Autophagy : Science and India

The man in the picture is Yoshinori Ohsumi, he won The 2016 Nobel Prize for his discoveries into the mechanisms of “autophagy”. Also known as ‘self-eating’.

Autophagy is the process in which cells degrade and recycle their components when let to starve. For example, when we let our body to starve for an abnormal time and cells doesn’t have any external fuel for running, so they breakdown cellular components which promotes cellular survival by maintaining the cellular energy levels.

Autophagy when done on a regular basis can provide longevity and even cure cancer.

So you may wonder what is the relation between this Science and India?

In India there is a practice called “Ekadasi Vrath” which is followed once in 15 days and on these days we should religiously consume nothing. Yes, you read it right.

Although in some cultures they avoid eating grains and eat fruits but the originality of Ekadasi Fasting is to consume nothing including water for the whole day.

After reading the article about the autophagy, I did a little research on some other vraths and realised that this is just a tip of an iceberg and there are plenty of rituals followed by India which was nothing but science .

This made me wonder as to whether our Indian ancestors have found the healthiest way of living but we have lost it and searching it somewhere else now.