Fasting has become a popular trend in dieting and health. You have probably heard a friend or two say: “I am doing intermittent fasting.” This article will discuss why this term needs to be abandoned. I will also offer a more accurate description of all the common fasting protocols.

Fasting is consistent with our evolutionary history. The thrifty gene hypothesis describes how we experienced brief moments of abundant food punctuated by long moments of scarcity. Our bodies adapted to this environmental stimulus and used it to enhance health – growth during abundance with recycling, regeneration, and renewal during scarcity. This cycling back and forth is considered by many experts to be an ideal way to maintain health.

We live in an obesogenic society filled with mental, emotional, and physical cues that make us the most overweight population in history. This is not sustainable, and our fragile healthcare system will soon collapse under the stress of this immense disease burden. 42.4% of Americans are obese, this number is expected to increase to 50% by 2030. There is good evidence that 87.8% of adults are metabolically unhealthy, a term that identifies how excess fat mass exacts a heavy toll on health. Metabolic dysregulation, typically due to obesity, is causing an explosion of chronic disease – type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, heart disease, autoimmunity, and cancer. Obesity has surpassed smoking as the number one preventable cause of death. There are a staggering 900,000 lifestyle related deaths a year just in the USA. Our obesogenic environment is a despicable hate crime being perpetrated on our fellow citizens. It is exacting a horrific toll of unnecessary mental, emotional, and physical suffering. Understanding and ending the obesity crisis must become a national priority.

Your most intimate, personal and permanent relationship is with food. That is why it is crucial that we learn to eat consciously for lasting health. Food is your constant companion from the day you are born until the day you die. Therefore, it is important that this relationship is a healthy one. For most of the population, it is a relationship filled with conflict. More than 74.1% of Americans are overweight or obese.  In every other relationship when you experience conflict, you can disengage. You can withdraw from people, society, work, and church, but you are intimately and permanently locked into a relationship with food.