In years past, a daily twelve-hour fasting period was considered a normal eating pattern. You would eat three meals a day from, say, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and then fast from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. At that point, you would “break your fast” with a small breakfast. This was pretty standard until the 1970s, and perhaps not coincidentally, there also was much less obesity back then. Two major dietary changes happened starting in 1977. With the publication of the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans that year, we changed to a higher-carbohydrate, lower-fat diet. Diets high in refined carbohydrates
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