I’ve just started fasting 3 days a week, with no food between 6pm one day to 6pm the next. I find the afternoon really difficult and get what I’ve heard to referred to as ‘brain fog.’ I’m just not ‘on it’ and find it hard to concentrate, particularly on anything complex.

I’ve had this before when doing the fast800 diet, and it lasted about a week, when my body adapted to using fat rather than carbs, but when intermittent fasting, I’m wondering if my body will adapt in the same way or this is just what’s to come every afternoon when I fast!

I’d love to hear from anyone who has had experience with this.

Hi JF – are you taking any electrolytes or salt during your fast? That would be my first point of call, assuming you are drinking enough water.
Are you having coffee during your fast? If you normally have coffee and suddenly cut it out you may also be feeling a bit of caffeine withdrawal. Black coffee / tea is ok to have on a fast.
a mug of stock / broth is another option to help you get through the foggy parts of the day.

I have done up various 24hr; 36hr, 48hr fasts and one 72hr fast. I did find alternate day fasting (not eating mondys, wednesdays and fridays) more difficult than a weekly longer fast. I think 20-24hr is the hardest point and repeating that part 3 times a week was not a lot of fun. I prefer fasting Thursday lunchtime to Saturday lunchtime for example.

Worth playing around with it to find what suits you. But salts and electrolytes will help. Your body needs them and normally gets sufficient quantities from food….so if your not eating you will need to add some in.

Thanks – I’ll try electrolytes and see if that helps.
I had a much better day yesterday (my 5th fast day) so hopefully, that’s a good sign that my body is getting used to things.

Three weeks in and the brain fog is much improved. I still get it, and am best avoiding complex work tasks on fasting afternoons, but it is much better!

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I had similar issues during the initial days of my IF. Brain fog was so weird that I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Then I learned that adding some herbs to your daily diet can actually take care of that issue while fasting. So I followed iahas.com and came to know herbs like Ashwagandha, Brahmi, Guduchi, and Shankhapushpi work great to prevent brain fog, and it did work for me.

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I used to sit on hunger until I fainted. It’s the worst way to lose weight… Unloading days are useful, but not starvation. But I thought ( like many people) that eating is bad for you and not eating, then you will lose weight immediately. And this is stupidity and delusion. The right thing to do is to eat a balanced diet. And it’s better to eat a little of everything than not to eat at all.

Actually there are some amazing (life extending even) benefits of fasting. This video demonstrates some of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzmacu2TgFg&ab_channel=Dr.StenEkberg

But there is another problem, many people think that a balanced and proper diet is always something that does not taste good. But it is not. If you look hard enough, you can find very tasty and unique dishes. But for me it’s easier to order food, because it’s more convenient and you don’t have to make anything up.

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