Background The words “detox” and “cleanse” are two of the most overused terms in the area of health and wellness today.  They typically conjure up images of mud masks, spas and green juices that typically raise the skeptical eyebrows of scientists.  However, this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine went to Yoshinori Ohsumi, a pioneering scientist who did groundbreaking work in the area of autophagy, a true physiological method for detoxification where your body’s cells recycle and remove their internal waste products. This cellular garbage collection and recycling service might sound like a mundane process, but having autophagy intact in our body is a central process for preventing disease and promoting longevity.  We’ll explore the science briefly and then talk about which key lifestyle practices promote autophagy. What is Autophagy? Autophagy, based on its Greek origin, literally means “self-eating” (auto=self and phagy=eating). The biological process of autophagy occurs when cells ingest degraded…