Author: V P N Nampoori

Upavas or fasting along with yoga and meditation have central position in the Hindu way of life. This helps in rejuvenation and fight against diseases by strengthening immunity. This Indian knowledge system has received respect from the West when scientific research coined the term ‘intermittent fasting’ for which the Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016. Ohsumi’s work elucidated the method by which cells recycle and renew their content though a process called autophagy. His main finding was that during fasting, autophagy is activated, which helps in slowing down the aging process, has a…