Exploring the Historical Journey & Evolution of Fasting for Weight Loss

December 5, 2023

The origins of fasting and how it became mainstream for weight loss.

Fasting has emerged as a contemporary technique for bodybuilders and weightlifters aiming to shed fat and achieve weight loss. However, exploring the origins and efficacy of intermittent fasting before making it part of your diet regimen is imperative. In this article, we delve into the historical roots of fasting, tracing its significance from ancient times to the present. Furthermore, we examine fasting’s role in bodybuilding and weight loss.

What Is Fasting?

Fasting is refraining from consuming food, drink, or both for various reasons such as health, religion, or ethics (1). Humanity has experienced periods of food scarcity, especially during the hunter-gather days. Consequently, we have evolved to possess a genetic code that enables us to adapt to periods of food deprivation.

Over time, fasting came to have significance in cultural traditions and religion. Priests used fasting to sanctify, and entire civilizations often fasted to appease an angered deity. A look at the various faiths available today will find that many have a form of fasting included in their code of conduct. Recently, fasting has transcended religions, with a recent spark in the 1940s that took intermittent fasting mainstream.

How Did It Originate?

When people talk of the history of fasting, they usually take it back to the “Father of Medicine,” Hippocrates. He recommended abstinence from food to people with certain medical conditions. This sort of fasting is voluntary and different from the period of starvation that the hunters and gatherers faced.

Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, and many ancient Greeks supported fasting, especially in body healing. They reasoned that during certain illnesses, the body avoids food naturally by giving you a low appetite.

United States of America Founding Father Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “Resting and fasting are the best of all medicines.” Fasting is a concept that physicians, religious founders, scholars, and many notable individuals have supported.

Fasting in Religion

Religious intermittent fasting also dates back to ancient times for different reasons. Some include sanctification, penance, repentance, and commemorating sacred times and seasons. They also used fasting for purposes like preparing for a mission or vision.

In the most popular religion in practice, Christianity (2), fasting has a rich history. Roman Catholicism observes fastings during Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Protestant and Pentecostal churches also celebrate fastings but tend to leave it to individual choices.

Islam, on the other hand, has a widely studied dusk-to-dawn fast during the month of Ramadan. There are also nonobligatory days of fasting, like Mondays and Thursdays of every week. It also encourages fasting for every lunar calendar’s 13th, 14th, and 15th days.

Indian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism also practice frequent fastings. Mahatma Gandhi, a famous Hindu, was also renowned for his fasts. One of those was a 21-day fast to protest detention without charges by the British. Other religions that also practice fasting include the Baha’i Faith, Jainism, and Judaism.

Medicine

In medicine, fasting, as we mentioned, dates back to Hippocrates and the 5th Century BCE. It received another significant boost in the mid-1800s when medical doctor E.H. Dewey, MD, made claims about the link between sicknesses and diet. This led to multiple popular prolonged fasts to cleanse the body of toxins.

By the 1900s, medicine began to look into fasting again, this time for obesity. This led to 1915, when Folin and Denis, who were physicians, started recommending brief sessions of starvation for weight loss (3). It would eventually develop into what we now know as intermittent fasting.

Modern Times

Over time, the concept of fasting has grown, and multiple studies have given new insights into how intermittent fasting works on the body (4). Research has looked into the benefits of fasting for:

Blood sugar and insulin resistance.
Brain function and preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Metabolism
Aging and longevity

Fasting, Bodybuilding, & Weight Loss

Fasting presents an intriguing concept in bodybuilding. It’s great for burning fat and weight loss by helping to limit calories, but professional bodybuilders looking to bulk can run into issues. How would you hit your daily macros and meet your daily calorie intake? Working out while fasting would also be challenging, although some research says it isn’t particularly detrimental to the body (5). For bulking, it’s recommended that lifters do shorter fasts, such as the 16:8 approach (fasting for 16 hours with an eight-hour eating window), to ensure they hit their daily calorie requirements.

For professional bodybuilders who must eat between three to six meals every two to four hours in the off-season (6), fasting is best avoided. However, amateur bodybuilders could enjoy benefits like fat loss, reduced inflammation, lower cholesterol, and more growth hormone secretion (HGH). This study on six fasting men showed an increase in the secretion of this hormone, which aids muscle hypertrophy (7). Natural bodybuilders and weightlifters aiming to lose weight, build muscle, and generally look good could also benefit from fasting.

Conclusion

Fasting is a concept that isn’t new and has existed for a millennial. In the early times, humans faced meal uncertainties and often went long periods without food as they did their hunting and gathering. As a result, healthy humans can often go a long time without eating and not suffer too harshly.

Over time, fasting became a part of many cultural practices and religions. It also found application in early medicine and was popular in ancient Greece. Many religions still believe in and use fasting today.

In today’s era, fasting has evolved as a holistic approach to health and wellness, primarily focusing on nutrition. It’s embraced by many individuals seeking weight loss and improved overall well-being. However, it’s essential to be mindful and do your due diligence before adopting the practice, especially as a professional bodybuilder. Following the rich history of fasting can give us insight into the process and help us understand why this is a long-standing practice that many still adhere to.

References

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, November 14). fasting. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasting
Vaughan, D. (2020, May 19). What Is the Most Widely Practiced Religion in the World?. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-the-most-widely-practiced-religion-in-the-world
Folin, O., & Denis, W. (1915). On starvation and obesity, with special reference to acidosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 21(1), 183-192.
Kondoh, H., Teruya, T., & Yanagida, M. (2020). Metabolomics of human fasting: new insights about old questions. Open biology, 10(9), 200176. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200176
Schoenfeld, B. J., Aragon, A. A., Wilborn, C. D., Krieger, J. W., & Sonmez, G. T. (2014). Body composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-014-0054-7
Iraki, J., Fitschen, P., Espinar, S., & Helms, E. (2019). Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 7(7), 154. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154
Ho, K. Y., Veldhuis, J. D., Johnson, M. L., Furlanetto, R., Evans, W. S., Alberti, K. G., & Thorner, M. O. (1988). Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. The Journal of clinical investigation, 81(4), 968–975. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI113450