By Emma Young — In 1908, Linda Hazzard, an American with some
training as a nurse, published "Fasting for the Cure of
Disease," which claimed that minimal food was the route to
recovery from a variety of illnesses, including cancer. Hazzard
was jailed after one of her patients died of starvation. But
what if she was, at least partly, right? A new surge of interest
in fasting suggests that it might indeed help people with
cancer. It might also reduce the risk of developing cancer,
guard against diabetes and heart disease, help control asthma
and even stave off Parkinson's disease and dementia. "We know
from animal models," says Mark Mattson at the National Institute
on Aging, "that if we start an intermittent fasting diet at what
would be the equivalent of middle age in people, we can delay
the onset of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's." Until recently, most
studies linking diet with health and longevity focused on
calorie restriction. They have had some impressive results, with
the life span of various lab animals