Doctor Jason Fung, a practicing Canadian Nephrologist, says the three most influential people in history practiced intermittent fasting and/or fasting. Fung says that fasting is not starvation, but is the controlled voluntary absence of food. (1)
Fasting can be done for health reasons, spiritual reasons, a protest, and basically for any reason. Fung says that fasting can be healthy.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine and ancient Greek physician, said our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food. When we get sick, we naturally fast and Hippocrates says that to eat when we are sick feeds the sickness.
“We have a fasting instinct,” Fung said quoting Hippocrates. Ben Franklin said fasting and relaxation are the best medicine. Jesus said that demons can be cast out by fasting and prayer. Fasting goes way back, perhaps even before civilization.
Early man may not have spent his entire day eating. There may have been times of feast and famine. Hunters may have spent their days hunting and spent very little of their time eating. Our bodies may have evolved from this early experience.
Fung says there are numerous benefits to fasting, including weight loss. OMAD, or one meal a day, may benefit people with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. One animal study suggested that calorie intake restriction and intermittent fasting showed promise against cancer. (2) Always speak to your doctor before initiating a fast or OMAD regimen.
This hasn’t been translated to human gain yet, but in 2018 the impact of short term fasting on chemotherapy was beneficial. Study participants began fasting 36 hours prior to their infusion until 24 hours after their infusion. The studies were done on breast and ovarian cancer. Always consult your physician before fasting.
https://www.youtube .com/c/drjasonfung1/videos
https://www.verywellhealth .com/ intermittent-fasting-and-cancer-4772239