Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Discord link: discord.gg/yHUhW2Wjc7
Research Papers: dryfastingclub.com/studies
The Scorch Protocol: scorchprotocol.com
I know the grip that addiction can have on your life—the constant tug-of-war between the need for just one more hit and the deep desire to break free. One more before you start your homework. One more before I go to bed. I've been there, in the throes of an addiction that seemed to define my very existence. Dry fasting is your answer, it’s so much more powerful than water fasting when it comes to improving willpower and breaking bad habits. Forget Mindfulness, support groups, therapy, goals and boundaries. Yes, those things are nice, but they haven’t been able to help you so far right? Dry fasting is the ultimate hack. Just make sure you do it correctly.
Let’s start with neurotransmitters. This theory suggests that extended fasting can help reset the brain's reward system. Addictive behaviors, including gambling, video games, or unhealthy eating, are often driven by the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. Dopamine is the brain's way of giving us a high-five for a job well done, motivating us to keep going and pursue our goals. Yes, these addicting behaviors hijack our dopamine system, and instead keep high-fiving us to keep doing the addicting behavior. Now we know there’s this thing called Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) and that it is increased during fasting. It’s important for neuronal growth, plasticity, and modulating neurotransmitters. We used to think that stressors would activate BDNF, but research has shown that even intense exercise has little effect on BDNF, while extended fasting of only 2 days improved BDNF by 350%. Ok, this is looking good, but what about neurotransmitters? Well, there’s a 5-day dry fast study that shows that dry fasting actually increases our neurotransmitter levels. Similarly to things like cold plunges, this upregulation trains our body to be able to produce them in higher amounts, which is good. Here’s the most important part. During a fast, the usual dopamine stimulation from food or addictive activities isn’t there, so the body is now making new dopamine connections to, well, doing NOTHING. This is great because We WANT the body to break the older connections to the addictions and to be able to enjoy normal life activities again. So during the fast, even though the addictive activity is absent, we’re still upregulating serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which means that we’re showing our body it can feel good without the vices. And this is one of the keys to hacking addictions.
Habit Disruption and Replacement:
Habits are formed and reinforced by repeated behaviors. Obviously while you’re dry fasting you are usually not partaking in certain bad habits like drugs, alcohol, smoking, and food addictions. Of course social media and video game addictions aren’t targetted as well because when fighting the boredom, it’s very easy to jump back in. But, if you can somehow abstain from them while you’re fasting, you will be miles ahead. However, like I mentioned earlier, there is still going to be a dopamine reset, even if you still do some gaming while dry fasting. There is still a benefit, trust me. The willpower increase is substantial, and will positively impact your life. If you eventually become comfortable going on longer dry fasts, you will notice that deeper into a fast you actually lose the drive to play video games. How? because your glycogen levels get so low, your brain just does not want to do overstimulating things, so it naturally says “no thanks” to games. It’s a natural way to wean yourself off. Overall, extended fasting inherently disrupts daily routines, providing an opportunity to break cycles of habitual behavior. You’ve got this, you’re on right track and dry fasting will be your mentor.
Join us on Instagram instagram.com/dryfastingclub
Join us on Twitter twitter.com/dryfastingclub
The Dry Fasting Club does not provide medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment before undertaking a new healthcare regimen.
Discord link: discord.gg/yHUhW2Wjc7
Research Papers: dryfastingclub.com/studies
The Scorch Protocol: scorchprotocol.com
I know the grip that addiction can have on your life—the constant tug-of-war between the need for just one more hit and the deep desire to break free. One more before you start your homework. One more before I go to bed. I've been there, in the throes of an addiction that seemed to define my very existence. Dry fasting is your answer, it’s so much more powerful than water fasting when it comes to improving willpower and breaking bad habits. Forget Mindfulness, support groups, therapy, goals and boundaries. Yes, those things are nice, but they haven’t been able to help you so far right? Dry fasting is the ultimate hack. Just make sure you do it correctly.
Let’s start with neurotransmitters. This theory suggests that extended fasting can help reset the brain's reward system. Addictive behaviors, including gambling, video games, or unhealthy eating, are often driven by the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. Dopamine is the brain's way of giving us a high-five for a job well done, motivating us to keep going and pursue our goals. Yes, these addicting behaviors hijack our dopamine system, and instead keep high-fiving us to keep doing the addicting behavior. Now we know there’s this thing called Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) and that it is increased during fasting. It’s important for neuronal growth, plasticity, and modulating neurotransmitters. We used to think that stressors would activate BDNF, but research has shown that even intense exercise has little effect on BDNF, while extended fasting of only 2 days improved BDNF by 350%. Ok, this is looking good, but what about neurotransmitters? Well, there’s a 5-day dry fast study that shows that dry fasting actually increases our neurotransmitter levels. Similarly to things like cold plunges, this upregulation trains our body to be able to produce them in higher amounts, which is good. Here’s the most important part. During a fast, the usual dopamine stimulation from food or addictive activities isn’t there, so the body is now making new dopamine connections to, well, doing NOTHING. This is great because We WANT the body to break the older connections to the addictions and to be able to enjoy normal life activities again. So during the fast, even though the addictive activity is absent, we’re still upregulating serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which means that we’re showing our body it can feel good without the vices. And this is one of the keys to hacking addictions.
Habit Disruption and Replacement:
Habits are formed and reinforced by repeated behaviors. Obviously while you’re dry fasting you are usually not partaking in certain bad habits like drugs, alcohol, smoking, and food addictions. Of course social media and video game addictions aren’t targetted as well because when fighting the boredom, it’s very easy to jump back in. But, if you can somehow abstain from them while you’re fasting, you will be miles ahead. However, like I mentioned earlier, there is still going to be a dopamine reset, even if you still do some gaming while dry fasting. There is still a benefit, trust me. The willpower increase is substantial, and will positively impact your life. If you eventually become comfortable going on longer dry fasts, you will notice that deeper into a fast you actually lose the drive to play video games. How? because your glycogen levels get so low, your brain just does not want to do overstimulating things, so it naturally says “no thanks” to games. It’s a natural way to wean yourself off. Overall, extended fasting inherently disrupts daily routines, providing an opportunity to break cycles of habitual behavior. You’ve got this, you’re on right track and dry fasting will be your mentor.
Join us on Instagram instagram.com/dryfastingclub
Join us on Twitter twitter.com/dryfastingclub
The Dry Fasting Club does not provide medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment before undertaking a new healthcare regimen.
