By Dr. Brandy Rose Lipscomb

Want to slow down your aging process with coffee? Maintain a full head of hair with tempeh?

Autophagy is known as “the body’s recycling system”. It describes the process inside the cell of breaking down older or damaged proteins or other organelles inside the cell. House cleaning is important for our homes as well as our cells!

This process is triggered by fasting and nutrient deprivation. If that doesn’t sound like fun, here are two nicer ways to trick the body into a spring-cleaning kick:

• Boost your chlorogenic acid content. Drinking 2 cups of coffee a day has been shown to stimulate autophagy via both caffeine and chlorogenic acid.

Low-acid Coffee

Interestingly, the low acid coffees are not reducing the amount of stomach acid that you produce, but they’ve actually reduced the amount of chlorogenic acid in the coffee, which is the exact opposite of what we want to do for the health benefit. Also noted, Starbucks coffee has one of the lowest contents of chlorogenic acid in all the coffee brands out there and it is because they roast their beans so darkly that the chlorogenic acid is destroyed. A medium to medium-light roast is ideal for the optimal chlorogenic acid.

Dairy-based Creamer

Putting half-and-half or dairy base creamer in your coffee? The casein is binding the chlorogenic acid and making it less available to your body. Soy milk has less binding affinity for this anti-aging molecule than cow milk products. Coconut or oat milk are even better in this regard. The low protein content in these milk alternatives equals more chlorogenic acid for you.

Soy-based Products

Spermidine is a critical nutrient with an unfortunate name. Spermidine was named in 1870 when it was first isolated from…sperm. It is found in every cell of the human body and is known to stimlulate autophagy. The average American intake of spermidine is 3-6mg per day but anti-aging researchers would like us to consume closer to 25mg per day. You can find spermidine in soy foods like tempeh and edamame along with broccoli and peas and wheat germ. Bonus effect of increasing your spermidine consumption – it stops hair follicles from shedding!

These anti-aging hacks come from book, “How Not to Age” by Dr. Michael Greger.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Dr. Brandy Rose Lipscomb