Why does fasting make you high?
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: Mr. Hüther, you made hunger into a research project, so to speak ...
HÜTHER: Wait, fasting is not the same as starvation. When fasting one chooses to voluntarily, temporarily - so a maximum of 40 days - not to take food, only to drink, although there is enough to eat.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: But how does my head know if I am voluntarily fasting or forced to starve?
HÜTHER: If the blood sugar level goes down, this is usually a threatening message. The nerve cells that constantly measure him report it to the hunger center in the midbrain, which immediately mobilizes all forces to search for food. If this is not successful, the red alert level applies; stress hormones flood the body. Some of the patients we examined for our studies in a fasting clinic also responded. These were the ones who were condemned by the doctor to the cure. Although medical assistance is recommended, the decision to fast is voluntary. Then the assessment center in the cerebral cortex classifies the situation as non-threatening. The famine signal is called back before the stomach growls.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: But in the first few days one feels rather lousy. Why is that?
HÜTHER: The metabolism has to switch from external food intake to the use of its own fat reserves. Each cell notices that there is not enough energy and sends corresponding signals. Since we are usually so well, we are not used to it, we feel like we have a fever. This usually takes only three days.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: Instead, comes the much-token fasting high?
HÜTHER: There's something in it. The brain then increasingly releases the happiness hormone serotonin. It causes a state of inner harmonization. Faster people feel more connected with themselves and the world, are more relaxed and open to new perceptions. A very similar effect trigger certain psychotropic drugs. Being stronger than hunger also raises self-esteem.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: So you can become smoothly dependent ...
HÜTHER: The high feelings triggered by fasting can actually make you addicted if you have mental problems and discover that fear and insecurity can be switched off. If you want to fast, you should consult a doctor.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: Can one still sleep with so much confusion in body and soul?
HÜTHER: Fasting people do not sleep so long, but still feel relaxed. They also sleep less deeply, making it easier to reach areas just below the wake threshold, where dreams are more intense, easier to remember. A fascinating phenomenon, which we discovered in our last study, but which we can not explain yet.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: Where does the body take the momentum when the energy supply fails?
HÜTHER: 80 percent of the total energy balance is claimed by the head, every brain activity costs a lot of power. And the more daily rush we have, the more circuits are activated to counteract the pressure. Through the increased release of serotonin during fasting the head comes to rest, energy is released, can be used differently.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: How long do the positive effects last if I stop fasting?
HÜTHER: Head and body switch back to normal operation about three days after breaking the fast, also the serotonin level drops to the old level. But what remains is a new experience - to have achieved something that one would hardly have expected. That can last a long time.
