Editorial - Why do research?

Abstract

If you look up the origins of "intermittent fasting," a form of calorie restriction where food is only eaten for short periods of time (usually 8 hours), you will discover something interesting. Despite the popularity of the concept and the fact that in modern times many food gurus, including physicians, support and promote it, its roots date back to 1915. These early trials culminated in a chapter published in the book Obesity: its pathogenesis and management. The chapter mentioned fasts of one to fourteen days, suggesting spectacular results. This information, which required a rigorous replication process to prove its efficacy, jumped into the cultural magazines without being confirmed by other experts. Once something moves from the scientific to the popular arena, it becomes public knowledge and its use grows exponentially. This led, as early as the 1970s, physicians and researchers to warn of the risk of these therapies that sought quick fixes to a much deeper problem.