I think fasting and ketogenic diet is helping boost my recovery...

[Deleted Account]

Take this with a pinch of salt since i am not a doctor and i am not 100% sure BUT...
I'm one of those desperate cases with a more than 2 years (still lasting) flatline, in the last period i've seen some huge improvements (that i've never seen in 2 years) but the strange thing is that the period i started fasting and the period i saw improvements coincide eachother!!! It was only when i started fasting that my paws (long lasting flatline) improved! I didn't know fasting could help me with my flatline, i started doing only because i wanted to clean myself and everyone on the internet was claiming its benefits so i wanted to try it. I started fasting at first one day at a week and then i did 5 days in a row, it was only after those 5 days that i saw my first improvements in 2 years!!! Better mood, clearer mind, more energy ect... it was like dark and light!! I started so documenting a bit and what i found is this: basically when you fast after some hours (24-48) your body runs out of glucose (which is the "main" fuel for the brain) and starts burning fats stored in your body. These fats are then broken up into ketones which are also a great fuel for your brain. Now the funny thing is, these ketones have the ability to repair the brain much more efficiently than glucose. Scientists are seeing improvements even with people with Alzhaimer or Parkinson!!! I'm not gonna put all the studies here but there's a whole science on it, just google a bit and you'll find everything!! Basically when you fast the body goes into a sort of emergency mode and starts to repair it self!
Now, since fasting is great to do for some days here and there, it's not something that is sustainable for the long term (for a very obvious reason ahahah) BUT there is also another way to produce ketones and it is stopping to eat every form of carbohydrates (even sugar from fruit) so that your body has no glucose to burn and produces ketones in the same way as fasting but this time it takes them from the food you eat and not from your body (the ketogenic diet).
Guys i am now on a ketogenic diet and honestly my withdrawal symptoms are way better than before (brain fog, mood, energy levels), if it can help speed my recovery i will continue doing it till i will be completely healed (i can no longer stand this 2+ years flatline)!
I don't know guys, i may be completely wrong on this and maybe is just a pure coincidence, but some science is there and this is what it really happened to me so i hope it works for me and for all the others too!!

 

[atub]

This is really interesting to hear, and on some level makes sense with regard to something Tywin Lannister mentioned in the PAWS thread.

Endorphin resistance. And it creates havoc in more than 500 functions in the human body..

Endorphin resistance and dopamine resistance go hand in hand and will also create insuline resistance (pre-diabetes) in the long run.

It stands to reason that if the same system that affects dopamine and endorphins also has a hand in insulin regulation, then a Ketogenic diet may be a way to short circuit some of the resistance. I've heard people who are truly going on a Keto diet also talk about "the keto flu" which they seem to experience for the first week or so of the diet - it's effectively sugar withdraw - and it seems to be the same symptoms that many fapstronauts feel when they first come off years of PMO. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to do a real study of this, but this seems like it's worth a real scientific study. If this is the case, then this could have implciations for a lot of other dopamine related addictions.

I'll give this a shot starting in the new year. (I would start now, but I'll be visiting family over the next couple of weeks and I don't want to be "that guy" who refuses to eat anything at family get-togethers.) Worst case, I end up with a healthier diet and drop a few pounds. Best case, you've given us a clue as to how to mitigate some of the affects of flatline and PAWS.

 

[Mkwarrior214]

