing your
breakfast back and not eating until noon and then stopping
eating at 8:00 PM. So that's your 8 hour feeding
window and then after you finisheating, you fast overnight and
you don't eat again till 12:00 PM the following day and that
(05:31):
gives you a 16 hour fasting window.
Now this is the fasting schedulethat I see most commonly online.
And the reason that this one is so popular is because, like I
said, it takes a couple hours for you to actually enter a
fasted state. And usually within this time
frame, your body has gone through all your stored
(05:54):
carbohydrates and tapped into some of your stored fat instead,
and your insulin level has dropped significantly.
You've been in a low insulin state for long enough that
autophagy ramps up. Some people will do like a 12/12
fasting schedule, which I also think is beneficial and is a
great starting place if you've never fasted before and if
(06:16):
you're curious about it. But skipping breakfast seems a
little extreme to you, and you don't think you'll be able to
stick to it. Start with 12 hours.
Some people fast for longer. They'll do like 18-6, which I
think can also be good. And then of course, other people
will do like one meal a day. Or they'll do alternate day
fasting where they only eat every other day and they spend a
(06:39):
whole day in a fasted state. Now all of these strategies can
be beneficial and typically autophagy start around the 14 to
16 hour mark. Well, if we want to get really
technical, it is technically happening to some degree at all
(07:00):
times. But this is when you really
start to see it increase is at about 14 to 16 hours, depending
again on your metabolic health, your metabolic flexibility, if
you're insulin resistant or not,if you have any issues with
blood sugar, if you're diabetic,taking any medication that
raises your insulin levels. I won't get too into this in
(07:21):
today's video, but if you have been prescribed insulin, it is
going to be really, really hard for you to take advantage of
autophagy because like I said, it occurs when your insulin
levels are low. So if you're injecting insulin,
then you're basically halting this.
And that's why when you're eating insulin increases.
And This is why autophagy turns off.
(07:44):
But if you want a good balance of getting the benefits of
autophagy but still meeting yourenergy needs within your feeding
window while still getting enough protein in throughout the
day, which is so, so important and a lot of people, most people
are not getting enough protein, then I think doing a 14 to 16
hour fasting window is going to be the sweet spot.
(08:07):
And especially if you do this ona consistent basis, then your
body is going to become more metabolically flexible and
you'll be able to get into a fasted state quicker.
And you'll be able to to get thebenefits of autophagy, maybe to
a lesser degree than if you're doing a longer fast each day,
but you're going to get it more consistently over time, if that
makes sense. Autophagy really, really starts
(08:30):
to ramp up when you've been fasting for 24 hours.
And for most people, I don't think this is something that you
need to do very often. Now, if you do have a lot of
weight to lose, then yeah, doingalternate day fasting can be a
very effective strategy. And yes, when you're doing this,
you're going to get you're goingto have a lot of autophagy
happening obviously on those fasting days.
(08:51):
But if you can throw in a 24 hour fast even just once a
month, like I said, this is likespring cleaning for your body
and those damaged cells, that inflammation you're
experiencing, it's going to reduce significantly.
And when it comes to fasting, it, it really shouldn't be used
as a punishment. I know a lot of people get stuck
(09:13):
in this cycle of kind of bingeing and fasting, and yeah,
they're treating it like a punishment.
You really shouldn't be going into a fast and especially an
extended fast for 24 hours or more if it's coming from this
place of punishment. You should be coming into it
mindfully, having good, consistent intermittent fasting
(09:35):
routine. And that's when you're really
going to get the benefits because, yeah, when you get
stuck in this cycle of bingeing and fasting, not only is that
going to be taking away from thephysical benefits, it's really
hard mentally on you as well if you are in this cycle.
All right, but how, how can you know if autophagy is happening?
Because unlike our blood sugar, unlike our blood ketones, this
(09:59):
isn't something that we can measure or outside of a lab at
least. So there are some signs you can
watch out for. So one of the main ones is if
your appetite regulates. So especially if you're first
starting out with intermittent fasting, it can feel like you're
really hungry and it can feel really hard to hit that 14 or 16
(10:20):
hour mark. But once autophagy starts to
ramp up, because it kind of goeshand in hand with low insulin
and increased ketones, your appetite starts to regulate.
