I Quit Eating for 28 Days
To Lose Weight
For Better Health
To Attain an Elevated State of Consciousness
To be more like Jesus, for Jesus Fasted for 40 days
I Ran Out Of Money. ✔
I took a Leap of Faith with Steemit, and it didn't turn out so well, so I started fasting.
Fasting Heals and Grows Your Brain
Fasting has been scientifically proven to have a host of neurochemical healing properties for your brain! From preventing neurodegenerative diseases, to aiding in the growth of new brain cells fasting has a interesting relationship with the brain.
So how exactly does not eating prove positive for your brain?
When in a fasted state, your body is put into a “Survival Mode”. Where your body has to prioritize where it gets it’s energy, and also how to partition said energy. It seems our bodies has the wisdom to understand that short of all other bodily functions, it is the brain that will lead to survival.
Fasting is a challenge to your brain, and your brain responds to that challenge by adapting stress response pathways that help your brain cope with stress and disease risk. The same changes that occur in the brain during fasting mimic the changes that occur with regular exercise — both increase the production of protein in the brain (neurotrophic factors), which in turn promotes the growth of neurons, the connection between neurons, and the strength of synapses.
“From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense your brain should be functioning well when you haven’t been able to obtain food for a while.”
As such, in times of food deprivation, a whole host of beneficial effects occur.
Fasting Makes Your Body Eat Itself
Like I have talked about quite a number of times, during a fast, your body goes into a of Autogaphy which translates directly into “Self-Eat” where, given that your body is deprived on food, it starts cannibalizing within itself for energy. Once again, to speak to the wisdom of body, our bodies start by cannibalizing the stuff you don’t want.
It does the same thing in your brain, in doing so, removing particles stuck up in your brain which isn’t doing you any favors. This process that happens has shown to have the long term benefit of preventing the likes of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Fasting Boosts Your Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor
BDNF has been called a "master molecule" and referred to as “Miracle-Gro for the brain” by Harvard Neuropsychiatrist, John J. Ratey, MD
That’s quite a goddamn title. So what exactly is BDNF?
BDNF is a growth-hormone for your brain, think brain steroids, that is responsible for a fancy process called Neurogenesis, which is the creation of new neurons, or in layman's terms, the growing of fresh brain cells.
Alright, Miracle-Gro for the Brain is pretty accurate.
Not just that, BDNF is absolutely essential for a multitude of brain functions, and is responsible for a whole host of beneficial activities in your brain that if I were attempting to list, you might actually not finish this post. To name a few the heightened levels of BDNF within your brain promotes :
- Supports the survival of existing brain cells
- Better Memory
- Higher Cognitive Function
- Elevated Learning Capabilities
- Antidepressant Properties
The conclusion here is that by fasting, you can achieve two major services to your brain, first by cleaning out the old and useless cells which are clogging up your brain, and increasing your production of “Brain-Steroids” if you will, giving your brain the opportunity to grow.
There is no modern medicine that has came up with a practice as effective as fasting for the health of your brain.
From all my years of researching and “Nootropics” and “Brain Hacks”, in pursuit of increased cognitive function, fasting has once again stumped me to how can the simplest answer be the most effective.
This is but the beginning
There is so much to cover in regards to fasting and its effects on the brain. We start with what the science has proven, and on to the more mystical realm where science loses grasp on the matter.
Day 7 of 28
Week 1 of 4 complete. Feels good. I actually have to say that, as this journey progresses, I am enjoying it more and more. The deeper I get in both practice and understanding of the ancient practice of fasting, the more intriguing it is becoming.
I feel this ongoing blog which I have committed to really gives me so much motivation to keep going. Every time I feel weakened resolve, I remember the few people who are really following my journey and are interested in my journey and this process.
I have reached the point that I am actually glad that I am fasting. The more I learn about the seemingly endless list of benefits, of which, 7 days in, I am far from done covering even the basics, it’s so great to know that I am already en-route to the benefits.
State of Being
Today, I once again feel a significant improvement in overall well-being. It is almost funny, that it strikes me 3-4 times throughout the day that I am fasting. Things seem so… normal.
Mental State is back to 100% and comparable to any other day of my life, nothing short. Arguably even slightly above 100% as I experience a higher level of focus than I usually do. Overall, I’d still rate it at around equal to usual with a slight uptick of focus.
Hunger Pangs were non-existent in the mornings and slowly set in again at a mild rate, of which I’d rate a 4/10, which is very bearable. However my thought process on that has changed a little after @ponts’ comment 2 days ago, my further research on the matter and yesterday’s post.
I now perceive these hunger pangs as the parasites within me screaming for food and I am laughing maniacally over them as I scream :
Burn Motherfuckers Burn
I’m pretty sure I’ve never said this, but goddamn am I excited to shit out some worms.
I’ve also notice that I have some tightened skin around my stomach area and obviously some weight loss. However I’d much rather wait out till the end before I take a before and after. This is really turning out to be quite an awesome journey.
Who would’ve thought, not eating could be this much fun. That’s all for today!
Till tomorrow, God Speed Brethren.
Some of my earlier posts you may like :
A Journey to Total Human Optimization : Breaking the Chain of Nicotine
Journey to Total Human Optimization : Breaking the Chains of Substance Abuse
Join The Highest Paying Bitcoin Faucet
Brain Power! That's some interesting stuff considering the fasting effects on brain. I'd imagine the same benefits come with intermittent fasting too but only lesser.
You are absolutely right! The main triggering mechanism for additional BDNF is your body perceiving that there is an elevated level of stress from the lack of food, hence it will release additional BDNF in aid of the process of finding food!
Today's post will be covering something very relevant to IF as well! Increased focus and productivity when fasting which is also achieved during IF!
I'd like to introduce you to @jeffberwick who is also @dollarvigilante
He is a crypto expert investor that helps others get started using bitcoin, but more importantly, he shares the same views as me on many topics like; government, finance, health, nutrition, fitness, ect.
His personal youtube channel has many videos of him talking about his experiences with fasting with great details that most people just don't talk about. Anyway, after watching his videos, I learned a few new things that I think you might also enjoy. Here's a link to his youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/jberwick9
And here are a few of my favorites from him regarding fasting:
(I never understood the importance of fasting and diet until recently... It changes everything)
(What if there was a pill that could cure all disease make you ripped and feel high all the time?)
(I just completed my first 24 hour dry fast and it was amazing)
Daaaamn I had no idea Jeff Berwick fasts too! He was the person who introduced me to Steemit! I first heard it from him and learned more from @jerrybanfield!
I definitely do consider myself an anarcho-capitalist as well actually! One of @Bitopia's main goal is to bring attention to the atrocities of big government and to promotes blockchain and cryptos to get people off fiat currencies! If you're interested I wrote a long post on inflation ! : Inflation is Theft
I'll definitely check out @jeffberwick's fasting videos! Thanks for all the great references!
This post has received a 4.81 % upvote from @buildawhale thanks to: @bitopia. Send at least 1 SBD to @buildawhale with a post link in the memo field for a portion of the next vote.
To support our daily curation initiative, please vote on my owner, @themarkymark, as a Steem Witness
Congratulations @ansonoxy! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP