Emotional/spiritual benefits of fasting & keto

(susan) #1

hi, i love the podcast as well as the obesity code podcast & this forum is so great.

one topic you guys (& really no podcast or nutritional expert i can find has addressed) is the spritual/psychological aspect of fasting. you guys interviewed a guy last fall who suffered from depression & found that keto helped, but otherwise this is a HUGE gap in terms of the discussion on fasting that i personally would love to hear more about & discuss.

i-like most people, i suspect-started fasting & changing my diet for physical health reasons. also like a lot of people, i suffer from depression & anxiety & have done so for my entire life. i am a physician & my depression was so severe a year ago that i had to go on medical leave from work. probably not coincidentally i had at that point gained 50lbs & had all manner of physical aches, pains & complaints.

i actually lost the bulk of my weight from calorie restriction before finding keto & fasting. i learned in med school that weight loss had to occur according to the ”cico” model, but 35lbs down i knew it was not sustainable & started a desperate search for a lifestyle with which i could maintain my weight & not be starving & miserable.

i found fasting & low carb eating & together with intuitive eating practice, i have continued in my body improvement-i’ve lost another 10lbs & reduced body fat while increasing lean muscle, yay! however, fasting has also helped improve my mood to the point where i am off medication & feel more vibrant, present & engaged than ever.

so, i was expecting the physical benefits based on my reading but the emotional & spiritual opening up i’ve experienced has been equally if not more transformational (although i’m sure they’re linked). i can trace this more directly to fasting, but i’m sure cutting out garbage food & eating lchf is contributing. however, no one (other than religious podcasts & i am areligious) is talking about this aspect!!

you guy always sound so happy & have such great energy, might you consider covering the emotional & spiritual effects/benefits/challenges/etc of fasting in particular on your show or on obesity code? is there a section on here about this? i have searched but have not come up with anything.

thank you so much for what you do, i’m sure you know but let me just add my voice to the mix-you guys are changing lives & helping give people tools to change their lives in so many ways. thank you!

susan

(CharleyD) #2

Paging @atomicspacebunny to the white courtesy phone. :grin:

(Renee Slaughter) #3

:joy:

(susan) #4

am i missing something? is this not an acceptable or legitimate question?

(Darlene Horsley) #5

Well …you might be missing some humor here. Charley is paging one of our research experts and Renee is laughing at Charley. You have asked a perfectly acceptable and legitimate question. A fascinating one at that!

(Bunny) #6

Ketogenic diet is excellent for maintaining a balance between gaba and glutamate, enhancing harmonic neural oscillatory functionality as well as the balance between dopamine and serotonin.

Fasting makes me more sentient:

I always wondered what the word “Spiritual” (frnch. transl; ruach; synonyms; sentient thinking part; nous; ethereal essence; breath {animate}, wind, air, akasa; inspiration), really means but I can see that it has really taken a beating from transliterary mistranslations through the ages and has everyone world wide using the same term without knowing exactly what it means!

To me spiritual (level of sentients) or mystical experiences (penetrating sensory perception) is physical and emotional detachment from the elements in this nature (in any ancient text?) and elevating to things of a higher solid physical nature that are not dependent on this physical world.

Paradox: If you were in the ethereal physical realm (hyperdimensionally speaking) we would look translucent or ethereal i.e. seeing things as they happen and all at once; this world is a mirror projection (subatomic) or particle based harmonic reflection of that higher physical world or realm; entirely different type of physics!

(Renee Slaughter) #7

Your question was perfectly fine and very interesting. Just a chuckle @Dipper_Actual

(Bunny) #8

Lol

(susan) #10

thank you for your thoughtful reply, i thought maybe my question appeared dumb but i’m just new.

(Tubeman) #12

sehfergy, I really like your question, and the question of the spiritual benefits of this diet and fasting have been bouncing around my head as well. For the sake of clarifying the discussion a bit, I am curious how you would define spirituality in this context.

