Autophagy and Senescent Cells

Senescent cells are cells in the human body that have lost the ability to divide. As we age, our bodies accumulate a whole bunch of these senescent cells. They sit inside our bodies and give out non stop alarm signals that triggers the body inflammation and other cells to subdivide. Body inflammation leads affects the whole body. Inflammation may promote the growth of plaques, loosen plaque in your arteries and trigger blood clots — the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes. See HERE for a list of age-related diseases caused by body inflammation.

So, it makes sense to clear out these senescent cells from our bodies. I only just found out that when we fast from food, and the body has no access to glucose energy, it begins to scour the whole body to find these senescent cells, and through a process called autophagy, the human body "eats up" these senescent cells and converts them into energy.

So, finally, my children have the last word. The woman who always made them eat a good breakfast before school now skips breakfast and eats only between 1 pm and 5 pm everyday.

Years ago, in the throes of battling an auto-immune disease, I aged immensely. Only in my 40s, I looked like I was in my 50s. Today, I am in my 50s, and I am told that I look like I am in my 30s. The journey back to health and vitality has been a long one. I hope to share some of what works with readers. It is possible to reverse ageing somewhat.

Determined to lose weight and build muscle, I cycled up to 6 hrs a day, knitting and working atop my exercise bike perched behind a standing desk. When I did that, I had no idea that I was also killing off my own senescent cells and preventing a whole host of diseases from diabetes to cancer. I also did not hope to reverse ageing. I hoped only to lose weight, build muscle, build strength and look good in clothes again.

It turns out that physical exercise at 55% heart rate done for 1 hour also stimulates autophagy. So, my skin and my hair began to look better too.

It makes logical sense, no? When you accumulate a whole bunch of senescent cells, you would look old and feel old, even if you are strong enough to stave off diseases for the moment. In the next post, I will write about cell repair, and how to help your body do it.

Cell repair is important too, to reverse ageing. Clearly, when damaged cells are quickly and well repaired, your body will function better. You will think better, feel more energetic and look healthier.