Is Intermittent Fasting Good for your Brain Health?

By Sitarah Zemar

What happens if you fast?

When we eat we store nutrients and toxins in our body. This is used as a means to build new cells, repair tissue and store nutrients. After 6 hours of fasting, humans’ bodies will dispose of the bad cells and cleanse themselves of toxins. Once cleansed, the cells will start repairing and more efficiently regulate their waste. Fasting will help to burn fat becuase when not getting enough calories from food our bodies will use the stored fat instead of the sugars.

In rats, it was found that alternating days of normal eating habits and intermittent fasting lead to enhanced sensory, motor function, learning and memory. These responses indicated increased synaptic plasticity and production of new neurons.

BDNF Increase

BDNF has a role of regulating energy intake and expenditure. Increasing the brain derived neurotrophic factor governs the formation of new neurons and maintains the health of existing ones. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting and increased exercise will increase BDNF expression. The increase in BDNF has shown to have an enhancement of synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis and resistance. With healthier neurons comes better communication between those neurons.

Reduced Inflammation

Intermittent fasting causes increased metabolism, reduces oxidation and inflammation. With reduced inflammation comes autophagy, increase in ketones and higher insulin sensitivity. When our bodies experience autophagy, we are destroying the old cells and increasing our neurodegenerative states. There is an increase in ketone bodies that helps fats to be broken down and blocks parts of the immune system that regulates inflammation. Ketones are a more effective means to fueling your brain.

More Human Growth Hormone

According to researchers at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute they found that men who fasted for 24 hours had a 2000% increase in human growth hormone. Greater amounts of human growth factor, a hormone that favors fat burning and protein sparing, meant improved brain and neural processing. It also works to improve the functionality of muscles by respiring tissue collagen.

The Effects

With constant metabolic switching, multiple signalling pathways become positively impacted and promote neuroplasticity and resistance of the brain to injury and disease. The effects of intermitent fasting have been shown to enhance protection from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Cancer and with the growth of new nerve cells, increased neurogenesis and enhanced memory, performance and mood.

Links

https://drjockers.com/fasting-improves-brain-function/

Longo, Valter D and Mark P Mattson. “Fasting: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications” Cell metabolism vol. 19,2 (2014): 181–92.