Take this with a pinch of salt since i am not a doctor and i am not 100% sure BUT...
I'm one of those desperate cases with a more than 2 years (still lasting) flatline, in the last period i've seen some huge improvements (that i've never seen in 2 years) but the strange thing is that the period i started fasting and the period i saw improvements coincide eachother!!! It was only when i started fasting that my paws (long lasting flatline) improved! I didn't know fasting could help me with my flatline, i started doing only because i wanted to clean myself and everyone on the internet was claiming its benefits so i wanted to try it. I started fasting at first one day at a week and then i did 5 days in a row, it was only after those 5 days that i saw my first improvements in 2 years!!! Better mood, clearer mind, more energy ect... it was like dark and light!! I started so documenting a bit and what i found is this: basically when you fast after some hours (24-48) your body runs out of glucose (which is the "main" fuel for the brain) and starts burning fats stored in your body. These fats are then broken up into ketones which are also a great fuel for your brain. Now the funny thing is, these ketones have the ability to repair the brain much more efficiently than glucose. Scientists are seeing improvements even with people with Alzhaimer or Parkinson!!! I'm not gonna put all the studies here but there's a whole science on it, just google a bit and you'll find everything!! Basically when you fast the body goes into a sort of emergency mode and starts to repair it self!
Now, since fasting is great to do for some days here and there, it's not something that is sustainable for the long term (for a very obvious reason ahahah) BUT there is also another way to produce ketones and it is stopping to eat every form of carbohydrates (even sugar from fruit) so that your body has no glucose to burn and produces ketones in the same way as fasting but this time it takes them from the food you eat and not from your body (the ketogenic diet).
Guys i am now on a ketogenic diet and honestly my withdrawal symptoms are way better than before (brain fog, mood, energy levels), if it can help speed my recovery i will continue doing it till i will be completely healed (i can no longer stand this 2+ years flatline)!
I don't know guys, i may be completely wrong on this and maybe is just a pure coincidence, but some science is there and this is what it really happened to me so i hope it works for me and for all the others too!!

My friend ,I'm very glad you mentioned this, because all my big steaks of 36 to 42 days all happened with the ketogenic (almost)diet. My diet back then was no grains,sugar,no dairy at all (paleo style) . My staples was chicken soup with leek onions and garlic that I was preparing every 3 days, chicken, 3-5 egg omelette with a ton of vegetables, x2 beef steak per week a ton of different nuts and seeds, avocados,low carb fruits like blueberries and raspberries.Also pure
omega 3 from a Norway brand , turmeric and good probiotic.

To my surprise the amino acid l -tyrosine and magnesium glycinate that never worked for me....both worked like wonder after following this diet for 30 something days....!
L Tyrosine helped my mood and stress a lot ,but it only worked when got my gut ready for it.
I always had some bottles of aminos for mood like haha and tyrosine that did nothing to me.
Then one day after following this diet,I took some tyrosine without expecting anything and omg my flatline symptoms lessened by 70%.
That means to me that this kind of diet not only made my withdrawal from 10 /10 intensity to 4/10 and my urges were way less, but also healed my absorbion of nutrients in general!

I suggest everyone read the book 'why isn't my brain working '

Exercise, reading books and no net at all helps me a lot as well.
Now I'm not a doctor..
I'm just recording my mood and strategies in a journal the last 4 years that I'm trying to recover from pmo addiction.

I need to try this again..asap

 

[Deleted Account]

This is really interesting, I prove some of what you have mentioned. My withdrawals symptoms felt less when I fast, also it helped me well in controlling my depression, Anxiety symptoms and brainfog. Fasting has a lot of benifits

 

[Wolfyoufeed]

I will attest to these benefits too. I had what I felt to be a near death experience that caused me to change diet, research the heck out of alternative and natural medicines.

Here’s what I experienced: fasting and dry fasting vastly improved my mental control. The way I describe it, “ the more control in NoFap, the more control I had in all other areas and vice-versa.”

I switched to a mostly raw plant based diet with an occasional fish/chicken meal. I made sure even when I ate those, I had fruits or veggies. Stopped the dairy, sugar and bread.

Before I did NoFap, I had trouble doing a simple Juice fast, but after... I was able to do more and more. My longest was a 35 hr dry fast, only halted by my wife who didn’t understand why and was worried I was killing myself by starvation. This is hilarious.. as I love food and I’m not the sort to go without it.. but I honestly didn’t feel hungry on the dry fast, and no side effects either.

Of course I’m no doctor, but for me, I’m interested in trying it again.

 

[Deleted Account]

I will attest to these benefits too. I had what I felt to be a near death experience that caused me to change diet, research the heck out of alternative and natural medicines.

Here’s what I experienced: fasting and dry fasting vastly improved my mental control. The way I describe it, “ the more control in NoFap, the more control I had in all other areas and vice-versa.”

