If you’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for a while, or if you’ve recently picked it up as a dietary habit, and noticed that you tend to feel sharper than usual during or after your fasts, you may be wondering about the impact of intermittent fasting on your overall brain function. Various types of intermittent fasting regimes, from alternate-day fasting to 16/8 fasting schedules and more, are well-known for their ability to boost mental clarity. However, your fasts could be having more of a positive effect on your brain’s functioning than you even realize! If you’ve already gotten your electrolyte water and your appetite suppressant mints ready for your next fasting period, you may be looking forward to reaping more of the brain benefits of this increasingly common health practice. Here’s what you should know about the different ways intermittent fasting can help improve brain function.
It May Help Increase Neuroplasticity and Boost Your Brain Function
Perhaps one of the most important connections between intermittent fasting and mental health is the evidence some studies have shown for improved neuroplasticity as a result of regular fasting. Your brain’s ability to reorganize itself, change and adapt as needed is an essential mechanism that intermittent fasting may help to support. This also means that your brain’s ability to function at its best could see a boost through regular fasting. Holding fasts could potentially:
- Boost overall neuroplasticity and help improve your memory
- Give your retention and learning abilities a boost
- Optimize overall brain function to bounce back from diseases and injuries
- Improve the brain-gut connection
You Could Help Ward Off Several Neurological Conditions Via Autophagy
If you’ve been reading about the benefits of THCV lately, you may be interested in finding ways to ward off neurological diseases. If this is the case, you might be pleased to learn that fasting can play a key role in lowering your risk of developing a range of common neurological conditions. This is because fasting triggers autophagy, which is when toxic elements are removed from your body and damaged tissue is cleaned out. Regular fasting could potentially help reduce your risk of developing:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
- General age-related cognitive decline
- Strokes and seizures
- Anxiety and depression
It Can Help You Feel Sharper and More Levelheaded on a Daily Basis
Lastly, fasting can help you feel sharper every day. If you’re someone who often struggles with brain fog while at work, for instance, this benefit could prove enormously useful in everyday life. Scheduled fasting periods could:
- Increase your overall mental clarity
- Help you feel sharp and think more clearly and effectively
- Help you feel more calm and levelheaded
- Help avoid brain fog and improve everyday memory and recall abilities
Whether you’ve recently decided to begin trying out intermittent fasting as part of your dietary habits or whether you’ve practiced fasting on and off for some time, you may be excited to learn that it can have several positive effects on your overall brain function. Now that you know about these key brain benefits, you may feel more motivated than ever to stick to your planned fasts.