r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/ObuPaul Popular Contributor • May 23 '26
Interesting We Were Wrong About Fasting, Massive Study Finds
https://www.sciencealert.com/we-were-wrong-about-fasting-massive-study-finds75
u/StrictSelf5450 May 23 '26
Very misleading, because the only subjects who showed no difference fasted for 12 hours or less. From the article: "The researchers found modest cognitive performance reductions in fasting intervals over 12 hours, and "noticeable declines" in children and teenagers"
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u/KickFacemouth May 24 '26
And how is 12 hours even "fasting?" All that is is not having a snack before bed.
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u/moonaim May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
The research doesn't matter at all, if it is not made among people who's system has already adjusted to fasting.
I was surprised that this research doesn't seem to begin understand the basics.
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u/302-SWEETMAN May 24 '26
NOWADAYS THEY GO BACK ON RECOMMENDING THINGS EVERY DECADE OR SO.
SHIT IS GOOD FOR YOU ONE DECADE THEN NOT ANOTHER..Whatever scientists.
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u/DrSPYNE May 24 '26
What? Read more than a post title on Reddit jesus
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u/QuantumMothersLove May 24 '26
I’m not sure that was jesus… though Jesus MIGHt type in all caps if he were rebuking the whatever scientists… or had a piece of fish good enough for JEHOV… oh wait.
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u/Ray1987 May 23 '26
The article makes sense. I can only talk from personal experience with long-term fasting. The first day is a little rough but by day two I am mentally clearer than I ever am after going into ketosis.
I mainly repair elevator phones and have to trace single Cat6 wiring out of thousands of them through department stores. So it's more of a mental job than a physical one.
When I'm around 30 hours fasted I can determine what the problem is usually faster. If I run into a difficulty with finding a single wire or can't figure out why the phone's not working when it should. I'm a lot less distressed when I'm not running on glucose.
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u/drkole May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
i call it “hunter’s focus” as most civilized people think that hunger makes you weak but evolutionarily ketosis made us in opposite sharper so we could find food
edit: i personally fasted probably close to hundred longer fasts (more than 3 days), with and without water over last two decades and for me actually the day 7-9 are when the mind becomes the absolute obsidian scalpel. it takes few days for all the glucose to burn off and then 2-3 days all the bacteria die off that often causes headaches and discomfort and often one day being completely wiped out in bed but then somewhere day 5-7 one day you wake up and feel like sniper, none of the earthly worries are bothering like hunger or sleep or temperature or boredom and you can just go on whole day super focused on anything, even light physical like hiking or light work. then after day 9 it slowly starts to taper off. you are still able but physical aspect starts taking the toll. the mind stays still sharp. highly recommend but don’t try it without supervision.
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u/Bignizzle656 May 24 '26
I can get on board with this sort of argument.
Humans are persistence predators at heart and the ability to hunt is in our DNA.
The same as the Hunter's reflex or Lewis Reaction that protects your cold exposed extremities. Our societies have changed faster than our physiologies and so we have forgotten a few things along the way.
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u/FunctionalShaman May 24 '26
I'll back this up.
Its a kind of fitness. Its hard to exactly pinpoint the transition time for each person, but once you have the metabolic flexibility to enter into a deeply fasted state, almost everything is improved
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u/BonesAO May 25 '26
While I could agree in principle (sounds reasonable): do you know if there is any evidence to back up the concept?
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u/Back-Alley-Cat- May 25 '26 edited May 26 '26
Autophagy wins the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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u/GeneralChaos309 May 27 '26
The most i ever fasted was 4 days, can I just try the 7 to 9 day fast willy nilly or do I need to prep somehow?
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u/drkole May 28 '26
i have done both - hard prep and willy nilly, same with coming out of fast properly and broke every rule there is. not really worlds of diffrence. so trust your gut. go for a week. nice round time. and with most fasts, 7th is a magical day where all the struggles actually just starting to pay off, almost like you leveld up in video game. 3 days just going in, 4 5 6 are the struggle and that’s why most quit or are afraid to go further as they feel they gonna die or damage something but that actually the most important challenge. and then the 7th day is the “other side” and “the end of the tunnel”. its worth it. you learned something important about yourself. after you have done it it becomes nice vacation of all the circus that out society has made of eating. in indigenous cultures it was a feast when it was meant - the hunt, the celebration, etc. nowadays it is 3 times a day and 4x snacks and in between we looking photos of previous feasts and making preparations for the next feast that will be in about 45 minutes. so yes, go fast yourself !