For me, spirituality is a kind of personal ethic, a way of being; it’s about how and why we live our lives and make decisions. A kind of self-created framework for interpreting the world and our place in it, I suppose.

Spirituality is also something highly personal, something that must be experienced. You can’t make your kids meditate and expect to reap the rewards of their hard work! And you definitely shouldn’t feed them a bunch of mushrooms and expect to see god.

In my mind, your question makes perfect sense because for people who enjoy spiritual pursuits such as meditation and mindfulness, this diet is fantastic. I’ve certainly noticed my mind wanders less, and I can sit in various meditation poses for much longer. Then again, maybe the reason Buddhists eat so much rice is to make their practice a little more rigorous :wink:

(susan) #13

your input is very interesting. my version of spirituality is most in line w/ buddhism but i would not call myself buddhist. i do meditate for self care. regarding fasting, it has just opened me up is the only way to deacribe it. when i’m on longer fasts, i can feel my mind untying & my heart repairing as weird as that may sound. i also have times when i get very anxious or irritable but if i’m fasting, my coping & process of working through such feelings tends to be so much more expansive & insightful. like today-an eating day, i’ve been doing omad for the last 2 weeks or so just to mix it up-i came home from work very frustrated but ate dinner & was soothed. i didn’t really reflect on my frustrations. i have to make a conserted effort to ponder this later, maybe meditate on it later, whereas that just happens when i’m fasting.

anyways, thanks for your thoughtful reply. this aspect of fasting is most on my mind now since the physical stuff has improved to the point where i physically feel great!

i hope your day was great :blush:

(Susan Lawrence) #14

It’s something I extremely seldomly talk to people about. I haven’t been to church in about 50 years. But when I’m fasting especially about the 5th and day I feel so very close to God. The whole world feels like I’m walking through grace. It’s hard to explain. But it’s wonderful!
(Like I said, I am not religious)

(susan) #15

thank you for sharing. i am not religious either, but have also found that fasting, especially longer than 3-4 days, really opens my heart & expands my sense of oneness with others & the universe. super weird & cheesey, but it happens & it’s lovely.

#16

I posted a similar post a few days ago asking for experiences of those with depression when following this woe. Got some great responses - thanks :kissing_heart:
As a fellow depressive, with a healthy dose of severe PTSD, I am really hopeful that Keto woe will help manage symptoms and avoid having to take meds for the rest of my days.
Trying to withdraw from an NSRI is bloody horrible!
Took me 12 months to get off the last one and now docs are trying to put me back on similar drug.
Following this discussion with interest.

(susan) #17

good luck! i don’t do steict keto but do follow low carb/high fat & no added sugar. i have read keto can really help w/ mood, i hope it does for you! fasting has been the game-changer for me, after a 6 day fast followed by 3x/week 36-42 hours fasts for a month i was able to get off my antidepressant, but work with your doctor whatever you do. sending good energy your way ! :hugs:

(Tubeman) #18

Buddhism definitely informs my spirituality, I’ve read a lot of stuff in that direction, and it’s helped me greatly!

I can absolutely relate to your experience fasting. I feel calm and my mind is uncomplicated. Figuring things out seems just easier, and I get less caught up in whatever is bugging me. I’ve thought about doing a meditation retreat again in a fasted state…which I might have to do fasted anyways because they don’t serve meat!

Thanks for your thoughts :slight_smile:

(Asiram) #19

I have read that our pineal gland(third eye) is supposedly the gateway to spirituality. That’s why the Egyptians were so fond of that symbol everywhere. However, fluoride can calcify it and shut down its capabilities. There are certain greens that help cleanse it though. Maybe this way of eating and fasting cleanses those deposits finding higher self?? In times of Hitler, they were giving people fluoride to make them lethargic and zombie-like… because it also can affect thyroid function. Therefore their minds couldn’t function to rebel?? Sorry that i don’t have the citations to back my info up. But it’s a start to research for yourself.