The Future of our Brains
I’m sure that a fear many of us may have is that in our old age, we will begin to have issues with our brain functions. The thought of losing my memory, even to the point I do not recognize my family members is a very scary one. And even worse is that my brain may deteriorate so much that I am unable to function normally, forgetting where I parked, or which car is mine, forgetting where I’m driving to, or even forgetting how to drive period.
Then, here is the fear of burning the house down because I’ve left the stove on or forgetting the right word to use or even what a word means. Then there is the possibility that my entire personality may change for the worse and I become someone who is not really me.
Yes, these are scary thoughts and fears and many people today are suffering from brain deterioration and mental illnesses – the extreme sorrow of their loved ones. Diseases of the brain become more likely as we age.
Aging itself is a risk factor for diseases like neurodegenerative diseases (mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease). Certainly, we all will age, that is a fact unless we die young. And being diabetic like myself can make us more susceptible to these diseases of old age.
What can I do to help my brain working well into old age?
I’ve been reading about the benefits of fasting for the brain. Here are some links to nice articles about this:
- How Fasting Allows The Brain To Recharge Itself
- Intermittent Fasting Improves Your Brain
- Fasting can help protect against brain diseases, scientists say
- Fasting Once A Week ‘Helps Beat Alzheimer’s And Parkinson’s’
- Could fasting once a week really help you live longer?
Fasting for a couple days a week can really help the brain recharge and boost the growth of neurons in our brains. There’s growing belief among scientists that fasting can improve long-term health; and that reducing food intake over months or years could boost lifespan by 15% to 30%, although there are still some skeptics. But more and more research is showing this benefit.
I searched for some success stories from people with Parkinsons’s disease and found these:
I was reading the article below and found it very interesting also. Heres a quote from it. Read the case studies too as they are very interesting.
“The study demonstrated that all participants reported improvements in their Parkinson’s Disease scores independent of how high the ketones were raised. The hypothesis often is that the higher the ketone level then the greater symptomatic relief. However, from this study and the studies carried out in epilepsy, we can see that if there is a slight increase in ketone bodies, it can bring about symptomatic relief.”
Finally, I read this article about Intermittent Fasting and Aging
Here are 3 theories that you find in the article:
According to researchers, the mechanisms on how fasting produces these health benefits are still not clear, but there are a few theories as to why this may be:
- The first hypothesis suggests that …after prolonged dietary restriction, increased resistance to different types of stressors occurs, which permits the cells of many tissues to resist injury induced by genotoxic, metabolic, or oxidative insults
- The second hypothesis proposes more specifically that, …fewer free radicals are produced in the mitochondria of cells because dietary restriction generally limits energy utilization, which results in less cellular oxidative damage
- The third hypothesis proposes that CR (calorie restriction) induces intrinsic cellular and organismal programs for adaptation to scarcity, which result in the slowing of metabolic processes such as cell proliferation that contribute to senescence; this hypothesis has been strengthened by findings in yeast
Like the author of that article, I choose to believe that these theories make sense and I’m hoping to achieve many benefits from my Intermittent Fasting.
Thanks for looking at my site and coming to this page. I would love for you to leave any questions or comments below. In addition, I’m open to new topics to research and comment on as they pertain to fasting, both extended and intermittent. Please share your interests and questions in your comments. I also love to hear stories about how others handle their own fasting journey. Also, feel free to share this page with your friends via the social icons.