I was grumpy, not technically depressed. I wanted to know if eating would cure my grumpiness, but I didn't want to break my fast to find out.

Anyhow, I broke my fast, and the grumpiness lifted.

Searching for "fasting depression" is a form of selection bias. There is so much information that I was sure to find hits. I just expected them in the other direction... fasting causes grumpiness, not fasting cures depression. As for the latter, I have no idea and I really don't care. It wasn't what I was looking for.

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Discussion

How long were you fasting for?

I was going to do 36 hours again, because I had done it 4 times now and it was so easy and I lost so much weight. It had only been about 22 hours. Longer fasts are easier, but muscle loss is more of a risk. I am doing resistance exercises and hill climbing to prevent that.

Here is my personal, anecdotal, uniformed opinion

Long fasts (more than a day) are always going to be uncomfortable experiences. Some people like the discomfort, and there can be benefits, but especially considering we’ve been accustomed to 3 meals a day for our whole lives, it is not a very pleasant experience.

Fasting in general is just a tool to improve your relationship with food and your overall health.

For people living in environments with tons of horrible fiat food and who over consume junk, fasting can be life changing because it sets a simple but strict limit on consumption. It also typically gets paired with whole food or higher fat content foods when you’re not fasting, which has even more benefits.

If something is causing you more suffering then you feel is valuable, don’t do it. It’s 100% an individual experience and everyone has a different optimal balance for their diet.

If you already are healthy and have a healthy relationship with food and good eating habits, you probably won’t get much out of regular fasting. In my life, my most optimal diet is whole foods and an 8 hour eating window, but I admit that even this can be hard to manage with an active lifestyle.

And yes, do I like sharing my opinion 🤣☠️ consider it a response to the question of why people enjoy peddling fasting so much