Periodic Fasting: Evolutionary Perspectives Explaining the Clinical Benefits

This chapter delineates the role of nutrition in hominin evolution, in particular with respect to the evolutionary pressure exerted by nutrient deprivation. Our history is characterized by at least three landmark developments. Two million years ago, environmental pressure-driven omnivorous dietary intake allowed for significant growth of our brain. Some 10,000 years back, our corresponding cognitive abilities facilitated the advent of agriculture, which triggered the rapid evolution of social structures and technology. Just recently, the industrial revolution enabled the production of virtually unlimited amounts of food. As a corollary, for the first time in human history, nutrients are available in abundance for almost everyone (in affluent societies). However, critical components of our biostructure have specifically evolved to survive the frequent cycles of food shortage that were an inviolable element of human existence throughout our evolutionary history. Nutrient deprivation drives investment of available resources in cellular maintenance and repair, as well as in plasticity of neural networks involved in cognitive capabilities (required for successful foraging). The absence of episodes of food scarcity in our current society compromises cellular sustenance and neuroplasticity to increase the likelihood of noncommunicable disease and accelerate mortality rates and the aging process.