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> And that’s what we’re finding in lab animals — the brain and body actually perform better during fasting. In the case of the brain, cognitive function, learning, memory, and alertness are all increased by fasting.

I find this to be true whenever I fast for 12+ hours. It feels like I'm on a drug.

It's strange to realize how not eating can be good for you.

Fun trivia: the longest a human went without food is 382 days. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri%27s_fast

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> I find this to be true whenever I fast for 12+ hours. It feels like I'm on a drug.

Totally this - when I was suffering with anorexia, in the early days where I was skipping meals all the time and burning fat, I felt amazing. Literally, "skipping down the streets because I had so much energy" amazing.

Just remember to eat afterwards or you'll f* yourself up. Please.

I don't think "remembering to eat" is really in line with anorexia, if that's the parallel you're trying to draw.

I know you're joking, but it's really not a concern at all. A healthy mind will seek food after a fasting period.

I'd add a caution of my own, which is not to gorge yourself during this period. Your body should be given time to adjust back to a normal diet. Though this isn't much of a concern for brief fasts under the intermittent fasting regimen.

I was only being slightly flippant - one of the factors (aside from body image and weight loss) that tipped me over the edge was continuing to strive for the buzz from fasting long after it became healthy to do so.

From my lived experience I can tell you that if you're vulnerable from the other mental health signals of anorexia, the mental and physical benefits of fasting can be a trigger. So as simplistic as it is to say, break the fast when you intend to break it, and never just stretch it out or do it more regularly simply "because I feel good now".

Maintaining a healthy relationship with food is crucial in the early days. Otherwise you'll find yourself stood in the ready meal aisle of the supermarket for 30 minutes paralysed by a choice between a 300 and 400 calorie ready meal and being mentally unable to rationalise eating either.

TL;DR - set an defined end to your fast and stick the heck to it.

Oh yeah that makes sense, thanks for the explanation. Similar to how the positive affects of meditation can be quite addicting, I imagine!

We humans sure do like getting addicted to stuff.

I've done 7 day water fasts (I try to do them quarterly, or bi-annually) and I find by day three I'm full of energy to the point where I have a hard time sleeping. I'm also way more productive during those 7 days. The only thing that tends to suffer is my weight lifting. I drop in strength a tiny bit, but not nearly as much as you'd expect. I also drop about 5-10 lbs in mass, with about half of that coming from water. Almost no lean muscle loss as far as I can tell. In fact, I always look shredded after the fast. I just ease back in with keto for a week or two, then back to low carb diet.

Being hungry increases alertness. This is discussed in "The Willpower Instinct", in the context of keeping you from sleeping well. It's natural - the body knows it needs to find food, so it makes you hyper until you do, negatively affecting the ability to get essential sleep.

So, there is nothing weird about what you are experiencing - it's like wanting to get air when you are under water. Doesn't make it a good way to do things.

It's amazing how much of a trend fasting is lately.

Yeah I'm aware of the biological reasons for why I feel the way I do when I fast. There's a lot of science backing why fasting is good for you, and it has to do with mTOR and the science behind apoptosis, for which Yoshinori Ohsumi won the nobel prize in 2016. Fasting isn't a 'trend' like say 'cleansers' are a trend. One is backed by science, and the other is just a catch phrase to sell products to people.

The question is of balance. For example, if fasting keeps you from sleeping, I consider it an issue. If fasting causes muscle loss, I consider it an issue. I read the cancer research - how much is damage is being done by not getting the nutrition you need though? It's still a trend - there is no balance defined.

>Being hungry increases alertness. This is discussed in "The Willpower Instinct",

Being hungry decreases your will power, as said in the book. That also means refusing offered food affects your will power

If it feels so good why don't you do it more often? Is it a mental block or are there solid reasons that it's too bad in excess? Do you just need some time to gain more fat stores?

Yeah, it feels like getting a "second wind" when exercising.

Getting there can be brutal though as my mind and body feel weak and it's hard for me to do any highly cognitive tasks. But after my body accepts it I feel "in the zone" and I don't want to eat and disrupt the feeling.

I've never gone longer than 18hrs though.

I'm not a doctor or anything but my own interpretation of this affect is that you are depleting your glucose stores, and when you reach ketosis, you once again have energy to burn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis

I was very skeptical of fasting for quite a while, but over winter I was on a contract with a guy that did intermittent fasting and his particular schedule had him eating after 3pm. The guy was like a machine. Just this sense of urgency in his work that was incredible to watch. He accomplished so much more than the other guys in the same position. I'm sure part of that was his own character and his work ethic, but when I talked to him he attributed a lot of it to his fasting. Turns out he's probably correct.

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