Mental Health
Here’s How Fasting Can Change Brain Chemistry.
Three beneficial neurological effects of time-restricted eating and caloric deficit for brain and mental health
Benefits of Fasting on Brain and Mental Health
Our brain is a critical organ for our survival and well-being. It evolved during famines with intricate structures. One contributor is the metabolic flexibility that we developed to survive, produce, and thrive in a fast state with limited available food.
Any research and new ideas on metabolic flexibility attract my attention. Fasting is one of them.
Fasting could be a medical intervention, but it is free and requires no effort. More importantly, it changes our brain chemistry affecting our behavior, stress threshold, and longevity to some extent.
Research into the cognitive benefits of fasting is solid and active. In addition, other science branches like neuroscience, neurobiology, and epigenetics include promising studies.
I have been using both intermittent fasting and long-term fasting for decades. This practice helped me address several health conditions and became a catalyst in my personal transformation.
After years of research, I couldn’t ignore the compelling benefits of fasting that I learned in the literature and observed in the behavior and physical appearance of fasting practitioners.
Through my research, I found sufficient evidence for ketosis, particularly β-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB), contributing to the creation of the Brain-Derived Neuro Factor (BDNF). So, going into ketosis by fasting, we can naturally increase BDNF.
There is a large body of knowledge on the benefits of fasting accumulated through scientific studies, cultural practices, and anthropological perspectives.
By using these studies and theoretical frameworks, commercial longevity clinics use fasting as a tool to improve health and increase the chance of lifespan.
Fasting might not be suitable for everyone, but it can be a valuable tool for many healthy individuals if it is done with the supervision of qualified healthcare practitioners.
Intense exercise combined with reducing excessive sugar intake can also create ketosis causing metabolic switching that can impact multiple signaling pathways for neuroplasticity.
In this post, I introduce three benefits of fasting in improving our brain chemistry and mental performance without going into too many scientific details.
I plan to share a post including my comprehensive literature review as a reference soon. In the meantime, I provide a few valuable papers in the article.
1 — Prevents Neuro-degeneration
We know that neurodegenerative diseases cause suffering for many aging people and even younger ones.
Mental health conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and depression are examples of brain atrophy. In addition to suffering for patients and caregivers, these types of health conditions also significantly increase healthcare costs.
BDNF (Brain-Derived Neuro Factor) is a signaling protein in the brain enabling plasticity. The BDNF genes produce this unique molecule.
BDNF genes are also part of the neurotrophin group of growth hormones and appear in various body parts.
Critically, impaired BDNF signaling may be implicated in the etiopathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome.
BDNF is active in brain regions, including the hippocampus, the cortex, the basal forebrain, and the cerebrum. Supporting these regions is vital for reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases as they help us build new memories.
In addition, BDNF induces a late post-acquisition phase in the hippocampus for the persistence of long-term memory storage. Interestingly, BDNF was observed to be reduced in Alzheimer’s patients.
Fasting can increase BDNF in the brain. Neurobiological evidence suggests that “the ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate exerts many neuroprotective functions for the brain. Activation of this molecule is essential for neuroplasticity”.
For example, this study points out that β-hydroxybutyrate promotes the expression of BDNF in hippocampal neurons under adequate glucose supply.
In addition, this experimental study points out that intermittent fasting can increase neurogenesis in the brain following a brain injury like a stroke.
An effective way of mitigating brain atrophy risk is to maintain cognitive reserves.
In addition to fasting, moderate exercise, an optimal diet aligned with our genetic makeup, effective stress management, and high-quality sleep can help us maintain cognitive reserves. As mentioned in this study, fasting and exercise deferentially regulate BDNF mRNA expression in human skeletal muscle.
As this is a broad topic, I shared my detailed research on BDNF regarding ketones, which are the by-products of daily caloric restriction, long-term fasting, and intense workouts.
2 — Reduces Oxidative Stress
As mentioned in this article, chronic stress is the root cause of many mental disorders.
Mental health conditions and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia types are associated with chronic and emotional stress.
Stress is also related to inflammation and sleep disorders which play critical roles in forming neurodegenerative diseases in the long term.
