Do you have brain fog? You’re in luck!
Research suggests that intermittent fasting is a significant way to increase your cognitive abilities. The brain is always in need of high energy nutrients. So, when fasting takes place for about 12 hours, the body will use its glycogen deposits in the liver and instead ketone bodies will be released into the blood. The body switches from using glucose to using free fatty acids from the adipose tissue. This higher concentration will then fuel the brain with several neuroprotective effects. When the switch from glucose occurs, other signaling pathways are activated which will then give these effects from the switch. One effect is lowering the stress created by free radicals in the brain called “oxidative stress”. Another effect is reducing neuroinflammation and also increasing the synaptic function. Additionally, it has been used for effectively treating some brain diseases. (Brocchi, 2022)
These brain diseases involve some forms of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease. With these diseases, intermittent fasting and a no carb or sugar diet can significantly slow their development. “Caloric restriction” and intermittent fasting go hand-in-hand to produce the desired results. High in fat and protein, the keto diet and fasting can be very beneficial for improving brain function and restoring long term memory. Testing is still ongoing in mice that shows that the molecule BHB (beta-hydroxybutyrate) will increase when fasting and on keto, so memory decline is prevented. (Quinton, 2024)
However, intermittent fasting and the keto diet cannot be overly used or used long-term. If they are abused then they will throw the body off of balance after a while and cause low blood pressure, malnutrition, and fatigue. These are obvious symptoms that can be avoided if fasting and dieting are done in correct intervals depending on the person. Fasting and dieting in this manner should be done with regards to the health and history of each individual. Additionally, the body needs glucose for many significant functions and can never fully rely on no-sugar or carb diet.
Brocchi, Alex, et al. “Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Brain Metabolism.” Nutrients, vol. 14, no. 6, 17 Mar. 2022, p. 1275, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061275.
Quinton, Amy M. “Keto Diet Prevents Early Memory Decline in Mice.” UC Davis, 19 Mar. 2024, www.ucdavis.edu/health/news/keto-diet-prevents-early-memory-decline-mice.
This is really neat to read! While I've often heard that your choice of food and general nutrition can negatively impact your health, I had never considered that the length of time between meals may lead to disease in such a way. I'm wondering where the line is drawn between healthy intermittent fasting and unhealthy intermittent fasting. I also found this article from the NIH that claims that intermittent fasting in such a way doesn't do much to improve the health or memory of a typically healthy individual. I'm wondering why this may be?
ReplyDeleteArticle link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8470960/
I have heard about the benefits of intermittent fasting in terms of losing weight, but I have never thought about how fasting can reduce oxidative stress as well as slow the development of neurological diseases. I have also read that short fasting periods cause mild cognitive impairments including difficulty concentrating, so I wonder if there is a prime length of time to fast to optimize brain and cognitive function. Additionally, upon further research, I found some papers about the effects of fasting during Ramadan that might be interesting to consider. However, the frequency of fasting days is different between intermittent fasting and fasting during Ramadan.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19932820.2024.2301830#d1e874
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3289210/#:~:text=CONCLUSION,accuracy%20measures%20was%20more%20resilient.