The “fasting is unhealthy” reflex is largely an outcome of the marketing push to encourage consumers to buy food. An enormous amount of advertising money is spent every year in an effort to convince consumers that at any moment that they are not consuming food, they are at risk for underperforming. The Snickers campaign launched in 2015 offers a perfect example: candy bars labeled with words—“sleepy,” “grouchy,” “impatient,” etc. —hinted that these undesirable conditions were best overcome by consuming food, essentially claiming psychoactive effects for the candy bar.
Dr. Bert Herring