Fasting is a tool to address chronic stress by reducing oxidative stress caused by excessive food consumption, particularly elevated sugar and insulin resistance in the organs, including the brain.
In addition to serving as clean energy for the brain, ketones, especially BHB, are signaling molecules in the body and the brain.
As pointed out in this paper in Nature:
“The metabolic switch in cellular fuel source is accompanied by cellular and molecular adaptations of neural networks in the brain that enhance their functionality and bolster their resistance to stress, injury, and disease.”
The authors of this Nature paper considered how intermittent metabolic switching, repeating cycles of a metabolic challenge that induces ketosis followed by a recovery period, may optimize brain function and resilience throughout the lifespan.
Their focus was on the neuronal circuits involved in cognition and mood. They pointed out that such metabolic switching can impact multiple signaling pathways that promote neuroplasticity and resistance of the brain to injury and disease.
Seventy years of animal experiments depicted the increase in the lifespan of rodents and monkeys.
As this paper mentions, “interestingly, intermittent fasting can also increase lifespan, even when there is slight or no overall decrease in calorie intake.” The findings of these studies indicate reducing oxidative stress by having less food through time-restricted eating like an intermittent fasting regime.
This review in Annals of Internal Medicine titled Gene–Diet Interactions in Brain Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders provided strong evidence on calorie intake affecting the risk for neurodegenerative disorders and caloric restrictions creating favorable effects. It is beyond my article’s scope to cite all those studies. The paper is available online and free.
3 — Activates Autophagy
I wrote several articles about the benefits of autophagy for longevity.
This natural self-eating process built in our bodies eliminates our damaged cells, viruses, bacteria, pathogens, and harmful proteins.
As I pointed out in a recent article, fasting is a natural way to activate autophagy.
I mentioned in my previous articles several scientific studies proving that fast-mimicking diets, caloric restriction, and time-restricted fasting regimes could activate autophagy.
I also tried intermittent and long-term fasting, giving me various physical and mental health benefits.
This paper on Neuron titled Autophagy and Neurodegeneration: Pathogenic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities considers its roles in neuronal health and disease.
Researchers reviewed “evidence from mouse studies demonstrating the normal functions of autophagy as a protective factor against neurodegeneration associated with intracytoplasmic aggregate-prone protein accumulation as well as other roles, including in neuronal stem cell differentiation.”
In addition, these researchers described how autophagy could be affected in a range of neurodegenerative diseases.
They also described how autophagy upregulation may be a therapeutic strategy in a wide range of neurodegenerative conditions considering possible pathways and druggable targets that may be suitable for this objective.
This outstanding paper includes 285 references from previous scientific studies on the effects of autophagy on neurodegenerative diseases. So it is impossible to contain so many references in an article. However, the paper is online and free to review if you are interested in details.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Fasting has had a long history. Humans fasted for centuries voluntarily or due to famines.
Religions and spiritual cultures recommend fasting at least once a year.
Some medical professionals have used long-term fasting for curing debilitating diseases in the past. New health clinics are using long-term fasting with medical supervision for longevity purposes.
I practice intermittent fasting daily and successfully supplemented with long-term fasting once a month for over a decade.
In addition, I observed many athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts use intermittent fasting regularly. Some people perform fasting for physical and some for mental health purposes.
In my opinion, based on experience, observations, and literature reviews, any healthy person can perform intermittent fasting as our bodies are designed to utilize body fat in the absence of food and regulate blood sugar through gluconeogenesis.
However, some of us might need medical supervision by our physicians. These professionals monitor fundamental health rules, such as ensuring electrolytes are consumed as required.
Fasting has many benefits for physical and mental health.
However, due to the scope of my article, I only touched on three mental benefits: preventing neuro-degeneration, reducing oxidative stress, and initiating autophagy.
I documented my diet, allowing me to stay in moderate ketosis. With increased fasting, my body produced substantial ketones, putting me into deep ketosis, where the magic starts in the brain.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Disclaimer: Please note that this article is not health advice. It is for information purposes only. The content reflects my review of credible sources from scientific papers indexed in PubMed, the US Government’s National Library of Medicine.
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