Autophagy or self-eating is a cellular process
that facilitates the elimination of deteriorated cellular
components to prevent cellular dysfunction and
disease development. This mechanism interrelates
with the biological clock, the controlling system in
the living organism through sleep-wake cycle. During
sleep, biological clock stimulates tissue repairing
hormone secretion, while the autophagy acts mainly
on the clearance of metabolic wests. In the sleep
deprivation state, the biological clock will be interfered
and this could lead to several diseases such as
neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, fatty liver,
cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Therefore, the
healthy sleep habits combined with healthy diet and
exercise will improve the biological clock and the
activation of autophagy mechanism for better life and
longevity.