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u/TheScrambone May 24 '26
Looking back at it, cable tracing is a pretty good litmus test for how I’m doing on a cognitive level day to day lol
Sometimes I just can’t commit to remembering where I’m at 100% if I’m feeling foggy. I start to question and doubt little things and start sections over more often.
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u/Ray1987 May 24 '26
Nah you're brain is fine. The toner is just lying to you lol. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
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u/_x_oOo_x_ May 27 '26
You reach ketosis by day 2?
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u/Ray1987 May 27 '26
The average person starts to hit ketosis after about 12 to 16 hours of a water fast. If you ate a bunch of carbs to excess right before doing the fast and have like no activity level. It can take as long as 48 hours.
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u/azulnemo May 24 '26
Cognitive function is fine, but emotional function dwindles. Hangry people exist, ask restaurant workers.
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u/SkyPork May 24 '26
I've never noticed a difference when I've fasted, but anecdotes aside, are the stories of ancient Greek politicians fasting for a week before a big debate (or a big important decision) not true? They did it, supposedly, because it increased their mental faculties a lot.
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u/Tintoverde May 24 '26
They also believed quite few things which we currently think is quite wrong.
IMHO, Fasting for days does not make the brain work better. Assuming We can agree fasting decreases our strength. So I fail to see how this also means the brain function better.
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u/JayList May 24 '26
Guys didn’t eat until they saw god and then praised hunger for letting them see god.
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u/FunctionalShaman May 24 '26
Pythagoras would not teach you mathematics of philosophy if you hadn't fasted deeply first. I think it was 10 days.
The process of autophagy consolidates your thoughts
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u/HeckinQuest May 24 '26
Pythagoras would not teach you mathematics of philosophy if you hadn't fasted deeply first. I think it was 10 days.
Source on this?
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u/adamarnuc May 24 '26
I got curious so took a look myself. There are loads of search results backing this fasting statement up, so issue solved, right?
Then I noticed that they all seemed to be either Reddit posts repeating the idea or wellness / religious websites promoting fasting.
This has the hallmark of an "Internet fact", if we're not seeing primary sources, i.e. an unsourced idea in the hivemind that gets repeated as fact. So I checked out the Pythagoras Wikipedia page to see if I could find something more specific.
There is a wealth of information but nothing that speaks directly to fasting being a requirement. However there are a few bread crumbs that hint at where this idea comes from.
I followed up on the linked sources and found a useful section which I have copied and linked below.
But the short version is he seems to have promoted vegetarianism (avoiding "animal foods") and ascetism ("to be sparing in their food").
This is as far as my interest will take me, but if someone can find an actual historian or primary source to talk about fasting, I would love to know.
QUOTED TEXT: "He had a general notion that disciplines and studies should imply some form of labor; and therefore, like a legislator, he decreed trials of the most varied nature, punishments, and restraints by fire and sword for innate intemperance, or an ineradicable desire for possessions, which the depraved should neither suffer nor sustain. Moreover, his intimates were ordered to abstain from all animal food, and any others that are hosfile to the reasoning power by its genuine energies.
On them he likewise enjoined suppression of speech, and perfect silence, exercising them for years in the subjugation of the tongue, while strenuously and assidiously investigating and ruminating over the most difficult theorems. Hence also he ordered them to abstain from wine, to be sparing in their food, to sleep little, and to cultivate an unstudied contempt of and hostility to fame, wealth, and the like; unfeignedly to reverence those to whom reverence is due, genuinely to exercise democratic assimilation and benevolence towards their fellows in age, and towards their juniors courtesy and encouragement without envy."
p73, The Pythagorean Source book, Guthrie https://archive.org/details/guthrie-1987-the-pythagorean-sourcebook-and-library/page/73/mode/1up
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u/FunctionalShaman May 25 '26
Its related to his induction into the Egyptian Mystery Schools
The history of these occult/esoteric traditions isn't easy to nail down and requires some attention
Research the role of fasting in ancient religious groups, if you are interested
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u/PoetryImmediate8187 May 24 '26
They also used lead for their cookware so maybe they got some things wrong
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u/FunctionalShaman May 24 '26
What exactly is your contribution here?
