The Spiritual And Mental Benefits Of Fasting
What are the benefits of fasting and can a lack of food actually help you instead of turning you into the hanger monster? According to century-old practices, science, and HVMN.com, the answer is YES! There are many spiritual and mental health benefits to fasting!
Recently, a team member from HVMN.com (pronounced human) contacted me after she found my article on how I healed my depression. She shared with me a post from their company about how fasting can actually help fight symptoms of depression. I will share that article with you in just a moment.
You know that I love when science and spirituality get to meet so first I want to share how fasting and intuitive health go hand in hand.
For centuries cultures across the world have used fasting to strengthen their spiritual connection. The idea behind (most) of the practices is that when you are not focusing your energy on eating you have more time to focus on your spiritual practice. Fasting, in this case, means more time for meditation, self-reflection, and mental clarity.
Talk about a soul cleanse! Fasting creates the space for not only an enhanced spiritual connection but also a physical one.
You see when you fast your body gets its energy from the fat already in your body. This, in turn, brings about more natural energy. This suggests that fasting can actually help generate natural energy and enhance physical body functionality.
The physical benefits are said to be clearer cognition, enhanced senses, and immunity boost. The immunity boost comes from your cells essentially recycling toxins for energy taking them out of the body.
You’ve heard me say it 1000 different ways but the more in tune you are with yourself and your spirit team the higher your vibrational frequency. The higher your frequency the happier you are.
So, from the information above about the benefits of fasting coupled with the science in the article below, I think it’s a safe bet that fasting may have some serious mental, physical, and spiritual benefits!
That’s my insight from the spiritual side of things but let’s have some science to back it up! HVMN.com provided this post to show how fasting can help with depression.
Can Fasting Help with Depression?
Originally published on HVMN by Dr. Manuel Lam
The mechanism of acute fasting-induced antidepressant-like effects in mice
To find the results in rodents, scientists placed mice in an inescapable water tank where they were forced to swim for 6 minutes. This induces “behavioral despair”, in which the animal loses hope to escape the stressful situation. The escape-related “mobility behavior” is then measured. This is called the “forced swim test”, a popularly used evaluation for antidepressant drugs. This mice study demonstrated that 9 hours of fasting significantly inhibited “immobility” in the mice, which was comparable to an antidepressant drug called imipramine. This anti-depressant effect of acute fasting was blocked by a serotonin receptor agonist, and in turn, reversed by a serotonin receptor antagonist called ketanserin.
The expression of two biomarkers were also measured: C-Fos: A marker of neuronal activation BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which helps stimulate the process of neurogenesis. Compared to controls, acute fasting enhanced expression of both of these markers, namely in the prefrontal cortex for c-Fos and in the frontal cortex and hippocampus for BDNF. Again, these enhancements were inhibited by a serotonin receptor agonist and reversed by ketanserin. These findings suggest that fasting may be potentially helpful against depression and that the antidepressant-like effects of acute fasting may be mediated via 5-HT2A receptors, c-Fos and BDNF pathways.
If you’re interested in fasting and how it can help with mental and physical health below are some great resources!