So if you were hungry, if you were having cravings, as soon as
you feel those kind of shut off,this can be a sign that
autophagy is happening. And along with this, reduced
(10:41):
cravings for sugar and carbohydrates.
If you kind of feel like your mental clarity, like that fog
has lifted off your mind, that can be another sign as well.
If you do have a ketone metre, then increased ketones can also
be a sign that autophagy is happening because like I said,
all of these things tend to go hand in hand.
(11:01):
You might just get a burst of energy in general, which can be
another sign. So these are just little things
to watch out for. But like I said, it is
impossible to track outside of alab.
You just have to kind of trust that if you are doing all of the
right things, if you are consistent with your
intermittent fasting schedule, that it is happening to some
(11:22):
degree and you will start to seeadditional benefits over time.
Things like less inflammation, pain or stiffness in your
joints, clearer skin or healing of skin issues such as if you
have eczema or psoriasis. You're going to have better
appetite regulation throughout the day as well.
So if you are cravings in between meals, your digestion is
(11:43):
going to improve, your sleep quality is going to improve, and
you're going to recover faster from workouts.
Those are more of the long term benefits.
You won't be able to see those immediately, but you can look
out for the short term ones and feel confident that you're on
the right track. Now let's talk about some common
mistakes that actually stop autophagy.
(12:05):
Now when we talk about fasting, technically in its purest form,
when you're fasting you should be consuming 0 calories, 0
energy. A true fast means you're only
having 0 calorie liquid. So things such as black coffee
and tea and also maybe replenishing some electrolytes.
(12:26):
But a lot of people find it easier to stick to fasting when
they consume a low amount of calories within their fasting
window. So things like bulletproof
coffee, which is coffee that's blended with grass fed butter,
and MCTS. MCTS are an interesting one.
It stands for medium chain triglycerides.
And this is a type of fat that actually can't be stored as fat
(12:49):
in the body. It's processed differently than
other types of fat. It goes straight to your liver
and it helps to increase ketonesso you are consuming calories.
But MCT oil can actually help toenhance the benefits of fasting
and help to increase ketone production and ramp up
autophagy. And that's where it isn't so
(13:11):
black and white. And the way I think of it is
that if consuming bulletproof coffee, because a lot of people
who are doing 16-8, they'll havea bulletproof coffee in the
morning still in their fasting window.
And this helps them to push their first meal until later in
the day. The way I see it is that if this
is helping you to stay more consistent, if this is helping
(13:33):
you to meet your fasting goal, then the pros of having a
bulletproof coffee outweigh the cons.
Because like I said, over time, you were going to have these
doses of autophagy consistently.And that's going to be more
beneficial than if you try to stick to a true fast and you
aren't able to. And then you end up breaking
your fast early all the time or you end up giving up all
(13:55):
together. You can't stick to it.
So you really have to weigh the pros and cons and take a step
back. Look at the big picture.
I know a lot of people who I talk to, clients I work with,
they'll kind of beat themselves up if they have like a handful
of nuts within their fasting window or something like that.
And what I always say is zoom out.
(14:15):
At the end of the day, it's not about perfection, it's about
consistency. You don't have to be perfect in
fasting or in any area of your life in order to see results.
Because if you're perfect but you can't stick to it long term
and you're missing the point, you're not going to be able to
harness the benefits long term. Building habits is what's going
(14:36):
to lead to sustainable long termresults.
Another mistake that people makewhen it comes to intermittent
fasting, or not really a mistake, but something that can
hinder your results, take away from the benefits of autophagy
is if you have chronic stress, and I know this one can be hard
to manage when you're in a constant state of stress and
(14:58):
your cortisol levels are elevated.
This can elevate your blood sugar and your insulin levels,
effectively turning autophagy off.
Now, I'm a bit weary about talking about this one because
it becomes a bit of a vicious cycle.
If you're worrying about being stressed, that often makes your
stress worse. But again, just come back to
(15:19):
habit and anything you can do, any breathing exercises or
meditation, even just going for a walk, getting outside, even
spending time with friends and family, anything that you can do
to manage your stress is going to help you to better harness
autophagy. And I guess this also kind of
comes back to worrying about consuming anything or I guess
(15:42):
sticking to a perfect fasting schedule.
