Fasting To Trigger Autophagy. My Journey (and how it's changed my life)

The author, Clare Louise Blakemore

Hello there! For those of you that don't know me, my name is Clare, I'm in my 50's and am a Nutritional Advisor and Diet & Weight Loss Coach

This blog is a little different from the last 2 autophagy blogs (links at the bottom) because I'm on firmer ground here. This is my personal experience with fasting for autophagy and I have gone into some detail about the life changing effect it has had on my menopause symptoms. Autophagy, in brief, is a natural biological process where the body cleans out damaged or old cells, and in doing so it has a balancing effect on our hormones which can really reduce menopause symptoms. Which is why I'm talking about this!

My Menopause

I started peri-menopause at 49 and got through it super quick, just 18 months. I then had it pretty easy for the first 6 years of full menopause; nothing more than hot flashes and occasional heart arrhythmia, both of which were easily controlled by cutting out sugar. And just 1 isolated week of insomnia in that entire time. Now I'm 57 and in year 7 of my full menopause things have taken a sharp turn for the worse.

Suddenly I'm experiencing symptoms that I'd only read about. Symptoms that make me feel like I'm wading thigh deep through mud; mud made up of sadness and anger. Mood swings that were completely out of control. One minute I'm furious or tearful, the next depressed or anxious. I am either sleeping 14 hours straight or not sleeping at all. Brain fog that's exhausting, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

And then I remembered reading about autophagy, how it can balance your hormones and that you can trigger this with a fasting regime. I immediately decided to try this and ran a 3 month experiment. This is my diary of what it has done for me and how I managed it. My timetable, my diet, and most importantly the benefits and changes that have happened to me.

The Fast Regime

To trigger autophagy, you need to fast for 17 hours. As hour 18 starts, so does the autophagy response. I have often done an 8:16 fast (see further reading at the bottom) so that was my start point. I decided to ease myself into it as I found the idea of it daunting! As with any length of fast, I allowed myself black tea (black coffee is allowed, I'm just not a coffee person), herb tea and plenty of water during the fast phase of each day. My end goal was to achieve a 19 hour fast with a 5 hour eating window. Giving me 2 hours of Autophagy per day. I figured that bit by bit I could extend the 16 hours to 19, and allowed myself 10 days to do it. I did it in 4. My 5 hour eating window is generally 3pm to 8pm, but I'm flexible when I need to be. I kept a daily diary from mid June to mid September and here's a week by week summary:

My Diary

Week 1

My 4 day run-up is behind me and the beneficial effects of 5:19 autophagy fasting have already started! I'm holding steady with my 5 hour eating window, breaking my fast at 3pm and closing the window at 8pm. The meno-monster is still popping up, day 3 was really tough, but I'm having good days amongst the bad. This first week I'm having glorious moments as I realise that I can cope with this huge change. I'm also starting to get glimpses of the old me again. Food has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I'm preparing my meals with more care and enjoying my food enormously. I've decided to be strict with myself and make sure I include my 'Daily Meno-5' in my diet as much as I can. This is basically 5 foods, a baseline really, that help my body fight the symptoms. Cacao powder, blueberries, mushrooms, legumes (like chickpeas & lentils) and dark leafy greens.

Note: See my blog on 'The Daily Meno-5" for more information on this, you can read it here.

Notes for the week:

• By the end of this first week I dropped from having maybe 10-12 hot flashes a day to just 3.

• I started experiencing moments of good energy and a clear head.

My food for this week included a breakfast Cacao Powder & Blueberry

Porridge with ground flax & chia seeds, giving me 2 of the 5 foods I need, plus lots of fibre and Omega 3. You'll find the recipe here.

Week 2

So interesting! My digestive system has started working better and I'm experiencing a 'clear out'. My body shape is changing to a slim hour-glass shape. The other major change I'm experiencing is with my hot flashes. The part of the brain that mis-fires and causes the heat response can also trigger an adrenalin release. Like many other women, every hot flash I experience is preceded by a rush of adrenalin through my system. On day 11 of my autophagy fast the adrenalin response stopped! I hadn't realised just how exhausting it was having adrenalin flood my system so often. I'm so much calmer now. The week has been great - good energy levels, only 1 day of full-on meno-monster, better sleep and even moments of optimism!

Notes for the week:

• The hot flash adrenalin release has only resurfaced once, after a prolonged (8 day) break from this fast, in week 8

• For 10 straight days I experienced 3 normal bowel movements a day and I'm a kilo lighter!

