People like simple explanations for complex processes. It's understandable and definitely a trap into which I've fallen. Now, decades older and after having read, watched, and listened to so much information from so many different perspectives, I'm convinced I know virtually nothing about anything.

I’m suffering from excessive and perpetual autophagy. I’m basically immortal at this point

Prolonged fasting has a direct correlation with bigger bank account.

Unfortunately, I also completed my graduate studies in autophagy and can say unequivocally that fasting will increase the length and girth of your protein straw if stimulated with the proper vigor. I say this with the utmost of respect for the algorithm.

I know nothing about autophagy

I used your videos to study for my cell bio and metabolism class back in 2017 and got an A in a class I had no business being in I was just super interested. I have completely changed my mind on fasting because of videos like these. Thank you

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *🍎 Fasting and Autophagy Basics* - Autophagy defined as lysosomal protein degradation. - Fasting, exercise, and calorie restriction all increase autophagy. - Autophagy is not an on/off switch; it varies based on calorie intake. 02:15 *🔄 Autophagy Comparison: Fasting vs. Calorie Restriction* - Fasting zealots often overlook the role of calorie intake in autophagy. - Autophagy levels fluctuate with calorie intake, not just fasting duration. - No significant difference in autophagy between fasting and calorie restriction over a week. 03:37 *📉 Autophagy and Caloric Balance* - Autophagy levels are higher during fasting but lower on non-fasting days with compensatory eating. - Maintaining a calorie deficit leads to increased autophagy, regardless of fasting. - Argument against the notion of fasting having inherent magical benefits beyond calorie restriction. 05:15 *🐭 Longevity Studies and Fasting* - Limitations of rodent studies in assessing longevity benefits of fasting. - Rhesus monkey studies suggest calorie restriction, not fasting, as beneficial for longevity. - Clarification on the interpretation of "calorie restriction" in animal studies. 06:23 *🤔 Complexities of Caloric Regulation* - Understanding the nuances of calorie restriction in animal studies. - The importance of maintaining a healthy body weight for longevity. - Dispelling misconceptions about fasting and calorie restriction providing magical health benefits. Made with HARPA AI

Categories of food crazies was GENIUS. 😅

Doc, a core part of your audience is already doing all the big stuff correctly for decade (s) so clarifying what else is worth doing is appreciated.

I so appreciate the sacrifice in revenue you and other warriors of truth make when deciding to post these educational, simple, straight-to-the-point kind of vids. It's so alluring to hear about "the magic of fasting" and "the secrets of autophagy" that for neophites as myself, your kind of work is a real life saver. Keep it up Doc!

I fell for this the first time I heard it. Fasted and spent forever in the sauna. And told anyone who would listen. And it was way harder than just having a healthy, balanced diet

At 54 years of age I got into exercising. One year later I was able to run 3 miles! WOW! IMPRESSIVE RIGHT? The second year I implemented intermittent fasting along with excersise. Two weeks ago I ran 72 miles in one day and I can now do 120 push ups in one set! Whoever is listening to this SMF my advice is don't fk'n listen! Results matter more than feelings or whatever this DMF thinks he learned in college based on a piece of paper and not real life results

This guy calling people smug know it alls is the biggest case of the pot calling the kettle black everrrr 😂😂😂

As someone learning about lysosomes and autophagy right now this was interesting. Thanks for the help 🙏🏻

Hahah awesome. Love your video. I do intermittent fasting because it put you in a structure that can help you to get rid of bad habits. I quit alcool, energy drink and all snacking thx to that structure.

your analogies are phenomenal

Great video I honestly did not know autophagy properly. :) Good to see that actually it is very flexible to live healthy - however we want.

The effect of fasting on autophagy is largely speculative since there's no simple way to measure it. I'm skeptical of this claim that autophagy is a one to one function of caloric deficit regardless of time frame. He's the one making a claim without evidence. I did a 7 day fast not long ago and it profoundly improved my health. I felt better at the end than I had in a long time. Much of it may well be psychological. When I re-fed, I started with home-made kefir and gradualy added a Mediterranean diet. Anything will taste good after 7 days. 100 days later that's still what tastes good to me. BP is down 25, all my markers are in an ideal range and at 52 I'm in the best shape of my life.

