What Is Autophagy, The Science Behind The Body’s Natural Repair Mechanism?

Last Updated:January 09, 2026, 07:30 IST

Under this process, cells break down and recycle their own organelles and proteins to maintain intracellular balance and stability.

Autophagy can affect growth. (Representative Image)

Adil Nargolwala, an Ultraman Ironman 7WM and seven continents marathoner, on Thursday (January 8) highlighted the health benefits of Autophagy, noting that it is a “way for the body to anti-age and repair itself.”

Sharing a few photographs on X, Nargolwala said he recently did non-stop fasting for a total of 110 hours.

He shared that after eating at a wedding on Saturday night, he started fasting and broke it with a meal on Thursday.

“It’s been 110 hours since I last ate. Saturday night at a wedding, Thursday noon, breaking my fast with a bowl of bone broth & some Greek yoghurt with berries,” Nargowala wrote.

He further claimed that fasting for more than 100 hours is “one of the most natural ways to promote repair & resilience.”

This is because our body stores excess food as fat due to constant eating. “Fasting allows the body to use stored energy – Ketosis. The fire inside can burn what it needs to burn. Our ancestors practised fasting while we practice eating food that we don’t need, 3 meals + snacking through the day,” he wrote.

Nargolwala shared that throughout the fasting period, he continued with his routine, which includes running 10 km each day for a total of five days, office work and spending time with family.

“Being active with no fatigue, slept 8-9 hours each night. No food, no protein shakes, no vitamins, nothing, just water, lots of it & some lime juice with table salt no sugar to maintain electrolytes. Overall weight loss 4.8 kgs… some obviously water. The human body is the most amazing invention,” he concluded.

What is Autophagy?

According to the National Institutes of Health, this is a “self-degradative process that is important for balancing sources of energy at critical times in development and in response to nutrient stress.”

Under this process, the cells degrade and recycle organelles and proteins to maintain intracellular homeostasis.

Yoshinori Ohsumi, the scientist who discovered the mechanisms for autophagy, was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2016.

The term found its origin from the Greek words auto, meaning “self”, and phagein, meaning “to eat”. In simple words, autophagy stands for “self-eating.”

How Does It Work? How Effective Is It?

Autophagy, the body’s cellular recycling system, reuses old and damaged cell parts.

As per the Cleveland Clinic, Autophagy recycles damaged cell parts to make them fully functional and even allows the body to get rid of nonfunctional cell parts. There are multiple ways to induce autophagy. Among these include:

1. Fasting: When you stop eating for a certain period of time, your body is deprived of nutrients. This forces it to repurpose cell components to function.

2. Restricting calories: This means lowering the number of calories that your body consumes daily. Ultimately, it forces calls into autophagy to compensate for the lost nutrients.

3. Switching diets: Following a high-fat, low-carb diet significantly changes the way our body burns energy. Due to this, our body burns fat rather than carbs or sugar to gain energy. This ultimately triggers autophagy.

4. Exercise: Exercise can also induce autophagy, but it depends on the type of exercise that an individual is doing and its intensity.

Are There Any Side Effects?

A few studies have shown that excessive autophagy may carry risks, such as causing the death of cardiac cells that could contribute to heart issues like cardiovascular disease.

Autophagy could even suppress or promote the growth of certain types of cancerous cells in the body.

Healthline suggests that while autophagy is linked to various potential health benefits, the methods used to stimulate it might not be suitable for all.

For example, intermittent fasting or even following a ketogenic diet is not recommended for older adults or pregnant women.

Also, those with diabetes should consult their doctor before making any changes to their diet.

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