Some people don't see results with fasting and they you can
tell they're just super stressedout about it.
Just take a step back, do what you can, do the little things
right? And that will add up.
Now, another mistake people makeis going into a fast dehydrated
and not replenishing electrolytes correctly.
(16:04):
And by this I don't just mean drinking water, because when
you're fasting, you actually retain less water, but also
fewer electrolytes. And to be properly hydrated,
yes, you need to have enough water in your system, but you
also need to have the correct balance of electrolytes.
Now, there are a lot of electrolyte supplements on the
(16:26):
market and most of them are honestly not that great and a
bit of a money grab. Anything that has added sugar or
artificial sweeteners, this is going to break your fast.
This is going to impact autophagy.
But on top of that, a lot of these brands also don't really
have that many electrolytes and they don't have enough sodium
(16:47):
specifically, which is really, really important when you're
fasting. If you aren't getting enough
electrolytes in during your fasting window, it's going to
make intermittent fasting very difficult.
Now, I know a lot of people whenthey first start, if they aren't
replenishing their electrolytes,they'll experience things such
as headaches, fatigue, that brain fog we spoke about
earlier. And yes, these can be signs that
(17:09):
your body hasn't transitioned into a state of autophagy yet,
but they also can be a sign thatyou aren't hydrated properly and
you are low on electrolytes. So if you're really struggling
to hit your fasting target, add in some electrical and more
often than not, that solves the problem and that makes
intermittent fasting so so much easier.
(17:31):
Now if you're looking for a highquality electrolyte supplement
that actually has a good amount of electrolytes and no added
sugar, no artificial sweeteners,none of the bad stuff and all of
the good stuff, I highly recommend sodium.
Their electrolyte blend is designed for fasting.
It helps prevent headaches, dizziness and fatigue and keeps
(17:52):
your energy stable while does its thing.
I drink it during every fast andit makes a huge difference.
You can try it for yourself by heading to healthcoach.com.
Soda, electrolytes and don't forget to use my code HTTP 15 at
checkout to save 15% off your first order.
Now let's get into autophagy forcertain health conditions
because I know this is of interest to a lot of people and
(18:14):
especially when it comes to neurodegenerative diseases such
as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Like I said before, autophagy helps to clear damaged proteins
and waste in the brain. This includes beta amyloid
plaque linked to Alzheimer's. Pretty well demonstrated in the
literature that fasting improvesmemory and cognitive
performance, and this stems fromautophagy.
(18:35):
Regularly activating autophagy helps to support how resilient
your brain is and this helps reduce the risk of age related
decline. So of course this is
particularly beneficial as we age, but really prevention
starts way, way before it gets to that point.
Now autophagy and cancer, this is another area that's been
(18:56):
pretty well researched, but I mean there still is a lot more
research to be done. Now, of course, if you are doing
this spring cleaning, if you areconsistently getting rid of
damaged cells and regenerating new ones, this helps to prevent
cancer from beginning in the 1stplace.
And if you already have cells that have cancer, then it can
(19:18):
help to get rid of them. And that's why it is so great
for cancer prevention. Like I said, there has been a
good amount of research on this area, but I'm really curious to
see even more come out in the next couple of years.
And now let's talk about fastingfor insulin resistance and type
2 diabetes, which is my area of expertise.
If you guys have been around my channel for a while, if you've
(19:39):
listened to my podcast before, you will know that this is the
area that I specialise in. When you're insulin resistant,
your insulin level at baseline is chronically high and the way
to reverse insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity
is to bring that insulin down because when your insulin is
low, this allows your cells to become more insulin sensitive.
(20:02):
Again. When you're insulin resistant,
your cells are not responding toinsulin correctly and they're
not taking in glucose as they should when they don't take it
in glucose as they should. The body produces more insulin
to try to deal with excess glucose and then it just becomes
a cycle. And of course, after about 10 to
15 years of being insulin resistant, that is when you will
start to see your fasting blood sugar go up.
