Dopamine Fasting 101
June 22, 2019 10:06 AM Subscribe
[ADHD Filter] I'm trying to learn more about dopamine fasting and whether or not it's right for me.
For context, I'm a cisgender woman with ADHD, early 30's. I've been in CBT and psychiatric care for my ADHD for over a decade- so I already see a therapist, take medication that works well for me, and have a lot of other ADHD lifehacks in my toolbox. I'm also not looking to use dopamine fasting to avoid other critical good habits (like sufficient sleep/rest, sufficient hydration, or regular exercise - I'm big on doing all three of those). This is just a question about what dopamine fasting is like, best practices, what to definitely try, what to avoid, the limitations of dopamine fasting, etc.
There are a lot of Google results, including at least one peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Neurophysiology, but I'm also seeing some results that look a shade too b*yzone/r*d p*ll-adjacent for my taste. [I could be wrong about this but I'm also not here today to debate this.]
If you've dopamine-fasted in the past, can you tell me about your experience? What you tried, what worked and didn't work?
What are the best online resources to consult?
Bonus points if you're someone with ADHD who has tried dopamine fasting. However, I still welcome and encourage responses from those who've tried dopamine fasting and don't have ADHD.
For context, I'm a cisgender woman with ADHD, early 30's. I've been in CBT and psychiatric care for my ADHD for over a decade- so I already see a therapist, take medication that works well for me, and have a lot of other ADHD lifehacks in my toolbox. I'm also not looking to use dopamine fasting to avoid other critical good habits (like sufficient sleep/rest, sufficient hydration, or regular exercise - I'm big on doing all three of those). This is just a question about what dopamine fasting is like, best practices, what to definitely try, what to avoid, the limitations of dopamine fasting, etc.
There are a lot of Google results, including at least one peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Neurophysiology, but I'm also seeing some results that look a shade too b*yzone/r*d p*ll-adjacent for my taste. [I could be wrong about this but I'm also not here today to debate this.]
If you've dopamine-fasted in the past, can you tell me about your experience? What you tried, what worked and didn't work?
What are the best online resources to consult?
Bonus points if you're someone with ADHD who has tried dopamine fasting. However, I still welcome and encourage responses from those who've tried dopamine fasting and don't have ADHD.
FYI, per quick Googling, dopamine fasting appears to be only partly related to food, so people who answer should make sure they understand what it is.
posted by FencingGal at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
I clicked the link to the peer reviewed study in the question, which was only about food restriction.
I should have been clearer that the other things forbidden during a dopamine fast were always forbidden when I was practicing the religion: drugs, alcohol, caffeine, masturbation, and so on.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 11:52 AM on June 22, 2019
I should have been clearer that the other things forbidden during a dopamine fast were always forbidden when I was practicing the religion: drugs, alcohol, caffeine, masturbation, and so on.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 11:52 AM on June 22, 2019
There's not (yet) any clinical evidence that "dopamine fasting" has any benefit.
The linked article is in young adult male mice (incredibly inbred ones, but that's par for course) and is only an imaging study, without any behavioural stuff.
But yeah, it's not really a thing. There are definitely (although pretty minor) benefits to fasting/ partial fasting but its being overly hyped in this situation (I'd go so far as to say that it's bs).
The only peer reviewed article I could find using 'dopamine fasting adhd' in pubmed is an unrelated one regarding fasting and antipsychotic medication.
A semi-relevant one looks at serotonin, dopamine, BDNF, and NGF levels in people fasting for Ramadan. Dopamine was unafffected, whereas the serum levels of the other molecules interrogated did vary (to varying degrees, but not by a whole lot, despite meeting statistical significance).
posted by porpoise at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
The linked article is in young adult male mice (incredibly inbred ones, but that's par for course) and is only an imaging study, without any behavioural stuff.
But yeah, it's not really a thing. There are definitely (although pretty minor) benefits to fasting/ partial fasting but its being overly hyped in this situation (I'd go so far as to say that it's bs).
The only peer reviewed article I could find using 'dopamine fasting adhd' in pubmed is an unrelated one regarding fasting and antipsychotic medication.
A semi-relevant one looks at serotonin, dopamine, BDNF, and NGF levels in people fasting for Ramadan. Dopamine was unafffected, whereas the serum levels of the other molecules interrogated did vary (to varying degrees, but not by a whole lot, despite meeting statistical significance).
posted by porpoise at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
This Medium article relates one person’s experience. It also includes, at least in the article, no reading and no conversation.