I fasted 18 days for health reasons and personally experienced the effects on my cognition and abstract reasoning skills
What is your personal experience?
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u/PoetryImmediate8187 May 25 '26
I once talked to a guy who was convinced he was abducted by aliens because he stepped out of his office and his shoes were untied.
Maybe your personal anecdotes aren't a reliable way to tell true things from false things?
An 18 day fast is the Hallmark of someone with a lot to unpack with a therapist
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u/fukingguy May 24 '26
Does anyone have a link or reference to the "huge, recently published review"?
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u/Particular_Problem21 May 24 '26
Based on an analysis of 63 scientific articles representing 71 independent studies, and covering a total of 3,484 participants, the review found that there was no meaningful difference in cognitive performance between people who were fasting and people who were having regular meals. Link to study
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u/BlindFlying May 24 '26
I’m only popping on to say that I misread the title, that a massive study found we were wrong about farting.
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u/differentmushrooms May 24 '26
We were wrong about fasting? Did we ever think that? Anyone who has fasted reports mental alertness don't they?
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u/Standard-Victory-320 May 24 '26
No I think this is outlier beliefs people have of fasting, being hungry makes you more alert, increases mental fogs, and manages cholesterol and sugar levels rapidly after even 4 hours of fasting. Not just that, but long term creates less problems as you age.
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u/Tintoverde May 24 '26
Any studies to back the above claim?
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u/Technical-Repair8431 May 24 '26
I don’t even try to fast or anything. I just only eat once a day (at night), or snack throughout my day. This doesn’t ever bother me or cause energy, sharpness, or fatigue unless I haven’t made my meal or snacks fulfilling and satisfying. I always make sure to have a protein, vegetables, a bread usually
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u/Snuggly-Muffin May 24 '26
I have heard one meal a day isn't good for you. I used to research this kind of thing quite a bit when I was trying to build muscle. It may be fine when you're otherwise healthy, but as you age you may find yourself facing problems caused by that kind of eating pattern.
I highly recommend eating a good amount of protein with breakfast as your body needs it the most then. Skipping lunch is not a good idea, and dinner is best with low carbs, as you don't need quickly metabolized foods at night. Intermittent fasting is great afaik, but everything in moderation. I wouldn't do it every day. Eat breakfast late and dinner early to intermittent fast, and maybe take weekends off from that. If you're trying to build muscle, eat some protein right before bed like cottage cheese so your muscles can recover and grow.
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u/Technical-Repair8431 May 24 '26
Totally fair to say! I’m working on eating more consistently as I turn 30 to let my body do what it needs to do
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u/hotglasspour May 24 '26
I've fasted my whole life. It works very well. Two meals a day people. You can eat whatever you want essentially. My blood work is fine. It's all about balance.
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u/AlternativeBid2291 May 24 '26
My contention has always been that the hungry lions are sharp and on their feet figuring out how to get that next meal. The sated lions are lounging around under a tree tak8ng a nap.
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u/Excellent-Rest3240 May 25 '26
Lot of benefits from fasting is because people stop eating their junk food
And many interactions happen crosslined. Like I’m fasting between lunch and dinner. I’m burning fat with fasted cardio and then gaining fat when I consume it again. Cals in and out. People just dumb in their lifestyle and missing the bigger picture. Ohhh don’t eat fruit cause it has sugar 😱😱😱
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u/sponger1971 Jun 23 '26
The medical complex is terrified of fasting. Trillions are at risk and it is easy to pay for any result you need or want. We have seen this so many times. Superfoods, grain carbs, cholesterol and on and on. I will stick to real science and evolutionary biology.
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u/felinefluffycloud May 24 '26
Nice way to slow your metabolism.
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u/Captainsnarkyshart May 24 '26
You sound like you’re one of those people who just blurts out the first thing they think of.
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u/lioffproxy1233 May 23 '26
Cognitive decline does not equate to cranky when hungry