Autophagy Explained: Benefits, Risks, and Health Impact
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The Ultimate Guide to Autophagy: What It Is and How It Impacts Health

The Ultimate Guide to Autophagy: What It Is and How It Impacts Health
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Updated on December 8, 2025
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While autophagy is a regular bodily process involving the clearing out of old cells, you’ve likely never heard of it. The term only recently gained popularity with the rise of fasting-type diets, with proponents claiming the process could help you lose weight and create younger, healthier cells.

There isn’t enough research to support inducing autophagy for wellness purposes — your body just naturally does it to break down and clean out damaged parts of cells for cellular and overall health.

 But some early studies do suggest that autophagy may be key to improving several health conditions. Here’s a look at what the science says so far.

What Is Autophagy?

The word “autophagy” is derived from two Greek words: autos, meaning “self,” and phagomai, meaning “to eat.” Autophagy, therefore, means “self-eating” — an apt way to describe the process by which your body cleans out and recycles damaged cell components.

“Essentially, a membrane forms around material within the cells that has been marked for disposal,” explains Roberta Gottlieb, MD, a professor of cardiology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. “It encases that material in a membrane and then delivers it to the lysosome, which is full of digestive enzymes that can break down the cargo.”

Those broken-down products are then transported out of the lysosome and back into the cytosol (the liquid inside cells) for use and repurposing, Dr. Gottlieb says.

Autophagy happens during periods of fasting, which can occur naturally during sleep, as it is a time without food.

3 Potential Benefits of Autophagy

Autophagy happens naturally, but some scientists believe strategies to induce autophagy may help with longevity, weight loss, and the prevention of certain chronic diseases. Some ways to induce autophagy include fasting, caloric restriction, eating a low-carbohydrate diet, and exercising.

Research into these benefits is still in the very early stages, and further work is needed to understand the impacts of autophagy on health.

1. Longevity

Your cells’ ability to carry out autophagy is thought to decline with age.

“As we age, the autophagy machinery starts to decrease in abundance and functionality,” Gottlieb explains. “It’s harder to turn it on, and it doesn’t work as well overall. So, it’s been suggested that being able to restore that machinery or maintain autophagy throughout life would diminish the rate of aging or increase our health span.”

Some animal studies have found that inducing autophagy is associated with extended lifespan and improved health, though it’s unclear whether this occurs in humans too.

2. Weight Loss

There is currently no evidence to show that inducing autophagy directly increases weight loss; however, some research suggests that the process may impact the hormones that control hunger, like ghrelin, insulin, and glucagon, says Kelly Kennedy, RDN, LDN, formerly a dietitian with Everyday Health.

“As a result, autophagy may decrease hunger and indirectly contribute to weight loss,” says Kennedy. Methods meant to induce autophagy, such as caloric restriction, may also contribute to weight loss, but this is not always the most sustainable and healthy way to lose weight.

3. Chronic Disease Prevention

Studies have found that, along with aging, the dysregulation of autophagy may be associated with certain chronic diseases, including:

Because of these findings, scientists are researching whether autophagy induction is a useful tool in preventing or treating these chronic diseases.

Diets That Promote Autophagy

Autophagy can also be affected by what and how we eat, Kennedy says. “For example, evidence suggests that fasting and eating a low-carbohydrate diet may stimulate an increase in autophagy,” she notes.

Intermittent fasting has gained popularity in recent years as a method for weight loss. Research suggests that it may offer some health benefits, including reduced blood pressure, lowered cholesterol, and reduced inflammation.

The ketogenic, or keto diet, is another popular eating pattern. The medical diet focuses on low-carbohydrate and high-fat intake, and it is often used as a treatment for seizures in children with epilepsy.

 It’s also often promoted as a weight loss diet, but results have been mixed and have only shown short-term results. But the keto diet has been shown to induce autophagy, Kennedy says.

“Eating a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet like the ketogenic diet can increase autophagy as the body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for its main source of energy,” Kennedy says.