(20:24):
And that's when you'll be diagnosed with prediabetes and
eventually type 2 diabetes, unless you make the necessary
diet and lifestyle changes that bring your insulin down and can
improve your insulin sensitivity.
And This is why intermittent fasting is so, so beneficial for
insulin resistance because as I've mentioned a few times in
this video, when you're fasting,that's when your insulin is
(20:48):
going to be lowest because the main trigger and the thing that
impacts our insulin levels the most is the food we eat.
When we eat carbohydrates, they're broken down into sugar,
and insulin is needed to take the sugar from our bloodstream
to the cells in our body to use it for energy.
So if you are constantly eating,if you're spending a long time
each day in a fed state, then your insulin is always going to
(21:11):
be high throughout the day. It won't be coming down in
between meals, and you're not going to be spending any time or
not a lot of time in a low insulin state.
But when you're intermittent fasting, that means you're
spending a good portion of your day in this fasted low insulin
state. And that is why fasting is so
beneficial for not only preventing type 2 diabetes, but
(21:34):
also for reversing it. Now, if you've just been
diagnosed with pre diabetes, I'mgoing to link to another video
up above that I posted probably last week or the week before on
steps you can take that will help you to reverse it.
So if you're curious about that,check out that video.
But yes, one of the most effective tools is intermittent
(21:55):
fasting. The other area that fasting and
autophagy is great for is if youhave an autoimmune condition.
In some autoimmune diseases, dysregulated immune cells aren't
cleared properly and autophagy can help to remove them.
As we've also mentioned today, intermittent fasting, fasting
and autophagy help to reduce inflammation.
(22:16):
And of course, if you have an autoimmune condition, you are
going to be inflamed in some way.
Extremely beneficial if you havearthritis.
Hashimoto's any autoimmune condition.
Now, we've talked a lot about fasting in today's video for
autophagy, but I also wanted to touch on some other ways that
you can boost it. And one of the ways is with
(22:36):
exercise. Now you're going to see a big
increase in autophagy if you exercise during your fasting
window. And when I say exercise, I'm
talking about low to moderate exercise.
You don't want to be doing high intensity exercise during this
time because it's going to increase cortisol.
That can increase your blood sugar.
(22:57):
That means the more insulin willbe needed and that can take away
from the benefits. So low to moderate cardio is
great or resistance training canbe good as well.
And then we have cold and heat exposure.
So this means taking advantage of things such as ice baths and
saunas. You don't have to do them both
together, but if you can do any form of cold plunging or if you
(23:21):
have access to a sauna, A sauna blanket, that's a great way to
get the benefits of fasting at home.
This can help to increase autophagy as well.
And these work because, and these work because they are
hermetic stressors that mimic some of the benefits of fasting
and one of those benefits is increased autophagy.
(23:41):
Now I really want to stress on apoint I spoke about earlier and
that is that you can overdo fasting if it's getting to a
point where it feels extremely difficult to stick to.
If it's getting to a point whereit's stressing you out, then the
cons are probably a weighing thepros and it's time to take a
step back, look at the big picture and figure out a better
(24:04):
fasting schedule that works for you.
Especially for women, it's important to make sure that you
are eating enough within your feeding window and especially
during the second half of your cycle.
During this time, your metabolism actually increases
and you're expending more energyevery day.
This is why we get hungrier right before our period.
It's not out of nowhere. It's because our metabolism is
(24:24):
actually working faster. But listen to your body.
If it's becoming extremely difficult, then you need to
reevaluate your approach. But anyways guys, I am going to
wrap this video up here. I hope you found this helpful.
I hope you learned something. Let me know in the comments if
you have any questions about intermittent fasting or
autophagy, I'd be happy to answer them.
(24:44):
I try to answer as many questions as I can, especially
right after I post the video. So if this just went live, go
ahead ask your question. I'll try to get back to you and
before you go, don't forget to check out today's sponsor Sodi.
Trust me, electrolytes can make a huge difference in how easy it
is to intermittent fast. Now if you're watching on
Spotify, I would love if you could rate and review the
(25:07):
podcast that really helps me over there.
And if you're on YouTube, give this video a thumbs up and make
sure to subscribe. Thanks guys for watching or
listening and I will see you in the next one.
Bye.
Host
Kait Malthaner
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