Back in early 2020, I read an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) about the benefits of intermittent fasting and brain health. The article listed many benefits, only one of which was a defense against Alzheimer's disease. The proposed mechanism with respect to brain health was that fasting encouraged the body to produce the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), much as happens in sustained aerobic exercise. We, of course, discussed BDNF and exercise in Beating the Dementia Monster. BDNF can repair damaged brain cells and prompt stem cells in the hippocampus to form new neurons. The NEJM article prompted me to begin a daily fast, which I continue to this day.
When I began, the first thing I noticed after only two weeks was relief from arthritis in my neck. Six months or so later, I had relief from arthritis in my lower back. This seems to reflect a reduction in inflammation. I also lost weight at first, but my body seemed to get used to the fasting, and it was still the same challenge to keep my weight under control.
Since then, the scientific understanding of fasting and brain health has advanced, and I've posted whenever I've seen news. If fact, I've posted more than 12 times about it.
So now, there's more news, this time from the Buck Institute. The association of fasting with BDNF is clearly not the whole story. Some new research was published in Nature which now associates the positive effect with the work of a specific gene, OXR1. This gene protects cells from oxidative damage, an important factor in Alzheimer's disease.
The article, "OXR1 Maintains the Retromer to Delay Brain Aging Under Dietary Restriction," is a bit more complex than I want to get into on this forum. Also, the research is more with fruit flies than human beings. So I'm not sure how much it really tells us. But the researchers are all excited about its implications. Of course, it's not pointing to a new treatment program, it's just trying to explain another way in which intermittent fasting is good for brain health.
A press release from Buck Institute quoted one researcher: “When people restrict the amount of food that they eat, they typically think it might affect their digestive tract or fat buildup, but not necessarily about how it affects the brain,” said Kenneth Wilson, PhD, Buck postdoc and first author of the study, published online on January 11, 2024 in Nature Communications. “As it turns out, this is a gene that is important in the brain.”
So do I think three years of intermittent fasting has helped my brain? I have no idea. I'm doing everything I can to protect my brain, and I just know that it all really works. At least for me. Which tools in the dementia toolkit have the most effect? There's no way to tell, but I sure will keep doing them all!
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