By: Author unknown
This year’s (2016) Nobel Prize in Medicine has gone to a Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi for his research on Autophagy.
Autophagy has something – rather everything – to do with fasting or, still better, “regular structured fasting”. Is the science not catching up with the ancient spiritual wisdom of Hindu culture of regular or structured fasting (on Ekadasi day, for example)?
Autophagy, an Intracellular Recycling System, otherwise means “eating self”. In other words, it is the process by which the human body eats it own damaged cells and unused proteins.
Autophagy is a natural process and also it is one that occurs in the cases of starvation. The failure of autophagy is one of the main reasons for accumulation of damaged cells which eventually leads to various diseases in the body.
Autophagy is important to prevent/fight cancer. It also plays a vital role in degrading and ‘consuming’ cells infected by bacteria and viruses.
We can not fail here to note that ancient India had recommended a practice of regular fasting (Ekadasi) one day in a fortnight. Many of us religiously follow this practice to this day as a penance for spiritual progress without any idea of the biological and therapeutic benefits of this practice.
Through this process of fasting induced autophagy, our body repairs its damaged and degenerated cells, and uses up the proteins of the damaged cells for its survival.
Strangely we find that whenever modern science conquers a frontier in any field, it somehow relates back to a quaint spiritual practice followed in India for generations. (Another example of the modern scientific discovery of the benefit of an ancient practice is the regular use of turmeric – or Haldi – in Indian cuisine culture).
A day in a fortnight spent in prayer and divine contemplation was a tonic for the mind and soul while the practice of fasting ensured that the body would heal and rejuvenate itself.
Clearly, ancient Rishis believed in a process of holistic healing of both the body and the mind. They were able to, quite remarkably, connect the yearning for spiritual progress in a human being with the biological necessity of the human body.
One cannot but marvel, and bow one’s head with admiration and reverence, at their wisdom and deep scientific understanding of the body and the mind.
This year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine is one more “rediscovery” by the modern science of an ancient “discovery” of India. The other day, it was the discovery of the benefit of “meditation” for mental health – to overcome mental anxiety, fatigue and disorder and resultantly its (meditation) utilization by US armed forces to cope with troublesome mental problems.
We may afford to forget and ignore our glorious past, but with every research, every other day by the world scholars, the magnanimity of our civilization is opening before the present day humanity.
Filed under: Contemporary World
