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A daily-ish letter to help you become better - healthier, happier and more productive.  
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72 hours of fast (SoGv2 - 57)

Hello! Evening!

When I loaded this screen, I had no clue what to write. After all, I want to send something that is useful and makes you think and inform you of new things that you can do to be healthier, happier and more productive. I did write some random shit but did not send. And just when I was killing time on twitter and trying to troll Swiggy, the idea for the day occurred to me!

And what is that idea for the day? 

Autophagy
 

In Wikipedia parlance, it means... 

In plain speak, it means that your body kills the unwanted and dead things by feasting on those.
Wow. Your body eats you. Such a comforting thought. 

Before I get to more details, here's some legit comfort. 
The guy who discovered this (Dr. Ohsumi) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Biology in 2016

Now that the fear is out of the way, let's talk about it. 
You know that your body is made up of millions and billions of cells that are constantly multiplying, growing and dying.
Right?
So, the cells when they grow normally, all is well. But when this growth goes out of control, they become cancerous. 
What about the cells that die?
What happens to all the things that they were made up of?
For starters, they remain in the body.
Some of it gets out of the body as sweat, some as urine and some at stool.
Most remains in the body and that hampers the ability to create new cells.
You know, that's why you age. 
Wow! I am an expert. I am kidding about being the expert. You know, right?

So, now that you are an expert as well, lemme take your attention to the food you eat. We all know that what we eat gets broken down and that gives us energy. Correct? After all, you are what you eat. What if you don't eat ANYTHING (not even Diet Chiwda) for 5-7 days? What would happen?
No, you would not die.

You would actually feel better.
Why and how? 

Easy answer.
Autophagy. 

How?
When you stop eating for 3ish days, the body finally realizes that nothing is coming in. The body assumes that there is a famine. But it needs the energy to carry on. So, the body starts to "digest" the dead cell material that has accumulated in your body. And in the process, ends up cleansing your bodies!

This process is called Autophagy. See this YouTube video for more details. Autophagy is dope! 

In fact, this is similar to putting your body in Ketosis when you stop eating carbs and the body starts to cut accumulated fat in the body to generate energy. Autophagy is actually a step further and, may I say, is a super-set of Ketosis. 

You know all those elders that talk about fasting? All those religious excuses we give to get people to fast? All those traditional medicine practitioners talking about eating local and eating in a time-restricted window? All those are essentially extolling the virtues of fasting. No, not of autophagy per se. But of fasting. 

And how do I know? 
I don't. And this is NOT medical advice and please do NOT try this at home without seeing a doctor or something

And why am I talking about it if I am not a medical expert?
I am pointing you to a source.
You may please want to read and speak with your doctor.
As far as I go, I trust online sources more than the medical fraternity in India. And thus a word on the Internet is almost true. In fact, I did a 72-hour+ fast last week.
No, I am not slim and trim as a result. Neither I shed weight. But I did feel better. And it was not as difficult as staying hungry is thought to be. And I love that I can control my basic needs like hunger.
I am hooked. I will try it again. Next time, I will gun for 7 days. But not become October now. I need to give a month's break if I am to trust online sources. And my gut. And my mind. And like they, it's, ladies and gents, in the mind. 

Thanks for reading and hope you eat less! 
Till next time, 
@saurabh
SoGv2-57.

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TAGS: Fitness, Longevity, Fasting, Keto, Autophagy

Please note that with SoGv2, I have split my letters in three,

1. SoGv2. Sent every Tuesday and Thursday (unless I am on the road). In each SoGv2, I try to touch upon a thing that I believe can make us better. By standing on the shoulder of giants

2. #5onFriday. Weekend read. Like this one. Sent every Friday evening for your weekend reading pleasure. This is a compendium of the best of what I saw, what I read, what I recommend et al during the week gone by. This will have things from various disciplines that I am interested in - sports, poker, crypto, travel, fashion, films, writing, events, branding, Apple, entrepreneurship, philosophy, futurism, investing, wisdom, longevity and a million other things. 

3. #1KWAD. 1000 words. Sent on the other 4 days of the week. More like a blog post that I would ideally make on my personal blog. Sent to only those who choose to subscribe. You will have to explicitly tell me to add you to this list (hit reply).

You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time you like.

STREAK: 6 (Read this on steaks). 
Copyright © 2019 Saurabh Garg, All rights reserved.


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