Ultimately, there isn’t enough evidence to support specific diets to induce autophagy — plus, diets like intermittent fasting and keto are not safe for everyone. If you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or have underlying health conditions like type 1 diabetes, talk to your doctor before trying these eating plans.

Signs and Symptoms of Autophagy

“You don’t really experience any symptoms when autophagy is doing its thing,” Gottlieb says. “It’s meant to just kind of go on in the background.” That said, certain laboratory blood tests can be used to assess whether your cells are functioning properly and carrying out autophagy, she adds.

Side Effects of Autophagy

The research is still preliminary, but some studies have found that excessive autophagy may carry risks. For example, research suggests that excessive autophagy may cause the death of cardiac cells, which may contribute to heart issues like cardiovascular disease.

Additionally, while some studies have found that autophagy may protect against cancer, Gottlieb says that some types of cancer cells actually benefit from autophagy for survival. In other words, autophagy may either suppress or promote the growth of certain cancerous cells.

 Experts say that more research is needed to understand the relationship between autophagy and cancer.

The Takeaway

  • Autophagy means “self-eating,” and it describes the process by which the body cleans out and recycles damaged cells. It happens naturally while we are sleeping and during periods of fasting.
  • Research suggests that inducing autophagy through intermittent fasting may have some health benefits, such as longevity, weight loss, and chronic disease prevention.
  • More evidence is needed to support specific diets to induce autophagy.
  • While autophagy is helpful in some cases, excessive autophagy may contribute to cardiovascular issues or the growth of certain cancerous cells.

FAQ

What does autophagy do to your body?
Autophagy helps your body clear out damaged and old parts of cells to help improve cellular and overall health. It’s a naturally occurring process that often takes place while you are sleeping or during natural periods of fasting.
Because there are no signs or symptoms of autophagy, there is no way to tell when your cells are carrying out the process. That said, certain laboratory blood tests, performed at a doctor’s office or clinic, can help determine whether your cells are properly functioning and regularly undergoing the process of autophagy.
There is no evidence to show that autophagy directly promotes weight loss, but some studies have found that it can affect the hormones that help control hunger, such as ghrelin and insulin. In this way, autophagy may potentially decrease feelings of hunger and indirectly contribute to weight loss. But more research is needed to fully determine how this process works.
No, autophagy and ketosis are not the same thing. Eating a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet — like the ketogenic diet — may possibly increase autophagy as the body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for its main source of energy. But this is not the same thing as naturally occurring autophagy.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
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Maya Feller

Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN

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Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN, is the founder and lead dietitian at Maya Feller Nutrition. In her practice, her team provides medical nutrition therapy and nutrition coaching for hormone and metabolic health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mood disorders, developmental disabilities, disordered eating, and more.

Feller believes in providing inclusive nutrition education from an anti-bias, patient-centered, culturally humble approach to help people make informed food choices. May shares her approachable, food-based solutions with millions of people on her new YouTube channel as the host of Where Wellbeing Meets Flavor, which includes cooking demos, exclusive interviews, and Q&As; in her on-demand master classes and courses, regular speaking engagements, writing, and social platform posts; and as a national nutrition expert on Good Morning America.

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She is the author of Eating From Our Roots: 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites From Cultures Around the World and The Southern Comfort Food Cookbook.

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Ashley Welch has more than a decade of experience in both breaking news and long-form storytelling. She is passionate about getting to the crux of the latest scientific studies and sharing important information in an easy-to-digest way to better inform decision-making. She has written about health, science, and wellness for a variety of outlets, including Scientific American Mind, Healthline, New York Family, Oprah.com, and WebMD.

She served as the health editor for CBSNews.com for several years as a reporter, writer, and editor of daily health news articles and features. As a former staff member at Everyday Health, she covered a wide range of chronic conditions and diseases.

Welch holds a bachelor's degree from Fordham University and a master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, where she studied health and science reporting. She enjoys yoga and is an aspiring runner.

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