I'm often asked my opinion about the cause or treatment of some medical condition,

but the question to instead ask is, what does the science say?

What is the best available balance of evidence published in the peer-reviewed medical literature

you have to say right now?

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

What does our daily consumption of coffee do to our health and longevity?

Here's our first story.

When food is scarce, our body detects this lack of nutrients and shifts into conservation mode,

turning up the process of autophagy, from the Greek auto,

meaning self and fagy, meaning to eat. Autophagy means, quite literally, eating yourself.

Autophagy plays two major roles. Nutrient recovery, breakdown products reentering, cellular metabolism,

and quality control, the removal of superfluous

damaged or dangerous components.

In the modern context of not just sufficient food, but in excess of it, our baseline rate

of autophagy is low and slips down even further as we get older.

A decline in autophagic capacity with age has been described in almost all animals,

analyzed, including humans, autophagy appears to not only be necessary for life extension,

but also in some cases sufficient for increasing longevity.

Boasting autophagy alone can lengthen lifespan in mice by an average of 17 percent, as well as improve their health

span. No wonder autophagy is at the forefront of so much longevity research.

The most reliable way to kick autophagy into high gear, maybe eat less food altogether,

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