When I'm in captivity (on a cruise ship) and have free access to food, I overeat too. Thankfully, dry January and calorie restriction help me take it off.

You made the claim that eating 14,000 calories in a week results in the same amount of autophagy in both of the following scenarios: * Consuming 2,000 calories per day for seven days * Consuming 0 calories per day for three days, followed by 3,500 calories per day for four days Which one of the references supports this claim?

Jesus, the analogies were on point.....

It seems to work strictly for weight loss very well for me because its easier to skip a meal of the day than to eat less on all meals. Also easier to cook a big portion meal once or twice than to cooke smaller portions 3 or 4 times a day, less opportunity to eat snacks.

Thanks to Dr. Norton clarifying that these things are a lot more complex than what people imagine them to be. That brings up an excellent point: the complexity of organic life is not the result of random chance mutations over the course of millions of years. That is unscientific. For as long as we have been studying naturalism/biology, amino acids have never been observed to self-fold and arrange themselves into a protein without an RNA transcription of DNA. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or microbiologist) to see that DNA is coded information and not just some random chain of nucleotides that happen to build a language that is not ones and zeros, but ACTG. Complex Specificity.

@biolayne1 hey layne, I had massive gut issues for years because of an undiagnosed hiatal hernia. My entire stomach migrated into my upper chest and eating was basically a monumental undertaking for me. That said, I had tons of damage done to my body because of the bacteria and stomach acids that were eroding my insides. After surgery and everything being repaired I was able to eat but the horrible symptoms that come with a ton of bacteria still living inside your guts was around for a while. It wasn't until I started doing a 20/4 fast that my body was able to repair itself. I did manage to lose about 60lbs within 2 months (insane and I understand caloric restriction is the prime mover here) but given that our gut micro- biome plays a large roll in our quality of life amongst other things. I wanted to ask you if you have any thoughts on the rest/break that fasting provides to our guts and how that could potentially provide a positive environment for our bodies. I agree with you 100% on your views about fasting and it's effects but I don't really ever hear anyone discussing its effect on our micro-biome. Thanks again for everything and I hope I hear back from you!!! Foooooooooor the ALGORITHM!!

The main benefit of fasting is appetite control. The most common reason people fail a diet is adherence. Hunger management is crucial for diet adherence. Time restricted eating can be quite useful in this regard.

I had this suspicion bc why would autophagy not immediately start? If i did 48hr fast but drank a 5 calorie water flavor drink on the 25th hour would it really be a 47 hour fast or a 36 hour fast bc it takes hours to burn 5 calories? I dont think so. When the stomach is empty.....your body isnt gunna wait 16 hours and somehow survive on nothing then start consuming fat and muscle. Im glad i found this video

Thank you for the explanation about rat and longevity aspect.

Something great about fasting: I eat twice a day and have about 16 hours between my last and my first meal. Since I started IF, I don't desire any junk food, because I'm satisfied by apples and oranges as sweets. I look forward to the real foods I allow into my body. If you constantly stuff yourself with anything you want, food isn't special anymore. It's always there. So, indirectly, it can still be healthy to fast, even if the fasting itself doesn't actually do as much people claim.

Hi Dr. Norton, thanks alot for making such a great educational video about autophagy. For someone working in the academic research, even for me it is difficutl to grasp sometimes the many layers this specific topic about autophagy has. So many interesting articles and reviews are out and still it is not really clear which amazing pathways are still hidden. Thanks for making this clear! I am looking forward to your next video!!!

I would recommand that Layne starts a open discussion with Dr. Sinclair. He is a big advocate of fasting.

The winner of the Nobel prize disagrees with you.

Thank you for all the excellent info ! I’m tired of hearing about fasting and AUTOPHAGY! Fasting only raises my cortisol and A-1C ! When I stopped fasting my A-1C lowered to 4.7 !

