Intermittent Fasting & Brain Health
Intermittent Fasting May Improve Brain Health & Decrease Neuroinflammation
Intermittent fasting (Time-Restricted Eating) is a protocol that is implemented mainly to cure obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and (pre) type 2 diabetes, which I have written about in more detail in my book Cure Prediabetes in 6 Weeks as well as in the blog 10 Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting. In this article, I share with you what I stumbled across in a Nutrients Journal publication.
The impact of intermittent fasting on proteins and DNA damage in particular brain regions was investigated in a fascinating study conducted on middle-aged rats earlier this year [1]. The markers of cell metabolism, cell survival pathways, and synaptic plasticity were also assessed in this study. Synaptic plasticity is a measurement of learning capacity.
According to the findings, intermittent fasting is linked to enhanced motor coordination and learning capacity as well as a decrease in oxidative stress (oxidative stress is what we frequently consider to be a "normal" aging process). So, while cognitive loss is often considered to be a normal component of aging, intermittent fasting can actually improve healthy brain aging and slow it down.
Chronic neuroinflammation is becoming more and more associated with both mood disorders such as depression and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Intermittent fasting had an impact on neuroinflammation indicators in rats, according to a study published earlier this year, and this dietary strategy actually changed gene expression to promote an adaptive response [2].
These findings imply that intermittent fasting might be advantageous for conditions linked to neuroinflammation and subsequent neurodegenerative disorders.
There are also additional advantages to intermittent fasting, such as increased insulin sensitivity and support for a healthy migratory motor complex (The migrating motor complex is a pattern of electrical activity observed in the gastrointestinal tract during fasting which is crucial for preventing SIBO).
Scientific References
[1] 2015 Dec;16(6):775-88. doi: 10.1007/s10522-015-9603-y. Epub 2015 Aug 30. Middle-age onset short-term intermittent fasting dietary restriction prevents brain function impairments in male Wistar rats
[2] 2015 May;36(5):1914-23. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2015.02.020. Epub 2015 Feb 28. Effects of intermittent fasting on age-related changes on Na, K-ATPase activity and oxidative status induced by lipopolysaccharide in rat hippocampus
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