My food for this week included a fibre rich, tasty and filling salad that can be batch cooked - my Green Goddess Salad. Rich in leafy greens, high in plant protein and fibre, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 3

I've realised that I'm listening to my music again, which I haven't done in years. And most astonishing of all, my sex drive seems to be returning. I'm actually shocked! My hot flash count is steady at around 3 in every 24 hours and I'm having great energy, no brain fog and good quality sleep. Twice I have woken up feeling low but this has disappeared within an hour, well before I broke my fast.

Notes for this week:

• Check your vitamin supplements for calories. During the fast window avoid anything with a calorie count, so gummies are out.

• And I'm now finding that fried and ultra processed foods upset me. My digestive system feels less tolerant.

My food for this week included Balsamic Mushrooms on Avocado Toast, and I snacked on Rice Cakes with Plant Based Cheese and Marmite, you'll find both recipes here.

Week 4

I'm really getting into my stride. Still sticking to my 3pm-8pm eating window and I'm prep cooking my meals in big batches. I've been batch prepping and freezing fruit smoothies, white bean hummus and avocado rich salad dressings. But I ended up breaking my fast early by tasting something! Doh! Had a mood blip this week, 2 full days of meno-monster making me snappy and tearful. Not sure if it was due to me breaking my fast early while cooking? My feeling is it's early days and blips will happen, like they did twice last week.

Notes for the week:

• My water intake hasn't been great this week, I must do better.

• I now have a big sign over the cooker saying 'don't taste anything outside of your eating window!'

• I no longer need to turn off the wifi at night to sleep, which feels like a huge step forward.

Pink Summer Smoothie

Pink Summer Smoothie Ingredients

Roast cauliflower and white bean hummus

My food for this week included a gorgeous smoothie, my Pink Summer Smoothie, plus White Bean Hummus Wrap with Roast Cauliflower & Kale, so that's berries, leafy greens and beans. You'll find both recipes here.

Week 5

A week of house guests has made things interesting. I've stuck to my 5 hour fast window by shifting it back an hour. Being able to sit at the table until 9pm is working really well. But the 'quality' of my food has dropped. There's a lot more fried and ultra-processed food around, store bought snacks too, which is a change from my whole foods approach. It's been a tough week fighting off the meno-monster and I think that is mainly down to how I've been fuelling myself. For the first time since I started this regime I've had more meno-monster days than good.

Note for the week:

• This week I seem to be happier when I'm in my eating window. Up to this week I've been experiencing absolute joy in my fast window, which is a strange change. Possibly a physical reaction to the addictive ultra processed foods I've been eating this week.

My food for this week included my No-Bake Chocolate & Cherry Slices, which went down a storm with the visitors! You'll find the recipe here.

Week 6

I'm back on track with my food and my 3pm-8pm eating window, and am having a wonderful week with great energy, clarity of mind, good moods and great sleep. Not one appearance by the dreaded monster! I've been developing recipes for sugar free sweet treats as I seem to be craving sweet stuff - I will be sharing those in the up-coming monthly blogs. The last day of this week saw us out for supper (yup, I had chips) and my system coped much better, recovered much faster than last week.

Notes for the week:

• Water is King! It's made such a difference creating a 'drinking timetable' - getting enough hydration without causing me a full bladder at night.

• I seem to be coping with sugar better - I expected hot flashes after eating ketchup with those chips but that didn't happen. That makes me very happy!

My food for this week included a Kofta Buddha Bowl, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 7

I accidentally started a walking regime this week, to compliment my fasting and wow what a mood booster! This started because I had one morning which was looking bad. The dogs were looking at me as I dithered around, actually getting upset that my meno-monster was back. So I grabbed the leads and off we went. I doubt the monster would have lasted more than an hour or 2 but the walk killed it dead! Apart from that one day it was another great week with gorgeous food and virtually no symptoms.

Notes for the week:

• Nothing much to note this week, other than the wonderful mood boosting effect a 3km walk had on me.

My food for this week included a plant based version of Spaghetti Bolognese, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 8

The death of a beloved horse got in the way this week. It totally floored me and caused me to comfort eat, to loose sight of this autophagy experiment, so no fasting. But life happens, the good and the bad and I'm learning how to go with it, not stress about it.

Notes for the week:

• It seems to take 4 days away from this fast regime for my old meno-monster symptoms to return. And 4 days to recover. Good to know.

I resorted to my Chocolate Slab Cake. It's sugar free, gluten free and proper comfort food. You'll find the recipe here.

