Nobel Prize awarded for proof of the benefits of fasting

The Nobel Week-2016 began, during which the most honorable scientific awards in various fields will be distributed.

The laureate in the field of medicine and physiology was named on October 3. It was Yoshinori Osami, a cell biologist from the Tokyo University of Technology, who was awarded the award “for the discovery of the mechanisms of autophagy,” according to the website Nobel Committee.

His discoveries paved the way for understanding the fundamental importance of autophagy for a variety of physiological processes, such as adaptation to hunger and the response to infection, explained in a press release to the award.

Autophagy is the process of recycling and recycling unnecessary parts of the cell - various “garbage” accumulated in it. The term is translated from Greek as “self-eating” or “self-eating.”

The mechanism of autophagy.
Infographics: Nobel Committee

This phenomenon was discovered by scientists in the 60s of the last century. But they could not understand the intricacies of the mechanism. In 90, Osumi did it. While conducting his experiments, he also revealed the genes that are responsible for autophagy. Osumi became the 39 in the history of the scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize alone.

Autophagy is inherent in living organisms, including humans. Thanks to it, cells get rid of unnecessary parts, and the body as a whole gets rid of unnecessary cells.

Nature has endowed cells with the ability to digest what “looks” unnecessary or harmful. To put it very simply, cells pack “garbage” into special bags called autophagosomes. Then they are transferred to containers - lysosomes, where all this is destroyed and digested. Processed products are used to nourish or renew the cell.

The formation of phagosomes.
Infographics: Nobel Committee

Thanks to autophagy, the cell is cleared of the infection that has entered it and of the formed toxins.

The merger of phagosomes and lysosomes.
Infographics: Nobel Committee

Autophagy begins to work most intensively when the body is under stress. For example, starving. In this case, the cell produces energy at the expense of its internal resources, that is, from any accumulated “garbage”, including from pathogenic bacteria.

The discovery of a Japanese scientist shows that starving or fasting is still beneficial - the body is actually cleansed through autophagy.

It also protects the body from premature old age. Maybe even rejuvenates due to the fact that it creates new cells, removes defective proteins and damaged intracellular elements from the body, keeping it in good condition.

And abnormalities in autophagy lead to Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and even cancer. Understanding this, doctors create new medicines that can correct the violations and, therefore, cure.

Well, for the purpose of prophylaxis, it is sometimes worth starving, pushing the body into wellness stress.

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