Fasting is great for the brain

 It has long been known that fasting occasionally is better for you that eating...
All the statistics are there, from ancient scripture to cutting-edge neurological research...

The Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging -  Mark Mattson, describes some of the biological mechanisms they have found that substantiate these ancient claims.

In short, when we eat regularly, we have a steady supply of sugars running through the system, so the body & brain chug along easily. Only when this is interrupted does the system have to seek new fuel sources from within itself.

As it does so, it starts to burn fats, which have always been considered to be imperfect fuels because they release keytones into the system (a kind of biological smoke as they burn), but it now turns out that they are a fantastic fuel source for the brain.

On top of this, the number of fuel-processing factories (called Mitochondria) in the surrounding cells increases, making the whole system more efficient - leading to the subsequent elevation of brain activity for weeks/months after fasting.

The oxidative stress for certain brain cells increases, so they have to protect themselves from this damage by producing more antioxidants - and we have all heard of their youth-enhancing properties these days.

On top of this, there is a kind of (much sought after) neurogenesis - brain regenerating effects, as chemistry is created to encourage neurone grown - stimulating axion and dendrite production, and generally increasing the strength of synaptic connections.

Moreover, nerve cells are suddenly gifted greater capacity to repair their DNA, and as the brain is essentially the nerve centre of the body, this is obviously great for the brain too.

Even this professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University, and researcher in areas Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, with his primary focus on trying to solve the riddle of these degenerative conditions, he is coming to terms with how fasting has a detoxifying effect upon the system too, despite it solely being in the area of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underly multiple neurodegenerative disorders.

Starting with how the system can flush Amyloid materials far faster when fasting - slowing the clogging effect that that material has on the brain.

Slowly modern medicine is catching up with ancient wisdom...

Hallelujah