Mental clarity and keto

newbies
#1

Hi all,
I’m glad that I found this forum recently.
I’ve been on keto since January this year and today is my 84th day of keto.
It’s been going well without having dreadful keto flu and I’d like to make keto as a lifestyle for the rest of my life.

Alright I’ll get to the point.
I know and heard from many other keto societies saying that mental clarity will get better and better once you’re fat-adapted. Some ketoers say even their mental clarity has got sharpened up as they progressed.

As I’m expecting a big exam in coming June this year (not a bar exam but it is very important in my life),
Is there any way I can enhance my mental clarity towards the exam?
I mean in terms of keto food.

At the moment my mental clarity is quite good and I can even feel that my brain is wide awake most days.
However there are still some days I miss things out or forget things that I didn’t used to do.
This really worries me, if this happens on the day of my exam I don’t even want to imagine it.
I’m trying not to rely on MCT oil for that but I drink butter coffee with mct oil 1tsp every morning.

I’m not looking for magic tips like a movie ‘Limitless’ here.
I need some decent advice or tips how you guys maintain mental clarity throughout.
I’ll appreciate all your comments, Thanks in advance.

#2

Fasting is associated with improvements in mental clarity (E.g. Ivor Cummins speaks of doing that prior to speaking engagements) But it probably varies as to how long prior, but probably at least 24h. You have time between now and then to experiment.

#3

Hi Ajax,
Thank you for your comment.
I’ve been doing 16:8 fasting every day.
The 24 hours fasting sounds very challenging to me.
I’ll try that.

(Jay AM) #4

I second the possibility of fasting, practice now to see how it goes. Also, using a spaced repetition system like Anki to study possibly. It’s a good thing for learning new languages for example once you get it running. The key is connecting each thing you want to learn to an image or event and making it personal. Good luck on the exam!

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #5

TL;DR
Fast.
Plan your fast to coincide with 3 days fasted on test day. Water fasted. Start practicing now. Start by skipping meals occasionally. Then skip an entire day. By June you could do this.

(Rob) #6

Well, as pointless as exogenous ketones are for ketosis or weightloss, you might want to consider them for cramming and the exams themselves. People do claim the mental clarity thing as a real benefit in the short term e.g. @lfod14

And maybe you’ll be able to predict the future and the exam questions (I miss Limitless on TV :frowning_face:)

#7

Only thing I’d be predicting would be lottery numbers!

#8

As was mentioned earlier. Fasting strategically should be beneficial.

I would go with a holistic approach where keto is just one of many tools to apply.
Regarding coffee I’d just like to point out that caffeine has been shown to inhibit neurogenises in hippocampus when studied longterm.
It might not be a great idea to change your caffeine intake to much before this event.
But it might be effective to experiment with cycling it.

I’ve been a coffee drinker all my life but I recently quit, cold turkey.
You get a lot of mixed messages through media on whether coffee is beneficial or not.
It is a highly individualized topic. One must take into considerations factors such as genetics for caffeine metabolism, in particular, CYP1A2, and AHS.

But as far as keto is concerned. Just optimizing the composition of the diet as well as incorporating excersize strategically (triggers BDNF) and fasting (prolonged and/or intermittent).
Perhaps also incorporating time restricted eating. Also attention to gut microbiota, probiotics supplementation, or the equivalent foods for that, is a good idea.
Also. Optimizing sleep is crucial.

Quantify to see what works for you.

Good luck!

#9

Thank you all for valuable advice and tips.
I think keto lifestyle is helping me keep myself calm towards the exam.
I like keto way of life!! :smiley: