100 % of the biologic existence of humans was adapted to an outdoor existence of hunting and foraging for foods.
--Astrand, P.O. Textbook of Work Physiology

Beautiful day here. A great day for a walk, or perhaps a final leaf rake. If I'm lucky, I'll get outside for an hour, but I've already been to step class so I'm disinclined to motor on in a sweaty sort of way. Not a chance I'll be cold, not a prayer I'll be hungry.

So my hunter/gatherer genes, superbly adapted to a life of cold, famine, and obligatory exercise, once again will be treated to a day of good and plenty. The human genome was perfected in the Ice Age, yet founders in the Space Age.

Humans survived those difficult pre-supermarket days by developing an efficient physiology that stowed calories against future times when nuts and berries were gone, and the deer and the antelope split. So how can we whittle away our waisted fat when all we need do is forage along Colfax Avenue for fast food any time night or day?

Research suggest the occasional day of fasting might restore balance to our disordered metabolism. In particular, overfed humans become resistant to the effects of insulin, and a day without food 'reminds' the body to delve into the pantry we haul about on our hips and abdomen.

Utah researchers, note that Mormons have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, and the reduced rate is greater than that explained by their non-smoking status alone. When they compared the rates of angiographically proven coronary artery disease between those subjects who fasted for whatever reason on a regular basis and those who kept the intake going regular, those who held fast to fasting were significantly less likely to have gummed up arteries.

The investigators defined fasting as no food or drink for two consecutive meals. Mormons fast once a month, could I? The last time I tried it in preparation for a colonoscopy, I spent half the day starving, then got past the lightheaded obsession by the middle of the day. I would need black coffee, however, is my Ice Age genome adjusted for that?