W.What if, and I'm just floating here, intermittent fasting turns out to be… a fad? Something on par with the forgotten “baby food diet” of the early 2010s, say. In the current clamor to hail fasting as a way to treat cancer, boost brain power, repair cells and shed fat, I feel it's worth remembering the trendy eating regimen rumored to have been adopted by Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole, Jennifer Aniston and many other female celebrities a decade ago.
It involved eating about 14 servings of pureed baby food every day, with the occasional meal thrown in. The newspapers laughed as sales of wet baby food soared, and jars of Ella's Kitchen organic chicken and sweetcorn puree sold out before they could be airlifted. their intended childish mouths. Despite the hilarity, this diet was simply a form of prolonged abstinence, much like intermittent fasting (IF). So it's curious why one diet made people laugh and the other is being treated like a miracle. I think the answer is simple: because it's men who are suddenly on IF, no one talks nonsense like they did when Cole was supposedly eating little jars of cream porridge.
I was conflicted to hear earlier this month that our Prime Minister Rishi Sunak practices an extreme fasting ritual for 36 hours each week. After all, we just diagnosed “hanger” as a total social evil, only to discover that the most powerful man in the country voluntarily parachutes into the hanger zone every Monday. However, the press surrounding Sunak's embrace of fasting had an unexpected side effect: he brought two very different fasting tribes to the fore.
The first camp includes people who have come to IF because they are suffering from an illness or medical problem. For example, there have been studies showing a link between a reduced diet and more effective chemotherapy, which has naturally led people with cancer to IF. It has found advocates in people with polycystic ovary syndrome, which can cause irregular menstrual cycles or infertility; The same goes for people fighting serious inflammation like arthritis or reducing type 2 diabetes. Some people in my life came to this this way, through their medical needs. Coincidentally, they have all been women.
'We live in an era where male eating disorders are widespread but under-discussed'
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Now let's look at the other field. For short, let's call them the men who have absolutely nothing wrong with them. Before Sunak, a familiar type of male ecosystem had been evangelizing diet. Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson have praised it, and it has also been covered several times on the alpha podcast. Diary of a CEO. Episodes on the topic of fasting are subtitled with terms like “Reclaim Your Sex Life,” while their YouTube version features crude graphics that talk explosively of a “1,300 percent increase in testosterone!”
IF has also been the topic du jour for many Silicon Valley executives, who as a group commonly emphasize a perceived increase in “longevity,” while that same desire to live much longer than mere mortals has become intertwined with health gurus. self-help like Tony Robbins who promote the concept of “biohacking”.
It's no surprise that IF has been promoted by a certain demographic of men who think a lot about their own manhood. IF is often explained as a way for us – the overfed, spoiled, useless modern man – to return to the determined days of the hunter-gatherer or caveman, where men were supposed to be able to survive perfectly on a scale drastically escalated. -Rear food regiment. Interestingly, one of the biggest enemies of this group seems to be breakfast. Ahh, bad breakfast: Once celebrated as the most important meal of the day, it's now the subject of endless angry videos titled “Why Breakfast is a Scam.”
I will never begrudge someone for doing something that makes them feel good, but if it seems like I have an ax to grind, it's true, I do. My main suspicion about IF comes from the fact that, without exception, all the men I know personally who practice it are very healthy and very thin.
I care because we live in an era where male eating disorders are rife and yet under-discussed. An estimated 10 million men and boys suffer from an eating disorder in the United States. One in three patients are men. In the United Kingdom, men such as former cricketer Freddie Flintoff and actor Christopher Eccleston have attempted to change public opinion about male eating disorders by very openly discussing their experiences with bulimia and anorexia, respectively. However, I think there is still a sense of complete denial in most of us that men can manifest these types of diseases.
How can we not, however, when it is increasingly rare to see men in the public eye who are not completely thin, something that is simply unattainable for many of us? As you browse online today, keep an eye out for all the skinny men you see and think about all the medium or plus size men you don't see. A recent Israeli study even went so far as to suggest that a hegemony of male body shapes in porn was leading men to suffer from eating disorders. Intermittent fasting seems like the latest thing that makes the totally healthy men in my life do things that are a little crazy and extreme.
I've seen it in myself since I joined the gym. I have thrown myself into a whole new doubt about my own weight and physique, simply by being in the same environment as men. I've also seen it on many male friends, after a few scratches on the surface. I worry that when a male friend starts taking up extreme cycling, starts dedicating himself to the gym life, starts training for an Ironman or Tough Mudder event, or starts intermittent fasting, there is more going on than just a basic desire to health.
As algorithmic masculine messaging becomes increasingly primal and this strange evocation of the caveman continues, it's worth asking more about this with your male friends. Maybe during breakfast?
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, the eating disorder charity DefeatThe NCFED Helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and advice for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040