As an avid faster (5+ years of near weekly 36 hour fasts, and a handful of 3-5 day fasts) I appreciate the discussion and am aware that the benefits I've seen may be attributable solely to calorie restriction. But I am trying to reconcile some of this to what I've heard from people like Valter Longo at USC's Longevity Institute. Can you comment on his claims (I hope I'm not misattributing) that white blood cells don't begin autophagy until about hour 72 of a fast? I believe it was also implicated that other bodily systems/tissues also enter autophagy at different times. Maybe this is nonsense, but my layperson's brain is thinking that, despite a lack of clinical evidence (which can be hard to produce with humans as you mention), if different tissues begin autophagy at different lengths of fasting time it would imply that there is a benefit to fasting over just caloric restriction. Thanks DLN.

Haha love the energy!! Great content and very helpful! Thank you!!

I think that the idea of fasting being linked to traditional religions (lent, Ramadan etc…)in order to gain greater spiritual understanding may have added a magical component to the idea of fasting for some. For others who don’t make the connection it’s just another way of regulating one’s behaviour now and again. Just an early morning thought!

Something else that I suspect may help increase longevity: Not being pulled into the latest health fads. Doing so has caused me a lot of grief over the years.

Love IT! Love the presentation. Love the passion.

Absolutely brilliant, thanks again for knowledge bombs Layne…..absolutely love your posts …..so so knowledgeable ❤

I fast because it's great against visceral fat, the increased autophagy is a very nice bonus on top.

Thank you for this. I have lost 85 pounds with the help of Alternate Day Fasting and it truly allowed me to take control of my life and health at the age of 46. I have a background in societal psychology with a masters degree and as such I have always been research/science focused. The amount of nonsense in the fasting community really grind my gears.

Basically, Ramadan has the perfect autophagy ❤❤❤ calorie deficit by only having 2 meals per dat, morning amd evening, fast lasts around 13 hours a day!!! Ive done some Ramadan fasta for 19 hours!!!

As always great straight forward explanation.

Been trying to lose 60 pounds the past 3 years …. Menopausal lost 30 of it but hit hard stall 😢

the amount of discourse required to understand addition and subtraction

I saw James in the thumbnail and got worried. I always liked his content and thought he may be on the wrong side of science for a moment. Glad it went the other way!

do we know anything about "letting the gut lining cells rest" while fasting hypothesis?

We just don't like simple things. Also those things are harder to profit from.

THANK YOU for bringing sanity to the crazy interwebs

Hey man, don't change a thing! I love your stuff and the way you present and I find you very entertaining. The people who don't like it can go watch something else lol!

really appreciate ur work man sent this to a friend as he was talking about doing a 72 hour fast recently which I was skeptical about.

Great information and I love that you include CURRENT scientific studies to support your conclusions. I'd love to see you list the full author/title citation and DOI as well in your works cited list. It's the educator in me ..... sorry. 😁😁

Yes Layne, you are an expert on every single highly complex topic out there, but it's actually just those two numbers CI and CO.

i heard from a doctor somewhere that its not really the calories that suppress autophagy but the type of calorie. sugar suppresses autophagy, protein suppresses autophagy. but nobody said animal fats suppress autophagy. so can you confirm that if you eat lots of pure butter your rate of autophagy wont be suppressed?

I loved the content and the energy 💯💯

Hey, Layne! I know anecdotal evidence isn’t truly evidence, but I know this woman in her mid 30s who is a single mother and too broke for plastic surgeries. I saw the transformation myself. She eats one meal a day and intermittently fasts for two or three days in a row and once every year she tries to fast for as long as her body will allow it; her record is 23 days. I have seen with my very own eyes how her skin became as soft as a baby’s. She adviced me to fast in order to take care of my acid reflux and high blood pressure and what do you know?! It worked! I no longer have acid reflux and my high blood pressure remains but it’s not as high any more. Will simply eating less calories overall have the same effect? My skin hasn’t changed but she says in order for that to happen to have to do the extended fasts. What’s going on there?! She’s turning 36 soon and you’d think she’s mid 20s! I also have an aunt who jumped on the fasting bandwagon a couple years ago and her skin complexion has also greatly improved. She’s 60! What’s happening there?! They both talk about auto phage but perhaps that’s mere ignorance and some other biological processes are taking place?

