History of Fasting and Rise of Modern Health Crisis

Overview

With fasting practice being on the rise, there’s a lot of debate whether fasting is yet another trendy diet, or is an old forgotten practice that actually promotes a healthier body and helps us live better lives.

Although scientific data provides detailed explanations on the biological mechanics behind fasting and its benefits on human health, sometimes information may be hard to understand unless you have a PhD, are a doctor, or want to spend a few days googling each and every word.

In this article, we wanted to approach this topic from a different angle. We will take a look at the historical data and facts about fasting and how we arrived at eating habits that lead to the modern health crisis.

What is Fasting?

In simple terms, fasting is when we voluntarily decide to not consume any food for a specific period of time, whether it's for health, religious or medical reasons.

There’s a big misconception that fasting resembles starvation, but these two terms should not be used interchangeably. Starvation is neither deliberate, nor controlled, and it might last for months or years at a time. During starvation humans have no access to food, and do not get nutrients they need to live a healthy life. It is life threatening and may lead to irreversible damage.

Fasting, on the other hand, is a cycle between periods of feeding & periods of abstaining from food. During the feeding window we still eat meals and get nutrition needed to sustain our bodies.

There are many different variations of fasting, but the most popular are periodic fasting (time restricted eating), 5:2, or OMAD (one meal a day).

Depending on your goals, condition of your health and other factors, you might choose one or the other. Regardless of what fasting method you choose, our body has evolved to not just “operate”, but truly thrive when we take a break from food.

The Past Defines Our Future

To solve the American health crisis and have a healthier future as a society, we must look at the past and understand what has led us to the present situation - where food became a "product", obesity rates are skyrocketing and diabetes and cancer are leading causes of death.

So what went wrong? And are we approaching these health issues the right way?

Let's dive in.

Hunter Gatherers

  • 1,8mil year ago - Hunter Gatherers

Hunter Gatherer culture was the way of life for early humans up until 12,000 years ago. Their lifestyle involved hunting, fishing and foraging for plants. Humans lived a nomadic life and used mobility as a survival strategy.

During this time, access to food was limited and unpredictable. Sometimes humans had no food for days, and their body had to evolve to function well under such conditions. It had to learn how to store food in the form of body fat, and then how to access this fat at times of need.

Although we don't run after animals with bows and stones anymore, the human body still functions best under conditions similar to those of the Hunter Gatherers had. This is due to the fact that evolution takes time, and the "3 meals/day + snacking" eating pattern is a relatively new concept on the timeline of biology and human existence.

Neolithic Revolution

  • 12,000 years ago, Neolithic Revolution

As hunter gatherers started settling in and the population grew, their nutrition became dependent on the limited variety of crops they learned to cultivate (corn, rice, potatoes, lentils, wheat).
This negatively affected the quality of human nutrition, as humans lacked previous diversity in foods (compared with that obtained from a nomadic lifestyle).

Less food variety = less nutrients = poor health.
Humans suffered from weak bones, poor immune system, low lean body mass, reduced height and high mortality rates.

This is yet another indicator of how important nutrients are for a healthy body.

First Records of Fasting

  • 2,500 years ago - first records of fasting

Even though biological effects of fasting on a human body haven't been studied until the latter 19th century, scientists observed that fasting was good for mental, physical, spiritual and psychological health.

In medicine, Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine), used fasting therapeutically to treat diseases, illnesses and promote cognitive clarity.
Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle were fasting for greater physical and mental efficiency.
And fasting became a spiritual practice in many religions with the desire to clear our guilt and sins.

English Colonists

  • 420 years ago, English Colonists

Early US dining habits were shaped by those of English Colonists, who brought their dining habits to the US. Food was seen as “necessity, gluttony was frowned upon. They ate mainly 2 meals, sometimes 3 a day, depending on the religious holidays and availability.

Because supermarkets didn’t yet exist, a large part of the day of lower and middle class people was spent on growing, harvesting, and preparing the food. Working during the daytime, they also adopted 2 meals/day + snack eating patterns, which was dictated by the rise and the fall of the sun.

Unintentionally, they had balanced feeding/fasting periods.

The Industrial Revolution

  • 250 years ago - The Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution the lunch as we know it was born. Because work has shifted from farms and homes to factories, people had designated time for break, where they could relax and have their meal. As working hours normalized, 3 meals a day were adopted simply out of convenience of working schedule.
Breakfast before work, lunch during the break, and dinner with the family towards the end of the day.

Mass Farming

  • 200 years ago - Modern Mass Farming

Population grew, so did the demand for food. Looking to increase yield and find a more efficient process of growing food, farmers adopted new ways of farming.
Europens brought several advances to America. The four field crop rotation system was introduced, farmers started cross-breeding plants to increase their size, and animals were treated in new ways that allowed for healthier, better meat.

These better methods meant fewer workers were needed on the field, and more could work in industry.

Chemicals That Deprive the Soil

  • 100 years ago - Post WWII agricultural chemical changes

A cyanide-based gas Zykon B made its way to America and was used as pesticide on fruits and vegetables. This same gas that, sadly, was used by Germans to kill millions in concentration camps, allowed for higher crop yields, but it was also slowly stripping away the soil from its nutrients.

New plastics, continuous soil tilting, and development of nitrates allowed for even greater crop production, but unfortunately it also reduced the health of the soil. The soil has become less fertile, and even greater amounts of pesticides and fertilizers were used to fix this problem.

Our food started to have less nutrients in it, and this was the beginning of modern nutrient deficiencies in America.

Rise of Snacking Habits

  • 80 years ago - Rise of the Snacking Industry

The biggest impact on the growth of the snacking industry was the US involvement in WWII. Ready-to-go, high calorie dense, practical resistance foods were part of soldiers kits, and this is when our favorite M&Ms, Tootsie Rolls and other snacks started to appear.

Post war, as the economy started to rebalance, fast-food franchises were gaining popularity, and as women entered the workforce and had less time to cook, the emphasis on pre-cooked, packaged food.

This type of “dead” food has no nutrients and high calories. Snacking became a big part of American culture, but on the scale of biological evolution, it’s a relatively new concept. Our bodies had no time to adjust to such eating habits, and instead, it deals with these “products” by changing our hormones, which lead to chronic illnesses, obesity, heart issues, autoimmune diseases.

Summary

In conclusion, exploring the historical context of fasting sheds light on the rise of modern health crises. From the adaptability of our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the detriments of industrialization, we observe a shift from balanced feeding and fasting patterns to the commodification of food, increasing obesity rates, and the prevalence of diseases. Intermittent fasting emerges as a practice rooted in our evolutionary biology, offering a viable solution.

By incorporating regular fasting into our lifestyles, we can improve overall health, regulate metabolism, and achieve sustainable weight management. Embracing the wisdom of the past and combining it with scientific advancements, fasting becomes a powerful tool to restore balance and promote holistic well-being in our modern lives.