The FastDay Forum

Hi Everyone. I have been raking through old threads to see if I can find anything that links these topics. I have noticed that there are a few of us here who suffer from mild anxiety through to full blown mental health challenges. I have been trying to find articles on the interweb that talk about fasting and it's role in mental health. I have seen some references to autophagy (repair mode) on the brain and in turn, reduction in inflammation, but most of the stuff I have read often trivialises it (Brad Pilon for example!). Even Mark's Daily Apple only tackles it in a roundabout way.

So could fasting, in combination with a strict anti-inflammatory regime (no wheat, sugar, soy, dairy), assist mental health? The reason why I mention it is that many of us here use low mood/anxiety as a reason not to fast and perhaps we could be shooting ourselves in the foot for the sake of just a few hours.

I have found a couple of interesting articles. Does anyone else have experience or information that could be helpful?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24097021
http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/0 ... s-it-work/
http://www.prevention.com/health/health ... depression

Hi Karen. I'm sure you're right. Am sure @carorees could come up with something, but she's in Sweden atm, and out of contact. I know @Nikipins (who is with Caro) might be online at some point, so may be able to pass this on to Caro.

Also @Debs might have some info on this. Am sure someone will come up with something relevant before very long. If so, it would be good to have this somewhere where people could find it easily.

Hello Karen, I think you pose a very relevant question. I too would be interested in finding out more.

I too would like information about this. I have issues with anxiety, depression/low mood.

The research about fasting is almost all either a) rodent research which is irrelevant to humans, particularly in regard to the brain, as their metabolisms and brains are so very different from ours, or b) conducted in people undergoing very long fasts with no food, which is metabolically very different from the "fasting" discussed here. For starters, prolonged fasting puts people into a ketogenic state where a large part of the the brain runs on ketones instead of glucose. But intermittant fasting does NOT do this.

There is solid evidence that being in a ketogenic state can relieve very refractory epilepsy. The rest of the research about its effect on mood is poisoned by the studies being conducted only during the first few weeks when people are adapting to the diets.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence, however, that flattening your blood sugar using any diet can improve mood, mostly because fluctuating blood sugars (in the range below anything your doctor will flag as abnormal) cause mood problems.

Another diet related factor that can cause severe mood problems (due to hormonal effect) is eating the kind of soy protein found in many high protein diet foods. Years ago I developed serious depressive symptoms after eating a soy cereal every day for a few weeks. I researched this online and discovered that it was something quite a few people eating low carb diets had experienced. When I stopped eating the soy, my mood improved within days.

Another food that can have this kind of effect is flax seed oil, which also, apparently, contains things that act as a hormone mimic.

When you are fasting in an intermittent pattern you lower your blood sugar, which may improve mood swings quite apart from any issue related to inflammation.

Hi.

Probably old news to the pros here but I've been reading a lot about magnesium in connection with mood, anxiety, sleep disorders and restless leg syndrome. Am waiting to hear back from Carorees about her advise for the best one as there are quite a few to choose from, some lower grade than others. Its fascinating to read about all its' benefits.

Alex x x

Ouch Peebles I have a dairy and wheat intolerance and have soy most days as well I take flax seed oil. Feeling perky though

Great thread Karen I don't think I have felt emotionally better in years since commencing 5:2 and having lost the extra weight gained about 20 years ago. Mind you I moved out of a stressful job and am less desk bound. I do move more as well have a gym regime and make an effort to walk rather than drive etc. I have found efforts to maintain my weight loss have meant 5:2 a routine for 18 months and that was why I do feel good.

Agree that less wheat has meant better digestion and consequently less inflammatory response maybe. I get surprised when my aches and pains come back or my wheat intolerance shows due to eating bread.

Will be interesting to hear more on this thanks

Interesting topic. I look forward to reading more...

Bean

[Tracieknits]

I agree, this is a fascinating question.

Anecdotally, I feel less plagued by anxiety than I did when I was 52 pounds heavier. Not exactly a scientific study, though.

A related link from a quick search:

http://www.nutritionj.com/content/13/1/36#

Now there's only ~3.5 million other links to consider.

[Debs]

A very interesting, and complicated topic, thank you @Silverdarling for tagging me in on this.
I suspect that my mood deteriorates when I eat a lot of carbs/sugar but that is my one woman experiment. But then I know mine is also affected by assorted other things, weather, stress etc etc.
Although reducing my carbs hasn't produced any stunning weight loss results, I still think on the whole it is better for me in the long run, but. I shall keep a log on my mental state which varies dramatically during a day.
I shall read those articles with interest, thank you@Rawkaren

@rawkaren Your first (ncbi...) link fails because it contains a duplicated second link within it. Easy to fix with an edit (delete everything after "24097021" and resubmit).

And a related link from a quick search:

http://www.nutritionj.com/content/13/1/36#

Now there's only ~3.5 million other links to consider.

Thanks! Now fixed.

Thanks @peebles. Really interesting.

I have the same problems as you with soy, but didn't realise about flax. Thankfully I don't eat alot of it, but next time I have it, I will monitor with interest.

Hi All.

Not a scientific answer, But here's my experience.

I had to go gluten free 2 years ago. I found it really helped with my anxiety and depression but there are so many factors. I'd struggled for years to find out what was wrong with me, and possibly now I knew, then I had some relief? Also, I know those who are sensitive to gluten/wheat can have depression like symptoms which are brought on by eating wheat. That's definitely documented although don't ask me to quote a paper

When I started fasting I found myself emotional and anxious during the fast days for about 2/3 months. I sort of felt like I was clearing out a lot of emotional baggage and letting go of a lot of anger and frustration about everything in my life.

I've trained myself now, that food no longer is a pick me up for when I don't feel so good. I've started running again and it's the best anxiety lifter there is as far as I can see. When I don't run I start to get agitated.

I do think that wheat/gluten plays a huge part in mental heath and other health conditions, especially those which have an inflammatory component, such as Arthritis for example. Whilst I don't advocate anyone cutting something completely out of their diet unless needed (and it's not easy, trust me) I do think that cutting down a lot of the wheat especially out of your diet does have fantastic effects for a lot of people.

Having spoken to a friend of a friend about wheat intolerance, he's cut out having sandwiches, and most of his pizza/pasta at nights, and has lost 2 stone and feels amazing.

Personally, I haven't found cutting gluten to make a difference to my weight any more than the fasting has. But mentally, I'm clearer, happier and more positive. I believe that that's a common element with those who no longer eat gluten/wheat. And I think the fasting has had a positive benefit of helping me deal with emotions without turning to food.

Overall, with the fasting and without the gluten I can see a huge difference. But then everyone's experiences are different.

[Debs]

Thank you rebelsue, that is a really interesting personal insight!