What is AMPK?

“AMPK stands for adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase. It is found in every living cell of every living mammal (and most other animals) on Earth. If you want to avoid the life span-shortening symptoms of aging, you need to maintain optimal AMPK activity.

AMPK has been referred to as a “metabolic master switch.” AMPK controls a gamut of metabolic pathways that enable us to extract energy from food, store and distribute that energy safely through the body, and ultimately use that energy for everything from moving and mating to talking and thinking, and even to understanding these very words as you read them.

The core role of AMPK is to sense each cell’s energy status at every moment, and to trigger responses that maintain the cell’s energy at precisely the optimum level. Too little available energy starves the cell, while too much energy can exhaust and disrupt cellular components.In either case (too little or too much energy), the cell (and the tissues, organs, and systems in which it is a part) functions inefficiently. That energy inefficiency ultimately leads to the dysfunctions we identify as the diseases (or symptoms) of aging.

Here’s how AMPK works: Every cell in your body depends absolutely on a steady supply of energy in the form of chemical bonds. When you eat and absorb nutrients, energy from chemical bonds in food is released and passed down a complex series of enzymes until it is stored again in a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. The more ATP that is present in the cell, the higher the cell’s available energy supply. When ATP is broken down to release energy for cellular work, a major end product is adenosine monophosphate, or AMP.

In preclinical research, enhanced AMPK activity has been associated with a 20-30% increase in life span, but that’s just the beginning of the health benefits conferred by this critical cellular enzyme.

Increased AMPK activation has been shown to help reduce fat storage (especially dangerous belly fat), increase insulin sensitivity (to lower blood glucose), reducecholesterol/triglyceride production, and suppress chronic inflammation. All of these factors underlie the lethal diseases of aging.”

SOURCE: HERE

Autophagy is the best Way to Get Rid of (Cellular) Junk.  

AUTOPHAGY  AND HOW IT REGULATES AGING

“The accumulation of cellular damage is a feature common to all aging cells and leads to decreased ability of the organism to survive. The overall rate at which damage accumulates is influenced by conserved metabolic factors (longevity pathways and regulatory proteins) that control lifespan through adjusting mechanisms for maintenance and repair. Autophagy, the major catabolic process of eukaryotic cells that degrades and recycles damaged macromolecules and organelles, is implicated in aging and in the incidence of diverse age-related pathologies. Recent evidence has revealed that autophagic activity is required for lifespan extension in various long-lived mutant organisms, and that numerous autophagy-related genes or proteins are directly regulated by longevity pathways. These findings support the emerging view that autophagy is a central regulatory mechanism for aging in diverse eukaryotic species.”

SOURCE: HERE

AMPK and autophagy also are activated by intense exercise.

More: HERE

Exercise ENHANCES rather than inhibits mTOR and increases protein synthesis (muscle growth) so you want to time it near feeding window. More: HERE

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE: Aging controlled by mTOR

“There is overwhelming evidence that cellular mechanisms and signaling pathways regulating ageing are controlled by mTOR. Here we have highlighted important studies that support a role for both mTOR dependent protein synthesis and autophagy in ageing.”

***WE DRY FAST TO INHIBIT MTOR***

The LESS you keep the MTOR pathway open or active

the GREATER your health will be and the LONGER you will live.

Growth or longevity. One or the other.

Here’s your percentages of mTOR activation based on feeding and intense exercise window times:

6 hour window is 25%

5 hour window is 20%,

4 hour window is 16%,

3 hour window is 12%,

2 hour window is 8%,

1 hour window is 4%.

The smaller the window the better.

Don’t dilly dally when it’s open.

When the feeding window and MTOR pathway is OPEN it’s GO TIME. You go into the gym and WRECK SHOP, refuel and rehydrate then close the window and shut down mTOR again.

(CONTINUED IN THE NEXT BLOG TITLED “EXERCISE SUGGESTIONS”)