I am no expert on this topic of autophagy, but I have experienced it in the last year, while on Intermittent Fasting (IF).
I want to recommend the Master Cleanse as a superb, quick tool for :
1. ridding a body of food addictions
2. cleansing toxins within the digestive tract
3. getting a person used to low food intake
4. giving a person a valuable morale boost (yes, you CAN lose the weight)
I've done nine MC's and they are really effective at the above. But these take discipline, a firm goal, constant brushing up on the literature, journal writing, and supportive people in your life.
In 2017 I bridged from the Master Cleanse to IF with a ketogenic diet. I finally lost the stubborn 3 or 4 lbs of fat in my hips ('saddlebags') and belly. And I felt incredible. I would wake up after a night's sleep feeling like I just had sex. There is no other way to describe it. I believe this may have been autophagy.
I kept up a modified keto and near-paleo diet for a year, lapsing on rare occasions by having wine or popcorn. These were rare, but the bulk of my weight was off, and I was physically active, living grain and sugar free for weeks on end between those indulgences. I also did not eat breakfast until 11 am and I never had a late dinner. In the first few months of IF, I was eating between 11 and 4 only. I gradually started eating some 7 pm dinners and I went out of autophagy. But, wow, did I feel healthy during those months of very strict IF.
It's been interesting to look for good autophagy and keto references. I hope to see this thread spawn some chatter and references on these topics. I appreciate raw food references as well; a raw diet can be great for restoring and healing a stressed liver, but I hope that can be another thread.
There are a lot of keto recipes out there which contain too many processed meats or too much protein or something that would make it violate the principles of paleo for me. I would love to see some other talk here about autophagy. Links would be great.
Please respond if you have something to add.
Here is a good autophagy reference:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/renew-body-fasting-autophagyThanks, Bali Lemon