Intermittent fasting is also a form of nutrition of our ancestors
Even if it is currently a trend: intermittent fasting is not new. In principle, it is the diet of our ancestors.
While it is now normal to eat three or more meals a day, in the past people only ate when something edible was available. And in the remaining time there was – of necessity – fasting.
The body had to adapt accordingly to times without food. In fact, it can withstand food deprivation well because, as just mentioned, it has the ability to store energy reserves.
The human body is therefore set up so that its organs are supplied with energy even when there is no food. This means that when glycogen stores are depleted, it switches to lipid metabolism - it then metabolizes adipose tissue.
In the short term, only a small amount of protein is broken down in the muscle during fasting. Only a very long period of starvation would mean that he also uses the protein reserves of the muscles.
Even ancient sages used the conscious abstinence from food - in the hope of living healthier. "Instead of taking medicine, I'm fasting today," the Greek writer Plutarch is said to have said.
And even today, fasting is firmly anchored in many cultures: in Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, people fast regularly for religious or spiritual reasons.
It is quite normal for animals to go without food at times. A lion, for example, after killing a prey animal, eats a large amount of meat and then goes several days without food. But we humans can also learn to change our eating habits.