Research in a variety of experiments shows that intermittent fasting is beneficial for the brain. Some of these findings come from animal experiments and still need to be replicated in humans. Still, natural experiments of people who engage in fasting for religious events (such as Ramadan) show that fasting is safe.
Some brain benefits of intermittent fasting include:
• resistance of brain cells to ischemic injury and stroke
• protection of neurons against genetic and environmental factors
• enhancement of synaptic plasticity
• protection against neurodegeneration
• increased production of BDNF
• reduction of neuronal damage
• protection against excitotoxicity
• protection against Alzheimer’s disease
• protection against Parkinson’s disease
• protection against Huntington’s disease
• maintenance of cognitive and motor performance
• enhancement of mitochondrial function
• enhancement of neuronal autophagy
References:
Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. (Link)
Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: two potential diets for successful brain aging. (Link)
Caloric restriction increases learning consolidation and facilitates synaptic plasticity through mechanisms dependent on NR2B subunits of the NMDA receptor. (Link)
Calorie restriction and stroke. (Link)
Energy intake, meal frequency, and health: a neurobiological perspective. (Link)
Gene-diet interactions in brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders. (Link)
Interferon-gamma is up-regulated in the hippocampus in response to intermittent fasting and protects hippocampal neurons against excitotoxicity. (Link)
Intermittent fasting and caloric restriction ameliorate age-related behavioral deficits in the triple-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. (Link)
Intermittent fasting dissociates beneficial effects of dietary restriction on glucose metabolism and neuronal resistance to injury from calorie intake. (Link)
Late-onset intermittent fasting dietary restriction as a potential intervention to retard age-associated brain function impairments in male rats. (Link)
Meal size and frequency affect neuronal plasticity and vulnerability to disease: cellular and molecular mechanisms. (Link)
Molecular bases of caloric restriction regulation of neuronal synaptic plasticity. (Link)
Neuroprotective role of intermittent fasting in senescence-accelerated mice P8 (SAMP8) (Link)
Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy. (Link)