Week 9

After a week of mourning I decided to hit this fasting regime hard, get back on track. As I said, the old menopause symptoms came back, no surprise there. But now know that I can stop them in their tracks, it no longer seems daunting. Getting back on track is now both easy and instinctive. I used healthy oat based breakfasts, leafy green salads and filling bean based suppers to refocus me. By the end of week 9 I feel like I'm making progress, getting my mojo back.

Notes for the week:

• I got back on track in only 3 days this time, my body is responding quicker.

• Fibre! Including lots of fibre in my diet keeps me feeling so well, lighter and cleaner.

My food for this week included a Rice, Sweetcorn, Celery & Pea Salad with a high protein dressing, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 10

I've got the fridge full of batch prepped salads, healthy snacks and I have lots of batch cooked meals in the freezer. For me, that's the key to not going off track. I have chickpea hummus done, watermelon based smoothies and a batch of 3 bean salad.

Back at the beginning of this experiment I took some photos of my face and looking at them now I'm sure the lines are less pronounced.

The photo on the left is of me on day 1. The photo on the right is a few days after I completed my 3 month experiment. The light outside is slightly different but I'm wearing no make-up in either image. You can see that my wrinkles are definitely better now, my skin is clearer and the bags under my eyes are much less obvious.

An old injury to one of my hands, a joint injury, is also beginning to improve. The benefits to this autophagy process really are extraordinary!

Notes for the week:

• My face wrinkles, as I mentioned, seem to be fading, they are definitely less deep. As are the wrinkle line arcs on my chest (you know the ones)

• My body seems to be responding to this autophagy really well. I'm seeing healing benefits beyond my menopause.

My food for this week included, home made Hummus with Cherry Tomato and Red Onion Salad on Nut Bread, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 11

Breaking my fast at 3pm is now completely normal and I'm still loving my food. However, with an eye on the future, yesterday (Sunday) I didn't fast. This week, Monday to Friday, I will 5:19 fast, as I have been, but I want to try easing myself into taking the weekends off. If that works, it will bring a lovely balance into my life.

Notes for the week:

• There's nothing much to note here as the 1 day off hasn't had any effect.

• I did make myself laugh this week; it's getting chilly here in the early mornings and I was laying in bed waiting for a hot flash to help me get up - it didn't happen!

• I'm batch prepping my food, planning my meals in advance and that seems to be the key to managing this. The key to success!

My food for this week included Baked Sweet Potatoes & Smokey Baked Beans, you'll find the recipe here.

Week 12

This week I'm mentally preparing for what comes after this experiment. Totally accepting the fact that I'd be an idiot to not continue this! I'm accepting that this is how I need to eat, how I need to structure my meals as the benefits are life changing.

A friend said to me "seems a shame if you have to do this for the rest of your life" - but to me it seems like a small price to pay for having joy and energy back in my life.

From here onwards I will continue a 5:2 approach; autophagy fasting from Monday to Friday and having the weekends off. 2 days of eating normal hours seems to work, it's not enough time for the meno-monster to get its grips back into me. So, onwards and upwards!

• Edit - it's now 6 months later and I am finding that in general the 5:2 approach works but I am experiencing periods when it feels like my hormones are in free fall. When this happens I revert to fasting 7 days a week and life returns to normal. So far this has happened 3 times in 6 months and after 2-3 weeks I have been able to resume having the weekends off x

In summation

Autophagy fasting has changed my life. I understand well what foods I should be feeding myself but adding in autophagy fasting has changed everything. This really works, I'm living proof of that and since September I've been focused and functioning, happy and productive. If your meno-monster is driving you mad, holding you back or bringing you down, give this a try. And if I can do anything to help you on your way please get in touch - I'm here to help.

Clare x

Further reading and listening:

These from me here at CLB Nutrition: Fasting, An explainer, Understanding Autophagy: A simple Guide and Autophagy & The Menopause

There's a great Zoe Science & Nutrition podcast on fasting that covers how your digestive tract self-cleanses and benefits from a longer fast, you can listen to it here.

Lisa Mosconi from Weill Cornnell Institute in New York gave a great Ted Talk about women's brains and the menopause; watch it here

Dr Mindy Pelz is an advocate of fasting and a menopause expert. Her website is full of great resources, as is her social media content. Have a look here.

Keep your eye on The Little Blog of Menopause. Every month I am publishing a new blog talking about nutrients and foods that help control specific menopause symptoms and featuring key recipes. Subscribe to my mailing list to be sure of not missing a single one!