Something not having been studied is not the same as being proven not to work, and it looks like it hasn’t been studied. And you might not want to wait ten or twenty years for the studies you’d need to be published. There’s certainly no harm in trying it, with the possible exception of people with some kinds of severe mental illness. If you hate it, you can quit at any time.
posted by FencingGal at 1:11 PM on June 22, 2019
Something not having been studied is not the same as being proven not to work, and it looks like it hasn’t been studied. And you might not want to wait ten or twenty years for the studies you’d need to be published. There’s certainly no harm in trying it, with the possible exception of people with some kinds of severe mental illness. If you hate it, you can quit at any time.
posted by FencingGal at 1:11 PM on June 22, 2019
I've done a dopamine fast as outlined in the Medium article linked above. I was living in the deep jungle for a month so avoiding screen time was much easier (no electricity). I did 24 hr food fasting occasionally, and when I did that I didnt read or talk to anyone.
Even with no screen time, reading was challenging to give up. When you're hungry and have meditated as much as you can, you do want to 'check out'. But going for walks did help. It definitely changed the way I perceived my habits -- it's hard to be objective when you're constantly engaged with those patterns. I found it useful in that regard.
It's not for everyone, but if you're interested in exploring your relationship to dopamine activation in your habits, it could be valuable.
posted by ananci at 1:49 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Even with no screen time, reading was challenging to give up. When you're hungry and have meditated as much as you can, you do want to 'check out'. But going for walks did help. It definitely changed the way I perceived my habits -- it's hard to be objective when you're constantly engaged with those patterns. I found it useful in that regard.
It's not for everyone, but if you're interested in exploring your relationship to dopamine activation in your habits, it could be valuable.
posted by ananci at 1:49 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
This Metiza article resonates with me. Tl;dr the author slept a lot, felt cold, was bored, hungry and unproductive. But she did do some yoga, walking, and reflecting, which was nice.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 2:36 PM on June 22, 2019
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 2:36 PM on June 22, 2019
It also includes, at least in the article, no reading and no conversation.
oho yes it does:
"Try to trade in one hour of entertainment for one hour of reading"
someone who isn't entertained by reading books is only qualified to give advice on worldly pleasures to people who are just as weird as he is. I will also add that if he thinks a regular coffee drinker's otherworldly withdrawal pains are due to dopamine addiction he does not know one chemical from another.
if your life is very similar to his, you may get the good results he describes and no reason not to try it out regardless. but for christ's sake taper the caffeine down to zero slowly, over a week or two, before starting the official 'fast' unless you are just in it for the masochism. which I do respect.
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:53 PM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
oho yes it does:
"Try to trade in one hour of entertainment for one hour of reading"
someone who isn't entertained by reading books is only qualified to give advice on worldly pleasures to people who are just as weird as he is. I will also add that if he thinks a regular coffee drinker's otherworldly withdrawal pains are due to dopamine addiction he does not know one chemical from another.
if your life is very similar to his, you may get the good results he describes and no reason not to try it out regardless. but for christ's sake taper the caffeine down to zero slowly, over a week or two, before starting the official 'fast' unless you are just in it for the masochism. which I do respect.
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:53 PM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
It also includes, at least in the article, no reading and no conversation.
oho yes it does:
"Try to trade in one hour of entertainment for one hour of reading"
I don't want to get into back and forth so I'll stop after this, but that's general advice, not referring to the fast. He says the fast is no reading.
posted by FencingGal at 5:48 PM on June 22, 2019
oho yes it does:
"Try to trade in one hour of entertainment for one hour of reading"
I don't want to get into back and forth so I'll stop after this, but that's general advice, not referring to the fast. He says the fast is no reading.
posted by FencingGal at 5:48 PM on June 22, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
At best, I would sometimes feel something between clarity and mania toward the end of the fast. But plenty of times I didn't feel that, and just felt weak and headachey, lacking energy and lacking focus.
Always, I would struggle for the next couple of days to get my food & sleep schedule back on track, meaning I would feel hungry at non-mealtimes, no appetite at mealtimes, sleepy in the day, wired at night, and it would use a lot of my willpower just to get back to normal. Timing the 24 hours to fall after a slightly early lunch one day through a slightly late lunch the next day, helps but doesn't completely solve this.
Since no longer having a religious reason to fast, I don't do it. I benefit from maintaining a really rigid food and sleep schedule.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 11:12 AM on June 22, 2019