From Brian Horton, West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
The idea of regular fasting to make you healthier (20 October, p 30) seems to be based on the idea that humans evolved on what is now called a Paleo diet, periodically going without food for days at a time. But humans have adapted within a few centuries to be more tolerant of milk (13 October, p 10), alcohol (6 February 2010, p 17) and Western diets (23 July 1994, p 14).
Although regular fasting may be beneficial for some, I suggest most of us may benefit more from adaptations that we have evolved over the past 10,000 years, as a result of living with an agricultural system that provides reasonable food supplies all year.