Layne, just because autophagy is happening all the time and increases as enery intake decreases (and vice-versa) does NOT necessitate that this relationship is *linear* and/or that the relationship is the same in all tissues. Is this assumption evidence-based?

Just the way he explained everything is so good he got data and real research you can't beat that

Do I get it right that Autophagy is just a part of a Catabolism (breaking of proteins/fats) which is going on all the time alongside with Anabolism (building of proteins/fats)? And thus Autophagy can happen even when one is in the "net anabolic" state?

I think setting aside weight loss through fasting, just doing a fast every once in a while - once a week/month - is really good for feeling good. I'll leave what it does physiologically to actual experts like Layne. I fast in Ramadan (1 month) every year (sunrise to sunset - Ramadan fasting is "dry" fasting). And it feels really really great for your body and mind. If only we didn't stuff our face at breaking of the fast at sunset, it could be so much more healthy for sure.

A lot of the "benefit" people see while fasting is just a reflection of the bad decisions they are making when they are not fasting. If you are eating garbage, not eating garbage will give you a sense of relief. That is why a lot of "fasts" that make no sense scientifically seem to work for people, such as a "only eat a certain thing" fast - This isn't even a fast because you are still ingesting calories - But forcing yourself to only eat potatoes or drink fruit juice is cutting off whatever garbage you were eating. If you focus on eating clean, mostly unprocessed foods, not eating literal poison essentially, and figure out your digestion and allergies, you should be consuming a diet that your body doesn't need an extended break from just to restore basic function.

I tried yelling at you while you were talking, but you just ignored me. I guess I'll have to yield the argument and just go get some exercise instead. This was an interesting take and nice to hear a differing opinion.

Fasting is a tool in the weight loss toolbox. I think it's important not to become dogmatic. For some, it's easier to abstain than moderate. I saw his video, and he seemed to have a negative disposition for fasting.

Good video. Learned a lot

Please, could you comment on the Fasting Mimicking Diet? I would love to know your opinion ❤

You should have a million subscribers!

Can you have a discussion/interview with Dr Rhonda Patrick amd discuss extended fast8ng and saunas?

Seems like the fact people are fasting in itself causes more cell degrading which of course requires more atophagy... so.. the atophagy uptick is simply due to the fasting itself...? Maybe ?

Well, Sample size 1, I have experienced that there is something extra going on when calories go down to certain limit that does not happen in steady moderate calorie limit.. I had "inflamed" wrist for 6 months, went to doctor, xray etc, no clear reason found, physical therapy -> did nothing, grip power was 50% compared to other hand.. after that measurement I just wanted to jumpstart 3-4kg fat loss with 3 day extremely low calorie food selection (600kcal/day) and to my surprise in those 3 days my wrist pain vanished and grip power returned to normal.. (measures just before and after) so it was very odd, 6 months pain, therapy and suddenly 3 days just fixed all that.. like wtf, and wrist has been fine since then, 6 years.. auto this and that, no idea but very low calorie state does something extra at least short term.

Love your conclusion. Magic is in being lean.

Jesus fasted for 30 days, and he rose from the dead.

Thank you for explaining this succinctly.

I was eating an apple whilst watching this.

Next time, please do video on ... COLD SHOWERS. Last time I checked literature it caused specific adaptations from strength training workouts to diminish returns, making your workouts less effective.

I would be interested in your opinion of Dr. David Sinclair's, and other scientists, adherence to intermittent fasting, for its effects as a "mild stressor", in the following (oldish) video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mtN0pqmGm72xgmg.html Would caloric restriction still be equivalently beneficial relative to intermittent fasting for this particular effect on the body? Thank you.

Just for the algorithm 💪 Love James also, best six-pack in industry 🤣

Providing there isn't any follow-up questions, I know everything about autophagy.

