Fasting in mood disorders: neurobiology and effectiveness. A review of the literature.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Systematic review summarizing mechanistic hypotheses and uncontrolled clinical observations without quantitative randomized trial synthesis.
PubMed 23332541 · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2012.12.018
What was done
The authors conducted a literature review across Medline, Web of Science, and PsycInfo following PRISMA guidelines using search terms combining fasting or caloric restriction with mental health, depressive disorders, mood, or anxiety. The review synthesized neurobiological hypotheses and clinical reports regarding the safety and effects of therapeutic fasting on mood function.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical outcome data, meta-analytic statistics, or study counts. It notes clinical reports of acute reductions in depressive symptoms between day 2 and day 7 of fasting, alongside self-reported increases in mood, alertness, and tranquility. Proposed biological mechanisms include changes in neurotransmitter levels, sleep architecture, and neurotrophic factor synthesis. The persistence of mood changes over time was not established.
Why it matters
This review maps hypothesized neurobiological mechanisms and early clinical observations linking supervised caloric restriction to acute mood changes, framing therapeutic fasting as a candidate for structured psychiatric research.
Limits
No quantitative effect sizes, participant totals, or control group comparisons are reported in the abstract. Findings appear largely drawn from observational reports and mechanistic literature, with unknown long-term efficacy and safety in clinical mood disorder populations.
Cited by
- supports Studies administering mood questionnaires to patients fasting for conditions like pain demonstrate that fasting has mood-elevating effects.