Fasting and the Science of Autophagy Al-Baqarah

The Quran goes beyond prescribing fasting as a religious obligation. It adds: 'To fast is best for you, if you only knew.' The phrase 'if you only knew' implies there is something to know, a benefit not yet apparent to the listener. In 2016, Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering autophagy: the process by which fasting triggers the body's cells to break down and recycle their own damaged components. Cells repair themselves internally during fasting in ways that are simply not possible while digestion is active. The benefits extend further: fasting improves the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, reducing diabetes risk; it reduces systemic inflammation; it has been shown to suppress cancer cell proliferation in multiple studies. None of this was known in the 7th century. There was no cellular biology, no mechanism to describe. The Quran did not explain why fasting was best for you. It told you it was best for you, and told you there was more to know. The Nobel committee awarded the explanation in 2016.