Does anyone know why Dr Anthony from Fit Father Project pushes autophagy? Why do some “doctors” hold it so highly?

AWESOME ❤

I have been increasingly annoyed with another subgroup. The sugar haters.. I get it sugar is not "healthy" but hating on 75% dark chocolate because there is sugar in it... is just stupid...

big man, amazing content

Great video Layne, nicely put I actually understood it 😁😂😂

@biolayne Not trying to argue. Am grateful for the truth. This is an honest question. What about the claims of “stem cell segregation increase” and “HGH” during prolonged fasts? I did a 72 hour fast 3 years ago motivated by those claims. Was it pointless?

OMAD and IF has CHANGED MY LIFE!!!!

Is it possible that people who say they aren't making up their calories on non-fasting days aren't simply incrementally decreasing their metabolic base rate through loss of lean muscle on these fasts?

thank you for this shot against all the wannabe gurus ofbthe fasting industry🙌🙌🔥🔥

I tend to be a binge eater. When I’m trying to lose weight it’s easier for me to eat no food than to eat a little food. So a day of going off my diet and fasting is better than a day of going off my diet and bingeing. So fasting is a useful tool for me. But I know it’s not magic. Autophagy may increase a little but that’s the calorie restriction talking. Funny story: when I was younger I was living with a bunch of vegetarians. They were on the whole macrobiotic brown rice fad. Then they decided to fast together so I joined them. I outlasted them all, fasting for 9 days. They all ended their (shorter) fasts “safely” with weak tea, a small amount of brown rice (of course) and a little fruit. I ended my 9 day fast with deep fried chicken gizzards from the infamous 24 hour Hollywood Ranch Market. They were sure I was going to die. I didn’t.

Thank you for the video. I love people who throw out the buzzwords and want to try to sound smart lol

Please do this style video for cholesterol! Damn that topic is confusing AF!!

Is there evidence that fasting 3 days and eating the makeup calories provides the same amount of autophagy as eating every day?

I thought fasting had a comparable benefit to fighting (some) cancer as much as chemo would. I thought Longo's lab has illustrated this multiple times

Layne can you please do a video on what age resistance trained people typically cap their lean mass gains?

Loved the episode, mic is a bit scretchy thou pal x

Chiropractors are going crazy all over America right now! 😂

I hear all these claims about increasing stem cells from 24 hour fasting, faster healing, and so on... can you do a video explaining if there is any special with fasting not in relation to weight loss or autophagy?

How do we know that autophagy and calories is 1:1 ratio ?

You yourself said autophagy was breaking down old mishapened proteins.

If you never eat autophagy will make you immortal.

Layne, you continue to handle internet trolls w/ the best of them. Question tho - what about Rapamycin? Does it notably move the autophagy-needle?

You’re right.. I had no idea what autophagy is or what exactly it does. 😂

Full disclosure, I am non-religious but come from Islamic ancestry If fasting was so particularly powerful for prevention of disease, why are high fraction and mass majority Muslim countries found having some of the highest type 2 diabetes rates in the world? Reason? It’s not the fasting that helps health. It’s the calorie restriction result. And however you get it, it can have benefits - including but well over and above autophagy. But many who fast will overcompensate calorie intake subsequent to fasting. This happens with unintentional fasting regularly and I see it often clinically. This is where people go extensive periods of time without eating because they are distracted and “too busy “to eat. Of course after a stressed and starved day they fall prey to calorie overcompensation later in the day. If fasting works for you to cut calories or in any other way feel better, fine. But beware of the fact the protein cannot be stored and you may very well be taking a risk of chipping away at lean tissue. Something to consider as we go into our sixth and seventh decades of life where having muscle reserve can be critical. For many in the silent majority, who aren’t going to be “bragging” about how trying intermittent or other forms of fasting has failed them- eg caused or aggravated disordered eating, that is another risk of fasting - they still need to be considered. though they rarely are discussed in social media: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/intermittent-fasting-may-lead-to-disordered-eating-study-finds