Fasting for Mental Clarity: Intermittent Fasting and Brain Health

When you fast long enough to activate your body’s metabolic switch (typically 12 or more hours), your mind and body start running on super-charged energy molecules called ketones (1).

One reason “flipping your metabolic switch” is so beneficial for the brain is that ketones generate approximately 25% more energy in the body than glucose (sugar)(2).

So, the shift in fuel that occurs can give your brain an immediate boost.

This is one of the primary reasons more people are fasting for mental clarity.

Intermittent Fasting Promotes Mental Clarity

Perhaps you have experienced moments of great mental clarity while fasting?

This was one of my first experiences, and a big reason I became interested in what was happening in my brain while I was fasting.

Over time, I learned that when our bodies use ketones for energy, after this metabolic switch is flipped, changes happen within our cells that have health-promoting effects in both our minds and bodies.

One of these processes is called autophagy, which is the way cells clean themselves so they can function better.

Autophagy for Brain Health

The cells in your brain are no different than the cells in your body; they too undergo this process.

You may have noticed that when you wake up from a good night’s sleep, your mind feels “fresher” and works better than when you went to bed.

This fresher feeling is due, in large part, to the enhanced cleaning of the brain cells (neurons) that take place when we sleep and fast.

You see, at night, you fast for several consecutive hours and think nothing of it.

Fasting for Brain Health Takeaways

So, if you can start the fasting process (aka not eating) a few hours before going to bed and then wait to eat for a few hours after waking up, you are well on your way to incorporating Intermittent Fasting (IF) into your lifestyle and having cleaner brain cells.