The Psychological Effects of Short-Term Fasting in Healthy Women.
OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to investigate affective responses to 18-h fasting in healthy controls. In particular, the study focused on self-reported mood, irritability, sense of achievement, reward, pride, and control.


METHODS
Participants were a non-clinical sample of 52 women with a mean age of 25. A repeated-measures design was used, whereby participants provided diary measures of psychological variables throughout both 18-h fasting and non-fasting periods.


RESULTS
Fasting led to increased irritability, and also to positive affective experiences of increased sense of achievement, reward, pride, and control.


CONCLUSIONS
Even short-term fasting in healthy controls can lead to positive psychological experiences. This lends support to cognitive-behavioral and cognitive-interpersonal models of ANR, which suggest that dietary restriction is maintained through positive reinforcement.
East London and City Foundation NHS Trust , London , UK.
Ellen
E
Watkins
University College London, London, UK; North East London Foundation NHS Trust, Dagenham, Essex, UK.
Lucy
L
Serpell
emotions; fasting; healthy individuals; psychology; starvation