Once only a religious practice thought to purify the person and enhance their spiritual wellness, science is now seeing not only the physical benefits of fasting, but also discovering its potential for healing mental illness and disorders.
It seems like almost everyone you meet is doing some form of intermittent fasting these days where you don't eat for a larger number of hours in the day than you do eat. Most are doing it for weight loss, and many are finding it has inadvertently reduced or altogether erased their symptoms of depression, brain fog, or elevated their mood.
The fasting discussed in this article does not mean STARVING yourself. Always see your doctor before starting a variation in your diet to determine the best way to start fasting if it's determined that you could benefit from doing so.
Some Quick Pointers on Fasting
The longer you fast (simply not eating or drinking calories for fuel), the more nootropic factors increase in the brain which promotes the growth of neurons and strengthens synapses in the brain. It can also increase the number of mitochondria in your nerve cells. Another benefit to mental health is that it turns on the "rest and digest" arm of your nervous system, thus lowering cortisol and leading to a decrease in anxiety and an elevation of mood.
Fasting: How do you do it?
You can always just not eat for an entire day or three. If that sounds super egregious to you (like it does to me - no judgement!), you can always start with intermittent fasting on a schedule that works for you. Basically, you pick either an 8- or 10-hour period in which to eat. That's it! Easy peasy. Myself, I rather prefer eating while I work, and then leaving the rest of the day for running around. I don't gorge, but I don't let myself go hungry, which means I simply just cut it down to two meals a day. It helped me tremendously to get on the ketogenic diet when I started trying out fasting because I had issues with my blood sugar and used to have to eat regularly to keep it in check.
Ketogenesis: Can it trick your body into thinking it's fasting?
The short answer is, "Yes!" So, if fasting sounds like something you're not ready to do, yet, try the ketogenic diet. There's a YouTube channel called "Living Well with Schizophrenia" where the host, Lauren, has just begun finding relief after many years by going on a ketogenic diet. She has been having to reduce her medications due to how effectively it is minimizing the symptoms she's taking them for. It's wonderful to see her progress!
But it's not just major mental illnesses that can be helped with the diet. First of all, it was created to control epilepsy, so it can be a game changer for all neurological diseases.
In the video above, Lauren interviews Dr. Palmer, who cites the mitochondria as a major focal point in dealing with mental health. When you fast - whether by not eating or eating in a way that puts your body in a state of ketosis - you cause autophagy in which the body essentially cannibalizes the cells that are degraded or malfunctioning. Mitochondrial number and health are regulated by this process, which causes your body (including your brain) to function more effectively.
Autophagy: Ready to clean up your system?
Can letting your body cannibalize redundant or damaged cells keep your brain cells from misfiring? Think of it like when you prune a plant; you snip off dead leaves or branches because otherwise the plant wastes energy trying to revive or repair those parts while stealing energy from the parts that are still healthy. If you allow the body to conserve resources and energy to only the healthiest cells, more will be created. The opposite happens when you don't, so really some level of fasting should be part of a healthy lifestyle period.
A key sign of autophagy is reduced appetite. Ever missed a meal, only to find you weren't hungry after you passed a certain time threshold? Guess what?? Your body turned to its reserves for fuel, and you didn't die, did you??? It is the way the body is designed to function to allow for times of feast and those of famine. So, go ahead, and give it a try!
Commenti