I switched to a mostly raw plant based diet with an occasional fish/chicken meal. I made sure even when I ate those, I had fruits or veggies. Stopped the dairy, sugar and bread.

Before I did NoFap, I had trouble doing a simple Juice fast, but after... I was able to do more and more. My longest was a 35 hr dry fast, only halted by my wife who didn’t understand why and was worried I was killing myself by starvation. This is hilarious.. as I love food and I’m not the sort to go without it.. but I honestly didn’t feel hungry on the dry fast, and no side effects either.

Of course I’m no doctor, but for me, I’m interested in trying it again.

This is interesting. The methodology of fasting differs according to cultural/religious/conceptual aspects. In Islam, Fasting is one of our main pillars of it, there is a number of events in which a person may fast through out the year, mainly Ramadan month. The fasting starts from Fajr timing(before sunrise in some period) till the sunset, that no drinking nor eating nor any sexual arousal is allowed.

 

[Deleted Account]

Thanks @when every hope is lost.

Will be doing this.

 

[Thisandthat]

Take this with a pinch of salt since i am not a doctor and i am not 100% sure BUT...
I'm one of those desperate cases with a more than 2 years (still lasting) flatline, in the last period i've seen some huge improvements (that i've never seen in 2 years) but the strange thing is that the period i started fasting and the period i saw improvements coincide eachother!!! It was only when i started fasting that my paws (long lasting flatline) improved! I didn't know fasting could help me with my flatline, i started doing only because i wanted to clean myself and everyone on the internet was claiming its benefits so i wanted to try it. I started fasting at first one day at a week and then i did 5 days in a row, it was only after those 5 days that i saw my first improvements in 2 years!!! Better mood, clearer mind, more energy ect... it was like dark and light!! I started so documenting a bit and what i found is this: basically when you fast after some hours (24-48) your body runs out of glucose (which is the "main" fuel for the brain) and starts burning fats stored in your body. These fats are then broken up into ketones which are also a great fuel for your brain. Now the funny thing is, these ketones have the ability to repair the brain much more efficiently than glucose. Scientists are seeing improvements even with people with Alzhaimer or Parkinson!!! I'm not gonna put all the studies here but there's a whole science on it, just google a bit and you'll find everything!! Basically when you fast the body goes into a sort of emergency mode and starts to repair it self!
Now, since fasting is great to do for some days here and there, it's not something that is sustainable for the long term (for a very obvious reason ahahah) BUT there is also another way to produce ketones and it is stopping to eat every form of carbohydrates (even sugar from fruit) so that your body has no glucose to burn and produces ketones in the same way as fasting but this time it takes them from the food you eat and not from your body (the ketogenic diet).
Guys i am now on a ketogenic diet and honestly my withdrawal symptoms are way better than before (brain fog, mood, energy levels), if it can help speed my recovery i will continue doing it till i will be completely healed (i can no longer stand this 2+ years flatline)!
I don't know guys, i may be completely wrong on this and maybe is just a pure coincidence, but some science is there and this is what it really happened to me so i hope it works for me and for all the others too!!

When you say you felt clear minded, better mood, more energy, was it only during the fast you felt that, or did those benefits stay after the fast as well?

 

[Deleted Account]

When you say you felt clear minded, better mood, more energy, was it only during the fast you felt that, or did those benefits stay after the fast as well?

this is a very good point!!! Well honestly i would say that i carried afterwards with me only 1/10 (or even less) of the benefits that i felt while fasting. It was like this...just to give you an example...but let's say before fasting from a scale of well being between -100 and +100 i would fell -80, i would fast and after 2 or 3 days of fast i would feel -40 and 2 or 3 days after i stopped fasting i would feel -78. hope u get it. It's a very little improvement but you know in this long lasting flatline everything matters and with time every little step summed up matters. Yoga, fasting, breathing techniques, good food, avoiding technology...everything adds a miniscule stone or a small brick that with time will help you build your wall of recovery, that's my small take on it based on my personal experience. Btw i was that "deleted account" who created this post, hope to have answered